The former High Court judge Michael McHugh walked tall in law and on the racecourse, where Happy Max is again wearing the right hat.
Both are examples of the truism that all people are as equal on the turf as under it. His Honour will be given Australian Turf Club life membership at Royal Randwick on Saturday, while Max Cocks, whose beaming smile has previously shone from under an eye-catching “Eduardo” cap, will be at Eagle Farm for Think About It in the $3 million Stradbroke.
Think About It swoops down the centre of the track to win the Takeover Target Stakes at Gosford last month.Credit: Getty
Yes, Happy Max is closer to horse manure than His Honour, being employed by Joe Pride at Warwick Farm, where he mucks out boxes, checks the water buckets, takes horses to the track and supplies conversation in the early hours.
Happy Max starts at 5am after catching two trains and bus. Earlier this year, the Eduardo topper was becoming weather-worn and he replaced it with one championing “Think About It” – a sprinter which, at the time, had only two provincial wins and a Warwick Farm placing on his scoresheet. Asked about the change, Happy Max enthused: “He’s going to be real good.”
Watch for the biggest grin at Eagle Farm if Think About It scores.
Joy abounds on the racecourse but only for short periods. Being with Pride, Max has plenty to be elated about.
Michael McHugh in 1983.Credit: Fairfax
His Honour is more reserved, yet for decades he has enjoyed that inner warmth from backing winners. When a highly successful punting group dubbed the Legal Eagles were reported to have won millions in the 1960s and seventies, His Honour was soaking up turf success on the quiet.
Playmaker for the Legal Eagles was Don Scott – cerebral and bearded with a likeness to the French artist Toulouse-Lautrec. The only member skilled at law was Clive Evatt, who bounded around the betting ring like Tom Burgess on the boil. The third was Bob Charley, who was tall with a longer stride and became chairman of the Australian Jockey Club and a major contributor to the industry, and, ironically, has the main event at Randwick on Saturday named after him.
Scott wrote books about winning at the races. While the Legal Eagles boomed, His Honour was one out using his own judgment, and was going better.
According to bookmaker Rob Waterhouse, Michael McHugh won bigger and went for longer than the Legal Eagles. Alas, there was less chance of getting a tip off him than an early release of a High Court judgment.
Happy Max has more of a grassroots involvement but His Honour, foaled in 1935, kicked off at Newcastle where his father was a miner and steelworker. Always a punter, His Honour left school at 15 and delivered telegrams and laboured in a sawmill before going on the legal path to the highest judicial post in the nation.
The expertise of His Honour and Charley will be tested with the Bob Charley Stakes, which is at best a reasonable winter sprint. Pride has three acceptors – Dragonstone, Ourbullseye Beauty, and Dehorned Unicorn.
On the other hand, the group 1 Stradbroke (1400m) promises to be a vintage chapter.
Despite being immature, Think About It has overcome every hurdle so far including being wide at his last two starts. The So You Think four-year-old gelding has put together eight wins and a third from his nine starts, including the group 1 Kingsford-Smith Cup.
Guarded though his judgment was, His Honour always gave the impression that three-year-olds at this stage of the season had an advantage, which points to the highly promising Aft Cabin, Royal Merchant, Ruthless Dane and Hawaii Five Oh spicing up the case against Think About It.
Perhaps I’ve done His Honour a disservice. Being able to deduce the best figures, track bias and trends, he once did decree the following racecourse tip: “The afternoon tea at Rosehill is superior to Randwick.”
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