Episode 477: Peter Graham

Great to catch up with northern NSW riding legend Peter Graham who’s still going strong at 55 years of age and closing in on 2500 career wins. Peter was born and reared at Wauchope and virtually taught himself to ride at the local racecourse. When it was time to launch his professional riding career he chose Port Macquarie as his home base and he’s still there today. Peter begins by talking about younger daughter Rori who’s getting over a nasty trackwork injury. He pays tribute to daughter Cejay, currently one of Brisbane’s in form jockeys. Peter talks of son Jesse who rode a few winners before opting for a change of career direction. He acknowledges the help given by wife Karen at his Port Macquarie training property. He talks of his role as the holder of a dual training and riding licence. Peter looks back on the Wauchope trackwork accident that left him with a condition known as “frozen shoulder”. The veteran says he thought about retirement but decided on a return to race riding when his shoulder injury improved. Peter looks back on early days at Wauchope and his initial apprenticeship to Bob Graham. He says he had no real tutelage in those early days. Eventually he moved to Muswellbrook. The respected horseman reflects on his first win as a 36kg apprentice. He talks of an affinity with the Kempsey track where he’s won 6 local Cups. Peter looks back on an imposing list of feature wins on northern tracks with special mention of his Grafton Cup win on Rednav as recently as 2016. He pays tribute to Rednav’s trainer Sally Taylor. He looks back on several rewarding seasons on NSW tracks. Peter says country commitments have kept him away from city tracks, but recalls one day at Randwick that turned out to be an unpleasant experience. He talks of the ten acre farm at Port Macquarie from which he prepares his small string of horses. The versatile horseman talks about recent track improvements at Port Macquarie racecourse. Peter talks of the immense thrill he received when daughter Cejay rode her first winner for the stable. He discusses the prospects of members of his small team going forward. Peter pays tribute to some of the talented country jockeys with whom he’s ridden over the years. It’s a long overdue tribute to one of the kings of northern NSW racing.