22 Tattler Summer 2015 VALE Bart Cummings On Sunday 30 August 2015 Australia awoke to the tragic news that legendary racehorse trainer James Bartholomew Cummings OAM had died at the age of 87. Surrounded by his family at his home in Sydney Bart passed away peacefully in the early hours of the morning. Bart Cummings had an extraordinary career that spanned seven decades and included 12 Melbourne Cup wins. He is firmly entrenched in Australian history as the greatest race horse trainer in Australian history and the Cups King. Born in 1927, Bart was raised in Adelaide. A boy with chronic asthma, he was told at the age of 16 that he should stay away from horses and chaff, advice that he clearly ignored. His first win was at 23 as a Strapper for the 1950 Melbourne Cup winner Comic Court, trained by his father. Three years later he was granted his trainers license and the rest is history. He won his first Melbourne Cup with Light Fingers in 1965. Tattersall’s Club was most fortunate to have Bart as one of its guests at a memorable Sportsman’s Grill Nights in December 2005. Bart will be greatly missed by both the racing community and the Australian public, but will always be remembered as the racing legend he was; the Cups King. BART CUMMING’S ACHIEVEMENTS • Winner of almost 7,000 races including 760 stakes races • 268 Group One winners • Feature race wins include the Melbourne Cup (12), Caulfield Cup (7), Cox Plate (5), Golden Slipper (4), Australian Cup (13) as well as 32 Derbies and 24 Oaks • Champions include Galilee, Light Fingers, Taj Rossi, Leilani, Beau Zam, Let's Elope, Saintly and So You Think • 12 Melbourne Cup wins earning him the nickname of Cups King • Inaugural inductee into the Racing Hall of Fame in 2001 • Made a member of the Order of Australia in 1982 for services to the racing industry Sourced from: www.abc.net.au
Tattler Summer 2015
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