Winning Post - Letter Of The Week Archive

In 1923, when registration of racehorses came in and before the Tarryoukyan (Vic) Cup meeting took place, Tom Barret went to Melbourne and registered his family’s horse White Ankle, unbeknown to the bookmakers.

Tom was over six feet tall, and thus known as "Stumpy".

Bookmakers, assuming the horse was unregistered and would therefore be disqualified should he win, freely offered 10/1 about White Ankle. Tom’s mother put £10 on the horse at that price and Tom rode him.

The late Bob McClure of Harrow wrote the following poem and related the story to me.

At the Tarrayoukyan races,

In 1923,

The way White Ankle won the cup

Was wonderful to see

The crowd they thought he was a dud,

They called him an outsider,

But Stumpy knew what he could do,

He had a splendid rider.

"10 to 1," the books called out,

"Come put your money down,"

Tom put in a tenner