Tony Bourke, the legendary Age racing chief writer dubbed “The King”, has died. He was 81. He passed away peacefully in a Melbourne nursing home on Tuesday morning.
Bourke worked for The Age for 42 years before retiring after the 2008 Melbourne spring carnival.
He began his distinguished career as a copy boy at The Truth newspaper in 1955, before shifting to The Age in 1966.
Tony Bourke, the legendary Age racing writer, has died.Credit:The Age
Through his time at The Age, where he was chief racing writer for 20 years, Bourke covered some of the biggest names the sport has produced, including Bart Cummings, T.J. Smith, Geoff Murphy, Colin Hayes and Darby McCarthy. He was a friend to many, but was always prepared to write the hard story.
The background behind his nickname varies, but he was dubbed the “Quadrella King”, having once pocketed winnings over successive weeks at the track.
Bourke lived life to the full, and always had a colourful story from the track to tell.
Friends on Tuesday recalled his infectious personality, endless contact list, willingness to help others, and fashionably late entrances to functions. He also enjoyed trips to England to cover the Epsom Derby, and memorably once extended his stay at an expensive London hotel, much to the chagrin of The Age’s bean counters.
In an interview in The Age with Max Presnell after his final spring carnival, Bourke was asked to nominate the best jockey he had seen.
“Roy Higgins matched it with any as far as Australians go,” he said.
“John Miller was a great hands-and-heels jockey. Darby McCarthy, at his peak, was a sensational horseman. They were geniuses. Higgins at his best was equally as good in Sydney as Melbourne. Many Melbourne jockeys didn’t fire in Sydney.”
Horses, too, also left an indelible memory.
“When I saw Tulloch, I thought I’d never see a better horse, and I haven’t,” Bourke said.
“A couple might get near him, possibly Kingston Town. It was a tragedy he never won a Melbourne Cup. At his [Tulloch’s] first start in 23 months [he nearly died in that time] at Flemington, he went around against the local idol Lord, who started favourite. It was a two-horse war down the straight, and nobody knew who won. When Tulloch’s number went up, people actually did throw hats in the air.”
After his retirement from The Age, Bourke joined Racing Victoria, where he helped foreign journalists covering the Melbourne spring carnival. He is one of 10 life members of the Victorian Racing Media Association.
