When you think of champion horses the Hunter Valley immediately springs to mind, but normally it's Scone and Muswellbrook breeders and owners who come to the fore.
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But in 1949 Dungog was the centre of attention when Foxzami won the Melbourne Cup in front of a crowd of 110,000 by nearly three lengths securing the prize pool.
Foxzami was owned by one-time Dungog taxi driver Leonard Gladwin Robinson (1898-1955) and paid the handsome odds of 16/1.
A long list of punters made significant windfalls including Sydney pianist Mr. Benny Oddy and his wife who, placed a bet a year in advance after hearing Leonard declare his horse "Foxzami" would be the next Melbourne Cup winner.
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Twelve months out they were given odds of 500/1.
Leonard first ventured into buying race horses in 1941 when he purchased Blanmar and later Vocal Gem. Blanmar won enough money to send Leonard around the world on a holiday.
Sired in 1944, Foxzami was a New Zealand thoroughbred who Leonard purchased for only 800 guineas at the 1946 Annual NZ National Sales.
The colt had received superficial injuries to his thigh during transit and was not favoured by Australian buyers.
The owner of Foxzami, Neville Souter sent the horse to market against Seton Otway's advice as he could sense the potential.
Just shy of his fifth birthday Foxzami, under the famous training of Dan Lewis (who was well into his 70s), delivered Mr Lewis's first Melbourne Cup win.
Foxzami was the second son of Nizami to win the Melbourne Cup.
By the end of 1949 Foxzami had won prize money totalling £18,784 (the equivalent of $1,083,638 today).
Foxzami injured his sesamoid bone in 1950 and while he recovered and ran again, he did not win the 1951 Melbourne Cup as Leonard had hoped.
During 1950, Leonard travelled the world looking for a mare to mate with Foxzami. His quest took him to the USA, England, Ireland and Europe.
On returning to Australia Leonard said he could have sold Foxzami to the Americans but instead he kept the horse in Australia.
When Leonard enlisted for service in World War I he lived at 'Gladwyn' Audley Street, Petersham; and his occupation was motor engineer.
His parents owned a jewellery business in Sydney. As did his two brothers later in life.
On August 7, 1919, at the age of 21 he married Kate Edith Powell (25) in England, and they had two children.
While Leonard enlisted in Sydney, he was allocated to the 8th Reinforcements for the 34th Battalion.
The 34th Battalion (Maitland's Own) was raised in January 1916 at Maitland. The original intention was that most of the recruits would be from the surrounding including Dungog.
As the Battalion suffered casualties, reinforcements were drawn from areas outside of the Hunter. Thus, Leonard was to serve with a number of men who all from the Dungog district.
It is likely that his appearance in Dungog in early 1920s was due to this bond with fellow soldiers.
He was a driver in the Battalion so working as a taxi driver in Dungog made sense at the time. He began his taxi service in December 1923 from the Bank Hotel.
On June 10,1924 Leonard was driving his taxi in Wangat when he and his passengers were involved in a car crash. The accident killed three female Bank Hotel employees, two buried in Dungog Cemetery, others left with serious injuries including Leonard.
The 1949 Melbourne Cup was sold at auction when his estate was finally wound up in the late 1970s.
I have been told the buyer was hoping to use the cup for the Sydney to Hobart race, however, could not get permission to use that style of cup. It was sold again for an estimated $80,000.
Lesley Thompson Dungog Past, Present and Future.
