Snowdon Dynasty Prevails
Featured Image; Ross Snowdon and Stan Wicks at White Park Racecourse, Scone where both enjoyed outstanding success. Stan trained the very first winner (Oxford Lad) at the Scone Track in May 1947.
The brilliant recent success of Peter & Paul Snowdon with Snitzel colt ‘Redzel’ in both the ATC Everest and VRC Darley Classic arouses further reflection on their personal journey. I’ve documented much of this on my earlier ‘blogs’.
Brian Russell penned a great vignette in the Aberdeen Community Whisper last week. His focus was nostalgia about the old Aberdeen Race Track administered for 73 years by the now defunct Aberdeen Jockey Club. This other AJC was forced into liquidation following devastating floods in January 1971 after hosting the Aberdeen Cup. Serious flooding had occurred three times since the Club’s inception in 1898. Jefferson Park abutted the Hunter River along much of the back straight. Flooding was inevitable. It was a small track of some 1600m. Patrons gathered inside the track c/f Wallabadah Jockey Club on New Years’ Day. For part of its length the horses dipped out of view along an unfenced portion of the track. This gave rise to all sorts of speculation about jockeys switching mounts, disbanding weights and even pulling up for a schooner at an adjacent pub!
In his resume Brian recalled that in September 1950 apprentice jockey Ross Snowdon rode all six winners on the program at Aberdeen. Ross was apprenticed to Scott Johnston who trained four of the victors. It was well known Ross was ‘lethal’ at Wallabadah every New Years’ Day. Not everyone was prepared to drive their mounts downhill and around the tight bend leading the finish a mere 100m away. It was rumoured that a traditional Scotch toast to celebrate the New Year may have helped?
It appears the Snowdon proclivity genome for racing has passed down successfully through at least three generations; whatever the irrational explanations which loose credulity with time. The Snowdon Team were also very supportive of the Greg Cribb Memorial Meeting at Muswellbrook. Greg was Peter’s brother-in-law; Eric ‘Shorty’ Cribb his father-in-law. It’s definitely enshrined in the genes!