A FAMILIAR face has been missing from race meetings in the central west over the past couple of weeks, with renowned racecaller Colin Hodges on the sick list.
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Hodges, widely regarded as the voice of country racing, has been ill with a blood infection that he picked up prior to Mudgee’s Easter Sunday race meeting, and after two stints in hospital he is hopeful he is on the mend.
Sky Racing’s Josh Fleming stepped in to fill the gap at Mudgee while Anthony Manton called Sunday’s Diggers Cup meeting on Sunday, however Hodges is hopeful he will be back behind the microphone for this Saturday’s Soldier’s Saddle race day at Bathurst.
He was released from his second stay in hospital yesterday afternoon, and while he admits he is not 100 per cent yet he says he is on the mend.
“I got crook a few days before that Mudgee meeting and I left it until about 8pm the night before the meeting to tell them I wasn’t well enough to call,” Hodges said.
“I reckon it’s the first time in my race calling career that I haven’t been able to front up for a meeting because of illness.
“I was silly. I put off going to the doctor until I got pretty crook and I had to go in to hospital.
“They let me out and I went and called the non-TAB meeting at Grenfell the weekend before last, and I probably shouldn’t have.
“I’ve been back in hospital on the drip for four or five days but they’ve let me back out and hopefully I’m on the mend.”
Despite missing out on being at the track, Hodges has kept an ear on the meetings from his hospital bed.
“I thought Anthony Manton did a good job at Narromine on Sunday, and it sounded like good racing,” he said.
“I got a real shock when Millenium Hawk won the Diggers Cup. Kylie Kennedy has done a good job with him but he’s the kind of horse that just bobs up when you least expect him to.”
Hodges wasn’t the only one surprised with the eight-year-old’s win in the feature event.
After failing to beat a runner home at his previous two starts, punters sent Millenium Hawk out as a $51 chance and he paid in excess of $70 on the NSW TAB.