Episode 392: Larry Olsen

Who better to join us at Melbourne Cup time than former jockey Larry Olsen who joined the chosen few when he won the 1987 Cup on Kensei.  A couple of years earlier Larry was dairy farming at Kyogle and his weight had soared to 80kgs. The popular jockey’s spectacular comeback made headlines around the world. He looks back on a life changing win. Larry remembers how his association with Kensei began. He takes us through the races leading up to the Cup triumph including a win in the Grafton Cup- one of the jockey’s favourite races. He relives the dream run that helped Kensei to snatch victory from a Cummings duo. Larry recalls that Kensei never won another race.  He talks of his bittersweet memories of the day. Stewards grilled him over another ride on the programme which landed him in the worst kind of trouble. Larry takes us back to the days of his apprenticeship to Mal Barnes in Queensland. He explains that his very first race ride was in Sydney. In 1972 a horse called Triton came into his life at a time when his career was flagging. He looks back on two elite wins aboard the horse with “shelly feet”. Many racing men have forgotten that Larry Olsen won six races on Gunsynd before the horse went to Tommy Smith. Larry remembers the budding champion who later thrilled Australian racing fans under the popular nickname of the “Goondiwindi Grey”. The former talented jockey joined an elite group of riders to win a Melbourne Cup and a Golden Slipper in the same season. He looks back on his one and only ride on Star Watch. Larry talks of the “flat spot” he hit in 1981 when the rigours of the sweat box were getting him down. Along came one of the best horses he ever got to ride. He pays tribute to Best Western. He recalls a brief association with the marvellous veteran Battle Heights- a second in the Caulfield Cup and a freakish mishap in the Melbourne Cup. Larry clearly recalls the exact moment when he knew his life as a jockey was over. The popular horseman talks of his happy 16 years as a Sky Racing presenter. He became one of the voices of Queensland racing. There’s little doubt a lighter Larry Olsen would have reached dizzy heights in the Australian riding ranks. Still 1000 wins and 24 Gr 1’s ain’t bad. He shares some special memories with us, thirty five years after his Cup triumph.