Some great names in the Interstate Ring at Wenty.
Jeff Collerson– John Stollery (JS) was the biggest. Freddy Stapleton was a great bloke. His first meeting as a bookie was at Lithgow. Freddy had saved up $3000 as a bank. When he got there it had been snowing. They said the meeting would be abandoned if nobody could organise a working team to get the snow & ice off the track. Freddy got a working party together and after 2 hrs the track was safe & the meeting went a head. Freddy knocked off his $3000! What an intro to being a bookie. Gee I miss him.
Jeff Holland– Jeff Collerson Freddy once told me he went on a holiday. OK, you’re thinking it never happened, but he looked me in the eye, and said it was the worst 2 days of his life, 1 day driving there, 1 day driving back, and of course 30-40 minutes in between wondering what do you do off a racetrack.
Jeff Holland– I’m probably 22-23, Fred takes me aside one night, and says Jeff, Friday night, you’re not working? I said to him, I work every day but Sunday, Saturday, it’s 18 races at Mossy, then 10 at Wenty or HP, aside from form, I still like a night out with frends. He said, you either live the life or you don’t. For bookies, working every day, it was the life.
Jeff Collerson– Jeff Holland I once took a group on a tour of US greyhound tracks. Freddy hated flying & was going to come but bailed out when he noticed our carrier on one flight between states was Frontier Airlines! He sent his girlfriend Shirley on the trip instead.