There were times Max Presnell and Ken Callander – two doyens of Australian turf writing – were threatened with being warned off Royal Randwick because they had written articles seen as too critical of the old Australian Jockey Club.
“Now they’ve rolled out the red carpet and named a race after us,” Presnell said.
Ken Callander and Max Presnell have had a $1 million race named in their honour.
The inaugural Callander-Presnell will be run at Randwick on Saturday, with the $1 million purse fitting for two mates who have seen their share of fast and slow horses and reported on countless quirky tales from the track, many of which were then re-told after deadline over a cold beer or eight at the Doncaster Hotel or the old Rusty Shovel at Kensington RSL.
Presnell, an 82-year-old grey, is the Herald’s long-serving racing columnist, having started out as a copy boy in 1954, and initially had plans to head to Moonee Valley for the Cox Plate this weekend.
“The fact I’m now not going to Moonee Valley shows you this race means something special to me,” Presnell said. “I should also tell you that my wife, Colleena, found about the race in my name and said if I still went to the Cox Plate, she’d file for divorce.”
Presnell worked in England between 1961 and 1964, and was forced home early because he blew all his money in one night at a casino. He saved up plenty of cash with the plan to “plonk it all on the one horse” at Royal Ascot, only for the meeting to be washed out for the first time in 50 years.
Golden Mile (blue) is favourite to take out the Callander-Presnell at Royal Randwick on Saturday.Credit:Getty
He loved competing against Callander for stories, but was even more appreciative of the fact they became lifelong friends.
Callander, now 77 years young, will not be at Randwick as he recovers from recent surgery. Still sharp in mind, Callander said of Presnell: “If there is one person I enjoy standing beside at a bar, laughing and telling stories, it’s Max.”
Like Presnell, Callander was thrilled to have a race named in his honour. “When I first walked on to Randwick as a 17-year-old, it would have been fanciful to think a race was going to be named after ‘Kenny Callander’.
Callander became famous for his segments on Channel Nine’s Wide World Of Sports back in the days when you could only watch the Saturday races on free-to-air TV.
One of his favourite anecdotes is about how the late Kerry Packer once ordered him to ignore his on-air commitments just 30 seconds before he was due to appear on camera, so he could place a bet with the bookies.
Callander’s favourite horses when starting out were Bogan Road and Sky High. Winx remains the best he has seen.
For the record, Callander and Presnell could not go past hot favourite Golden Mile to win the race named in their honour. Presnell was happy to throw Kris Lees’ Flag Of Honour in for the quinella. Both scribes have been known to enjoy a punt.
The Rusty Shovel is no more, and many of racing’s biggest characters have disappeared from the sport. Presnell experienced a rare first on the track last Saturday when he dusted off his glasses to enjoy the electronic beats of Peking Duk late on Everest Day at Randwick.
But how wonderful it is that two of the great storytellers now have a race of their own.
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