Wayne
Wilson, nephew of Queensland legendary trainer Jack
Wilson who trained Eye Liner and son of bookmaker
Herbie Wilson, started calling the races in Gladstone
in central Queensland and moved to Brisbane's 4BC
(when they were the racing station) in around 1969.
“I
can’t recall the first race, but the first meeting
was the Gladstone Cup."
The
pay packet was a hefty 10 shillings a day, equal to
a dollar. “I thought it was okay —
I was on a milk run as a boy in Gladstone and got
about $2.25 for six mornings a week".
“I can’t remember ever making a conscious
decision to be a race caller, but had no doubt I’d
be involved in racing in some form,” he said.
“I love horses and it gets in your blood. The
jockeys, the personalities, the trainers and the thrill
of the punt — it’s an intoxicating sport.”
His grounding was ideal, calling races in Gladstone
and the region.
“You were working under extreme difficulties,
from the stool to the jockey room to what I work in
today, it’s been the bottom of the pile to the
Taj Mahal”
He
served as 4BC's #2 thoroughbred caller and harness
racing caller under legend Vince Curry for 13 years
until Vince retired in 1982.
Throughout
many years of calling, he got to call many of the
greatest horses to race in Queensland at the end of
the last century - Strawberry Road, Doomben champ
Chief De Beers, Apache Cat, Rough Habit and Black
Piranha.
"Of course I loved calling Rough Habit and
though I didn't call him much, I did call Strawberry
Road's Derby win. And I've got to say in recent times
Apache Cat's Doomben 10,000 wins were also memorable."
(Courier-Mail)
He
officially retired on August 7 in 2010, the 41st anniversary
of his first Brisbane race call. Fittingly, Wilson's
last race call was at the Gladstone Cup at Ferguson
Park racecourse the following Saturday, bowing out
at the place it all started.
“There
is no right time to walk away from something you love
doing but there are other things in life, like family,
that I want to devote more time to. I’m sure
my professional life will still revolve around racing
but on a reduced level”.
Alongside
his achievements of calling champions Wayne has been
a successful owner including winning the Macdougall
Stakes with a horse called Do You Remember.
"I'll
miss it like hell. I just love doing it and racing
has been my life."
