Vince’s horse passion lives on
RACING: There have been countless Clifford Park events, people and horses come and go since the “Toowoomba Terror” Bernborough put the city in the spotlight with his postWorld War II feats on Australian race tracks.
And one man who got to witness many of those great moments and befriend some of Clifford Park’s legendary figures is Vince Nugent.
Nugent himself was a huge contributor to Toowoomba and Darling Downs racing as both a farrier and successful trainer.
But although he’s long hung up the hammer and bridle, 93year-old Nugent has lost none of his passion for racing and horses.
Nugent’s racing legacy still shines brightly through his son Wayne who successfully followed him into the farrier business and horse training.
Last Saturday Nugent was at Clifford Park to watch Blackberry race for Wayne in the Class 1 Handicap while also taking the opportunity to catch up with well-wishers.
The Clifford Park landscape has undergone numerous changes since Nugent was at his peak, while many of his former friends and colleagues have faded away or moved on.
But for Vince, his love of horses will always remain.
“My dad (Ned Nugent) was a drover and I was born into a horse lifestyle,” said the 1925born Nugent.
“My family didn’t have a big racing background, but when I left school I wanted to become an apprentice jockey.
“I answered an ad in the paper one day to join trainer W.A. Tucker in Brisbane.
“One of the horses he trained was Spear Chief.
“He was the horse who beat Ajax when he was 40-1on in a race at Rosehill one day.
“I finished up getting too heavy to be a jockey but I stayed on as a stable worker doing jobs like breaking in yearlings.
“Albion Park was the only track we were racing on back then.
“It was during the war and the Yanks were based at Doomben and the Australians were at Eagle Farm.
“I was there a good while. “I also worked a day-time job at Oxley ply mill making plywood.
“One of my favourite horses was an 18-hands golden chestnut entire named Clarendon.
“Later on I worked at a merino stud near Charleville for a couple of years and Clarendon was being used as a station sire on a property nearby.
“I was asked one day if I’d like to go over and see him and I said too right I would.
“But he finished up dying of colic before I had the chance to go and meet up with him again.”
Nugent also spent time droving at Burnett Downs in the Northern Territory.
But he never lost the desire to be a jockey and despite being too heavy to make a profession of it Nugent did enjoy some riding success as an amateur.
Farrier work was Nugent’s number-one trade, but training horses was also to become a big part of his life as he earned a reputation of getting “problem” horses “going”.
Sir Billum was one of his first Clifford Park winners.
“Sir Billum was owned by Tom Alexander from Gatton,” Nugent said.
“I used to shoe his horses.
“He used to race a lot around country tracks and he gave me Sir Billum to train for him.”
Nugent always kept his racing team to around 10 horses.
Some of his better performers included Hoya Flight, Rosie Sue, Rascol Lady, Dream Court, Go Diamonds and his stable star Flight Lane.
“Flight Lane was my best horse,” Nugent said.
“He was by Flying Creole and won 18 races for us all up with a lot of them at Clifford Park.”
Flight Lane’s winning riders included Steve Killen, Judy Curran, Peter Power, Ian Duncan and Willie Toner.
Nugent rates Pat Lee alongside Jim Atkins amongst the best trainers he worked with and alongside.
“I shod for Pat Lee. He was a top trainer,” Nugent said.
“He won three Toowoomba Cups with Navleigh and two with Dawn Arrival.
“I shod for JJ too early on. “I remembers one of the horses I shod for him, Great Topic, winning one day at 100-1.
“I got to shoe a lot of other good horses in their day too, like Blueden, Combo and Firebox.
“There was a lot great jockeys as well back then. Jack Ross was one of the best.”
Nugent, whose wife of 60 years Heather “Lyle” passed away in 2011, is still a keen Clifford Park race follower and and supporter of Wayne.
“Wayne started coming to the stables with me when he was two years old. He loved it,” Nugent said.
“And I’ve loved every minute of my life spent working with horses.
“I started shoeing my first horses when I was 14 years old.
“They are in my blood.”