Episode 380: Neil Paine

You can’t say Neil Paine has created a trend with his wardrobe of colourful outfits because nobody else has followed a similar path. Unperturbed he’ll continue to set the pace in his role as race day manager for the Waterhouse/Bott yard. Neil joins us on the podcast to talk about his riding career and his current role. He explains the origins of the race day apparel. Neil reflects on the Noumea race fall that ended his very successful riding career. He looks back on a lengthy rehabilitation and the phone call from Gai Waterhouse which would decide his life after race riding. Neil looks back on an association with the stable which began when Tommy Smith regularly provided him with rides. Gai continued to use Neil’s services following her father’s retirement. He talks about his involvement with trackwork and his role when representing the stable at outside meetings. The former jockey talks of the breach of Covid protocol which landed him in hot water on Golden Slipper day 2020. Neil pays tribute to his father Reg, a former champion country jockey who has been his greatest inspiration. He recalls a short stint in Brisbane under the tutelage of Colin and Pam O’Neill. Neil talks of his apprenticeship at Randwick to former successful trainer Albert McKenna, who had produced two top junior riders previously. Paine has never forgotten his first winning ride at a small Grenfell meeting, and the thrill of his first city win at Rosehill. He bent the rules in crossing from a wide gate. He looks back on a fairy tale win on bush filly Kisses For Kathy in the 1984 Silver Slipper. He remembers the filly’s colourful trainer who met with a tragic accident a few years later. Neil still rues his unlucky defeat in the 1985 Epsom. He says it was the one that got away. He recalls an amazing win on a talented mare called Seeker’s Gold from the Max Crockett stable. Memories of his first and only Gr 1 success remain vivid. He remembers his Orlando Classic victory for the Hayes stable. Neil thought he had another Gr 1 in the bag when he hit the front on Dandy Andy in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. It was not to be. He looks back on another stakes win for David Hayes on Eastern Classic in the Hill Stakes. The popular horseman looks back on the most bittersweet experience of his racing career. Adherence to riding instructions cost him a win in the Inglis Classic at Rosehill in 1991- a defeat which cost him the ride on Tierce who would go on to clean sweep the 2YO races through the autumn of that year. Neil talks of his four children and the racing influence in the lives of his daughters Taylor, Sheridan, Shannon and son Blake. He acknowledges a brother-in-law and nephew who have made their marks as jockeys.