GILBERT BOW turned 93 this month but still remembers clearly the highlights of his long and successful career in racing.
He was a trainer for 40 years without peer in northern Australia.
His long list of achievements include three Townsville Cups, three Richmond Cups, three Innisfail Cups, three Mingela Cups - and every other feature race in the district.
Last Saturday at Cluden the Townsville Turf Club paid homage to the grand old man and his contribution to racing by naming a race in his honour.
Sadly Gilbert was unable to attend, but he was there in spirit. He watched the racing from his Cluden home as he has done for the past two decades.
Gilbert Bow was born and bred in Charters Towers and always believed he had a special affinity with horses.
His first job was a delivery boy for a large Towers department store until one Christmas Eve when he was left alone by his co-workers with a room full of parcels to be delivered.
Gilbert was summoned by the boss next morning and asked to explain why he didn’t deliver all of the parcels. Gilbert said to him what Marie Payne said so famously at the Melbourne Cup presentation when referring to some disgruntled owners.
Next day, with a pack on his back Gilbert rode his bike 23 miles to a station in search of work. He was out of luck - and told to try the next station, 32 miles of dirt road away.
He got lucky. The teenager slept under canvas, ate damper, and toiled in heat wave conditions to keep the water up to the thirsty cattle until the drought broke. From there he was elevated to head stockman and worked on several stations in the area before taking out a trainer’s licence in 1950.
He trained for some of the biggest owners in the area and the results are testament to his outstanding success.
Gilbert claims the best horse he trained was Bon Halo, bred by the Marrice family at Maxwelton. He began his career at Richmond but was unable to win a race.Gilbert brought him to Cluden and he won everything including most of the NQ feature races in the 1970s.
To this day Gilbert claims he was robbed of the 1970 Townsville Cup in which Bon Halo suffered severe interference.
But there was compensation with the trio of cups won by Charred (1980), Skanda (1957) and King Burney (1960).
Another highlight was in 1960 when he trained the first three placegetters of the North Queensland Cup won by King Burney with Dipso second and Flying Felt third.
Gilbert, frustrated with the racing hierarchy and not convinced nor confident of the future, quit training in 1988.
Gilbert Bow was not just a great trainer who earned respect and widespread recognition. He obviously possesses a great sense of anticipation.