Mervyn "Merv" Maynard ( – 9 April 2017) was an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

jockey who rode numerous winners in a career spanning almost five decades.

Early life

Mervyn Maynard was born around 1931, the son of Aboriginal activist Fred Maynard and Minnie Critchley, an Englishwoman, whose father was a miner. His early life was difficult, owing to his father being under police surveillance because of his political activism, and the children were the targets of death threats. On one occasion, Mervyn and another Aboriginal boy were picked up by police and taken to the police station, which terrified him. His father died when Merv was still a teenager (in 1946). Merv began working in a pharmacy in the western Sydney suburb of Lakemba, where he washed bottles, then got a job making deliveries for the local post office.

Career

Summary

Maynard's career spanned 46 years, in which he rode over 1,500 winning horses, across four countries: Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia, between 1949 and 1994. He won the

Newcastle Jockey Club Newcastle ( ; Awabakal language, Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the City of Newcastle, Newcastle and City of Lake Macquarie, Lake Macquarie Local gov ...

premiership twice, and rode a winning horse in every year that he rode between 1948 and 1994. These included 18 country cup victories in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. In the 1950s, trainer Tommy Smith picked him as a rider, and he rode in the

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...

in 1952. Among other famous owners, he rode for Frank Packer, and was just beaten in a

photo finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the finis ...

in the 1951

Epsom Handicap The Epsom Handicap is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older, under handicap conditions over a distance of 1,600 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in early October. Prize money ...

. Later in his career, he had several big wins at

Randwick Racecourse Royal Randwick Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing located in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Randwick Racecourse is Crown Land leased to the Australian Turf Club and known to many Sydney racegoers as headquarter ...

, including the AJC Shorts Handicap and AJC

Canonbury Stakes The Canonbury Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 3 Thoroughbred horse race, for two-year-old colts and geldings, held with set weights with penalties conditions, over a distance of 1100 metres at Rosehill Racecourse in Sydney, Australia in ...

. During his career he rode against great Australian jockeys such as

Lester Piggott Lester Keith Piggott (5 November 1935 – 29 May 2022) was an English professional jockey and trainer. With 4,493 career flat racing wins in Britain, including a record nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

Darby Munro David Hugh "Darby" Munro (5 March 1913 – 3 April 1966) also known as "the Demon" or the "Brown Bomber" was an Aboriginal Australian jockey born in Caulfield. He was a three-time winner of the Melbourne Cup. Early life He was educated at ...

, Billy Cook,

Scobie Breasley Arthur Edward "Scobie" Breasley (7 May 1914 – 21 December 2006) was an Australian jockey. He won the Caulfield Cup in Melbourne five times: 1942-45 consecutively on Tranquil Star, Skipton, Counsel and St Fairy; then on Peshawar in 1952. ...

, and many others.

Apprenticeship and early years

When visiting aunts and uncles in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, he started frequenting

Newcastle Racecourse Newcastle Racecourse is a horse racing course located at Gosforth Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, owned by Arena Racing Company. It stages both flat and National Hunt racing, with its biggest meeting being the Northumberland Plate held a ...

, in the suburb of

Broadmeadow Broadmeadow is the geographic center of Newcastle city. Its main commercial hub is located at the "Nineways".Canterbury Park Racecourse. He was noticed by trainer Keith Tinson and offered an apprenticeship at Newcastle after spending a day looking after Tinson's horses. During his year-long apprenticeship, he worked seven days a week, starting at 3am. Maynard enjoyed his first success in the 1948–1949 season at Newcastle, winning eight races. The following season he won 10. In July 1951, apprentice Maynard was heading for a win in the

Doomben 10,000 The Doomben 10,000 is a Brisbane Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred Weight for Age horse race, run over a distance of 1200 metres at Doomben Racecourse, Brisbane, Australia during the Queensland Winter Racing Carnival. Total prize money is A$ ...

on Waratah King when the horse came down, and he was thrown. Coniston went on to win the race. In 1952 Maynard won the

Queen's Cup The Queen's Cup was an annual football cup competition in Thailand, run by the Football Association of Thailand. The competition was named after Queen Sirikit. It was first contested in 1970, with Bangkok Bank and Royal Thai Air Force joint win ...

. Maynard was aged just 19 at the time, and won the race in a surprise win, on an outsider called Salamanca. The race had been expected to be a contest between the two favourites,

Hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...

and

Dalray Dalray was a notable New Zealand thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1952 Melbourne Cup and Mackinnon Stakes. Dalray was also famously a ‘certainty’ beaten in the 1952 Sydney Cup. When his owner was quizzed about the defeat he declared "P ...

, champion horses both ridden by experienced jockeys, Keith Nuttal and

. Maynard's only regret was that he did not get to meet the then Princess Elizabeth, later

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, who was, with husband

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

, Duke of Edinburgh, scheduled to hand out the trophies at the event. However, en route to their Australian engagements, the couple were visiting several African countries, and it was there that they received the news of the death of her father,

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

, so they had to return to England. The young princess would remember the win, however, and on a state visit forty years later asked to be introduced to Maynard. Also in 1952, Maynard rode Ocean Spray in the

Caulfield Cup The Caulfield Cup is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held under handicap conditions, although the Melbourne Racing Club is in the process of turning the race into weight for age (WFA) conditions. This is for all horses ...

. Around this time, when he was still under 21, he received an offer from brothers

Run Run Shaw Sir Run Run Shaw (19 November 1907 – 7 January 2014), also known as Shao Yifu and Siu Yat-fu, was a Hong Kong entertainment mogul and philanthropist. He was one of the most influential figures in the Asian entertainment industry. He founde ...

and

Run Me Shaw Runme Shaw, K.St.J (; 1 January 1901 – 2 March 1985) was the chairman and founder of the Shaw Organisation of Singapore. Runme Shaw and his brother, Run Run Shaw, together known as the Shaw Brothers, were pioneers in the film and entertainme ...

, to be their stable jockey in Singapore and

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. U ...

. He wanted to accept, but the

Australian Jockey Club Australian Turf Club (ATC) owns and operates thoroughbred racing, events and hospitality venues across Sydney, Australia. The ATC came into being on 7 February 2011 when the Australian Jockey Club (AJC) and the Sydney Turf Club (STC) merged. The ...

told him that they would not issue him with an Australian jockey's licence if he went. He continued to ride in Australia, and developed a special relationship with the horse Alinga (a name derived from

Aboriginal mythology Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology is the sacred spirituality represented in the stories performed by Aboriginal Australians within each of the language groups across Australia in their ceremonies. Aboriginal spirituality includes ...

, a kind of sun goddess), winning 19 country races on the black

gelding A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...

before starting to race him on the big city circuits. Alinga soon won some important races and became a favourite in some, including as equal favourite with Hydrogen in Brisbane (although did not win that one). In October 1953 Alinga broke his leg and after a couple of weeks of trying to save his life, the horse was destroyed under the direction of the

RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...

. Shortly after this, Maynard turned down a lucrative offer from a prestigious

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

stables, instead electing to ride the country cup circuit for many years, where he racked up numerous wins, possibly achieving a NSW record.

Riding abroad

In 1958, he accepted an offer from New Zealand trainer Larry Wiggins, and rode there for around a year, including for trainer George Green and owner American millionaire John de Blois Wack. After returning in 1959 he took up the city circuit again, winning his second premiership at Newcastle in 1960 and a number of other important races. He rode in Singapore and Malaysia for four years, where he was accompanied by his wife Judy, after accepting to ride for trainer Keith Daniels. There he won the Penang and Sultan's Cups, and rode winning horses for the Sultan of Johor, before returning to Australia in 1964. Judy was granted a trainer's licence in 1981, unusual for a woman in those days. However, Merv had a setback in 1982 when he was badly injured in a fall and trampled by a horse. Being extremely fit for a 50-year-old, he soon recovered and was back in the saddle three months later, and continued to ride winners for another 10 years.

Later life and death

Maynard finally retired from race riding on 1 August 1994, aged 62, but continued to ride in trackwork for several more years. Merv and Judy Maynard had a son, historian and academic John Maynard (of the

Purai Global Indigenous History Centre The University of Newcastle (UON), informally known as Newcastle University, is a public university in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1965, it has a primary campus in the Newcastle suburb of Callaghan. The university als ...

at Newcastle University), and five grandchildren. Merv and fellow Aboriginal jockey and Hall of Fame inductee,

Darby McCarthy Richard Laurence "Darby" McCarthy (1944 – 6 May 2020) was an Australian jockey. Early life McCarthy was born in a sandhills camp at Cunnamulla in Queensland, the son of Albert and Kate, who married at 13. Career He became one of Australia's ...

, passed on his love of horseracing to John, who has researched the topic and written about Aboriginal horsemanship. Merv Maynard died on 9 April 2017, aged 85.

Recognition

On 22 February 1992, Maynard met

at Randwick, by her request, along with Prince Philip. She wanted to win the winning jockey of the first Queen's Cup, and they chatted about horses and racing for about 40 minutes. Maynard was inducted into the Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame, an honour which he regarded as his greatest achievement. Upon his death, obituaries were published in ''

Newcastle Herald The ''Newcastle Herald'' (formerly branded as ''The Herald'') is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and ...

'' and other outlets. in

NAIDOC Week NAIDOC Week ( ) is an Australian observance lasting from the first Sunday in July until the following Sunday. The acronym NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee, which was originally National Aborigines Day ...

2020, Racing.com featured Maynard along with four other "

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

who have left their mark on racing":

Frank Reys Frank Reys (c.1931–1984) was an Aboriginal Australian jockey. He was the first, and the only Indigenous Australian jockey to win the prestigious Melbourne Cup when, in 1973, he rode to victory on Gala Supreme. Reys' career began in Northe ...

, Leigh-Ann Goodwin, and Rod Bynder.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maynard, Mervyn 1994 deaths Sportspeople from Sydney Indigenous Australian jockeys