The Professor . . .Roy Higgins.

THE PROFESSOR . . . ROY HIGGINS

Roy Higgins with Terry Vine (1984) $29

Everyone loved Roy Higgins. A warm and genuine character with a great sense of humour, the boy from the bush was known as 'The Professor' for his freakish ability to read the track and his easy eloquence. Higgins' racing record was extraordinary. He rode Bart Cummings' first Melbourne Cup winner, Light Fingers, in 1965, and was one of a handful of jockeys to win the grand slam of racing- the Golden Slipper, Cox Plate, Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup.

Over his 30-year career, Higgins clocked up 2312 wins, including 108 Group 1 races. All this, despite a never-ending battle with his weight.

Roy Higgins died in March 2014, aged 75. His televised funeral took place in the mounting yard at Flemington, a fitting tribute to the humble man who had a profound effect on horseracing for more than five decades as jockey, commentator and teacher. This is a celebration of a great Australian, with racing royalty, friends and family sharing their stories and memories of Roy Higgins, the gentle trailblazer who touched their lives.

'Roy has been an inspiration, an icon and a legend. His legacy will live on forever .' - Damien Oliver

'Roy wasn't just a great jockey and a fine ambassador for racing - that's only half the story. He was a great human being, and that might be the bigger story . . . because it's harder to be a great human being.' - Les Carlyon

FACT FILE: ROY HENRY HIGGINS MBE (5 June 1938 – 8 March 2014) was an Australian jockey who rode from the late 1950s to the early 1980s. His talent in the saddle was to later earn him the nickname "The Professor".

Higgins was born in Koondrook, Victoria and grew up in the southern New South Wales town of Deniliquin where, in 1953, he was apprenticed to local horse trainer Jim Watters.

Despite a constant battle with his weight, Higgins won almost every major race on the Australian calendar. He rode a total of 2312 winners during his career and won the Melbourne Jockeys' Premiership a record-equalling 11 times.

His first premiership win was in the 1964/65 racing season.

Higgins' last race ride was at Flemington in October 1983, after which he declared his ambition was “to be a little fat man”. He continued to be employed in the racing industry as a commentator on TV and radio, particularly on Melbourne radio. He also lectured in the jockey training program at the Northern Lodge Training Centre of the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE.

Higgins was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1987.

In the June 1974 Queen’s Birthday Honours, Higgins was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to "Horse racing as a jockey".

Higgins was married to Genine. Although they were separated they remained friends. They had two daughters.

 AUTHOR: TERRY VINE Sydney-born and Brisbane educated, began his career at the Brisbane Courier-Mail in 1954 and is one of Australia’s versatile journalists.

He was the Melbourne Herald’s sports editor from 1973-79 and was editor of the Australian Post in 1982-83.

Vine won a Walkley Award , Australia’s most prestigious journalism prize, for sub-editors while at The Age in 1971 and his late father, Jim, was the Courier Mail’s racing editor for 25 years.

Married with six growing children, Vine was a senior features writer at the Melbourne Sun News Pictorial , and was a member of the Victorian Welsh Male Voice Choir.

He died in May 2013.

PUBLISHER:  Caribou Publications, Melbourne. Hardcover 310mm x 152mm. 200 pages. Black and white photographs.  ISBN: 095911551. Weight:  3800g.

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