Members of the racing community all over the country paid tribute to Pat Webster on the weekend after the popular trainer saddled up a horse for the last time.
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Webster has spent 55 years in the racing industry and while he might have been known as a Sydney-based trainer in more recent times, his career began at the Geurie racecourse.
Starting as an apprentice jockey aged just 14, Webster made the move to the small village to work with legendary couple Betty Lane and Tiger Holland.
Lane would later go on to be the first female trainer granted a licence to train at Royal Randwick by the Australian Jockey Club, and it was she who provided Webster's first winner as he scored with Valley Forge at Gulgong.
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He was a little known apprentice then but fast forward more than five decades and a special presentation was being held for the retiring Webster at Newcastle.
There was no dream finish on Saturday for Webster, known best for many as the trainer of Happy Clapper, as his hope Kosciusko had to settle for second.
The sentimental favourite, who carried the top weight, led for much of the journey but was edged out by Leave Me Some.
While his training days are over he will remain involved in the industry through his work with Racing NSW, where he is its Drugs and Alcohol mentor and Racing Mates ambassador.
"That part is closed but when I look here ... all these lovely people, I'm still going to see those people all the time with what I do with Racing NSW," he told Sky Racing on Saturday.
"The training side is finished, it's really sad, but I'll have a cry tonight over a glass of red."
Webster had previously spoken about his time in Geurie following the death of Holland in 2008.
"I was apprenticed to Betty Lane at Geurie when Tiger was still riding but essentially they were a team," Webster said at the time.
"I had just lost my mother and they took me in and I stayed there until I came to Sydney three or four years later ... who knows where I would be if they hadn't given me a start."
Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
