Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to associate myself with the statements of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. As shadow minister for sport, I think there is no doubt in anyone's mind that Australia is a sporting nation encompassing all sports, including the sport of horseracing. There was no doubt that Bart Cummings was a hero to many and dear to the hearts of many in the sport of horseracing.

On Monday, hundreds gathered in Sydney, joining thousands across Australia paying tribute to Bart Cummings. Bart Cummings was an icon of the Australian thoroughbred racing industry, known as the Cups King for his unbelievable record of training 12 Melbourne Cup winners. He was born in Adelaide in 1927 and took out his trainer's licence back in 1953. As a trainer, his record was remarkable, surpassed by none, and included 268 Group 1 winners, a list that included incredible feats: the Caulfield Cup seven times, the Cox Plate five times, the Golden Slipper four times, the Australian Cup on 13 occasions, 32 Derbies and 24 Oaks—something that anyone would be proud of. The names of some of the horses he trained have become some of the most well known in Australian racing—horses such as Galilee, Light Fingers, Let's Elope and Saintly, just to name a few.

Many Australians have an affinity with the romance of horseracing. The idea of the battler who gets a sporting chance to go from rags to riches seems to entwine itself tightly with the notion that we have of ourselves as Australians. Many good folk put some money on a horse on a daily basis, some on a weekly basis and some, like me, once a year only—if I remember—on Melbourne Cup Day. It is not that I am not interested or do not have a great day and enjoy the cup itself, but the pastime of actually betting on the horses for me seems to be surpassed by the gathering of people, which is much more enjoyable.

It was the Melbourne Cup where Bart Cummings achieved fame and that saw his name become so well known to all Australians. As I said earlier, Bart trained an incredible 12 Melbourne Cup winners. For many people making that once-a-year punt, the question was not so much of a question of which horse would win but, 'Which horse does Bart Cummings have in the cup?' That became for many people the deciding factor on where they would place their 'investment'—which is what I have written down here, but I might say 'gamble' for many others. It is a notoriously difficult decision, of course, and backing one of Bart's horses just seemed to make it a little simpler for some.

For his services to racing, Bart Cummings was made a member of the Order of Australia in 1982, and in 2001 the industry honoured him when they made him the inaugural inductee into the Racing Hall of Fame, surely one of the easiest decisions the selectors had at that time. Australia has lost a trainer with no peer, a great person, and I send my deepest sympathies to his wife of 61 years, Valmae, and all of his family.

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