NORM A WINNER BY 100 LENGTHS
Centenarian has race named after him to mark milestone
100 YEARS: NORM WATSON
IF you’d wager the man who had a race named after him at Gold Coast Turf Club for his 100th birthday had led an interesting life then you’d be on to a winner.
Regular punter Norm Watson celebrated spending a century on Earth in style with not only the race named in his honour but UBET tipping $100 into his account so he could have a flutter on his own race.
The Happy 100th Norm Watson was run on June 9 with Norm celebrating his birthday last Tuesday on the 13th.
Born in Papakura in what was at the time a small town and is now regarded as a suburb of Auckland in 1917, Mr Watson was a First World War baby.
By the time the Second World War rolled around he enlisted in the air force and served in the Solomon Islands and New Hebrides in a dive bomber squadron.
It should be no surprise that the committed punter has always lived a high stakes life.
“Basically, I worked in sales, shares and properties. I owned 45 properties in New Zealand and a lot of racehorses,” Mr Watson said.
“I lived in nice homes and drove a Rolls Royce.”
Unfortunately, twin economic recensions in the late 1970s and early 1980s in New Zealand hit Mr Watson hard.
“In the collapse I lost a lot of money like a lot of people did,” Mr Watson said.
“We decided to come to the Gold Coast to retire in 1981.”
Since then, Mr Watson has built up a network of friends on the Coast, many of them met through his love of racing.
His family flew over from New Zealand to celebrate his birthday with him at his retirement village, Villa La Salle, in Southport.
“When I used to go to the races all the time I met a lot of good people,” Mr Watson said.
“I think it was very generous of them to name the race for me frankly and I know my family thought the same.”