Cyril Small turns back the clock at Lismore

It might have been a while since his last winner … but Cyril Small showed he has still ‘got it’ when piloting the $17 chance Tempress Katie to a hard fought win at Lismore on Tuesday.

At sixty-four years of age, Small was still showing the youngsters a thing or two.

To put Small’s longevity in perspective, take the CF Orr Stakes, which will be run in Melbourne on Saturday, as an example.

Small last won the CF Orr in 1990 … that’s thirty-three years ago.

That win of course came aboard the mighty Vo Rogue, a horse with whose name Small’s career will always be synonymous … and why wouldn’t it be.

Of Vo Rogue’s twenty-six wins, Small was in the saddle on no less than twenty two occasions which included six Group 1 wins (in the Australia Cup twice, in the Futurity, in the William Reid, in the Winfield and in the George Main) and ten Group 2 wins (in the CF Orr three times, the Turnbull twice, the Blamey twice, the St George twice and the A Clark).

Although Small only rode Vo Rogue four times in the horse’s first eighteen starts, he then, with only one exception (when Peter Cook ride him) partnered the son of Ivor Prince in in sixty-four of his sixty-five starts from March 9, 1987 through to his last start at the Gold Coast on May 20, 1991, thus writing a long-serving, unique, historic racehorse/jockey combination story on the wall of Australian racing.

So, while that win at Lismore on Tuesday might have brought a touch of nostalgia to some … the warm feeling of fond memories … it also put a marvel on show in the present time.

The man is still winning races.