To some, Dick Osborn was one of the lucky ones rescued from Maitland’s raging floodwaters of 1955.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
To many he was the essence of harness racing in the Hunter Valley and further afield.
But to all he was one of nature’s gentlemen.
Mr Osborn, of Sawyers Gully, died on Tuesday and tributes for the 83-year-old have flowed in from the community.
“One of nature’s gentlemen was Dick Osborn,” Maitland Harness Racing Club president Richard Earnshaw said.
“He was one of the great blokes of harness racing.”
Long-time friend, founding president of the Caduceus Club and former harness racing journalist Terry Radley echoed those sentiments.
“He was a real gentleman,” he said.
“A gentle person who I never remember having words with anyone.”
Mr Radley said this personality translated to the track, a place Mr Osborn spent most of his days.
“He was a very gifted horseman,” he said.
“And I can’t remember him ever being suspended for rough driving and he never protested, he just refused, because he didn’t think it was right.”
Mr Osborn was introduced to the sport by his father Harry, who had inherited the interest from road races conducted in Morpeth by his father.
At age 14, Mr Osborn drove the first of his 1041 winners,at Maitland in 1945 with Our Pick saluting at a charity gymkhana.
Four years later Mr Osborn created history when he won the first race at the first night meeting in Newcastle on board Garylyn.
By the time his career ended almost half a century later in the early 1990s following a race fall at Wyong, Mr Osborn had collected 33 Hunter Valley premierships, 17 for training and 16 for driving.
In one of his final interviews with the Maitland Mercury, Mr Osborn said a highlight from his time in the gig was a runner called Square Trotter.
“Square Trotter won three in a row at Harold Park,” Mr Osborn said in 2010.
“He was one of the best I have driven – I have driven a lot of horses but they were not up to his standard.”
This was the same time Mr Osborn became the first harness racing identity inducted into the Hunter Sporting Hall of Fame.
“It is very pleasing to get this reward,” Mr Osborn said in 2010.
“I was not expecting anything like this – I must be one of the lucky ones.”
He continued to supervise trials at Cessnock into his early 80s.
One glance around his rural property showed his passion for the sport with a shed full of bridles, a well-trodden training track and a lone stopwatch dangling from the fence.
It was this tireless service to the industry, which was passed onto his children and now fifth generation driver Josh, that saw the Dick Osborn Medal created for outstanding dedication to the harness racing community in the Hunter Region.
It will once again be presented at the annual awards night, but this Saturday night Mr Osborn will not be present.
However, Mr Osborn could be considered fortunate to have lived as long as he did after somehow surviving the infamous 1955 flood.
Walking along the train tracks toward East Maitland on February 25 a wall of water broke through the levee banks and along with six others he sought refuge in the signal box near Maitland railway station.
He was forced to jump into the murky depths and some six hours later was rescued by lifesavers in the Caves Beach Swansea surf boat.
In February, 2010, 55 years on from the Maitland disaster, Mr Osborn met fellow survivor Bruce Vitnell for the first time since that day.
Mr Osborn is survived by his wife Carmel and 10 children - Anne, Elizabeth, Lynn, Helen, Richard, Paul, Michael, Tony, Gerard and Charlie.
His funeral will be held on Friday at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Barton Street, Kurri Kurri, at 2pm.