Adjuncts to ‘Treasured Valley Vignettes’
With webmaster Teresa Herbert’s very able assistance I have just managed to launch my monograph series entitled ‘Treasured Valley Vignettes’. No sooner had I completed the upload than I discovered some notable omissions. This is my none-too-subtle attempt to redress the balance and partially retrieve the errors? One thing that strikes me is that there is a certain ‘dignity’ which used to prevail? Maybe we have lost something; or am I simply an even more irrelevant old curmudgeon?
Featured Image: Presentation for Scone Cup 1968, 9 furlongs, Saturday 15th June 1968, won by ‘Income Tax’; owned by Messrs S N Nivison Snr and A S Gill; trained by R Martin, Walcha; ridden by B Hill; by Epistle (imp) ex Expensive; Black, Yellow Sleeves, Lilac Sleeves and Cap; won by 3 lengths and 1 length from Zozima (W Wade) and Blue Bette (J Ollerton). Time 1 min 51.7 secs.
This was my first Scone Cup having arrived ‘down under’ on 03/10/67. Simon Nivison became a good friend. He bred and raced Golden Slipper winner ‘Inspired’ (1984). Spouse Jill (nee Tait) co-bred and owned champion stayer ‘Tie the Knot’. Sir Alister McMullin helped me a lot. He owned ‘St Aubins’, was President of the Senate (Canberra) and first Chancellor of the University of Newcastle. Harry Hayes was a ‘local legend’ and very prominent citizen. It helps to know a few; especially if you’re ‘Ten Pound Pom’!
Introduction to ‘Treasured Valley Vignettes’
See: https://sconevetdynasty.com.au/treasured-valley-vignettes/
I want to do something different; so I did! I thought my books were rather too long (‘prolix’) and my ‘blogs’ limited to only one featured image? Publishing and printing in small numbers is exorbitant and they don’t sell well anyway. This is my compromise solution. My spouse Sarah was also a trite anxious I was about to burst out in print again; just when she’s trying to economise on space and eliminate ‘stuff’! I could be next; another COVID refugee? I think you’ll get the drift?
I decided on the title on a whim. Originally I thought of ‘Monographs’; which they are? I wanted to celebrate and record for posterity individuals in the thoroughbred industry I respect, revere and remember; for all the right reasons. I’ve knew all of them. I thought vicariously I could both enhance and enrich their collective memory with modules or ‘digestible chunks of learning’? I trust the title captures both the premise and the promise.
WPH
August 2021