Melbourne Cup winner, regarded as one of Australia’s horse racing greats, dies after riding for legends like Bart Cummings
- Top jockey John Duggan has passed away
- Duggan won the Melbourne Cup
- Tributes have poured in for the legend
Tributes have poured in for John Duggan after the former jockey died Tuesday.
A former Melbourne Cup winner, Duggan has been hailed as one of the sport’s greatest jockeys by Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys following his passing.
“John Duggan was one of the greatest jockeys of his day and a natural horseman with tremendous scope,” said V’landys.
“He was an exceptionally talented rider who won many feature races including the Golden Slipper and the Melbourne Cup.
“John will be missed by the industry and we would like to extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends.”
Australian racing is in mourning after the death of legendary jockey John Duggan
Duggan won the Melbourne Cup with a host of top prizes during his decorated career
Duggan was mentored as a young rider by the late Theo Green who also helped Darren Beadman, Ron Quinton, Maurice Logue and Malcolm Johnston become top class jockeys.
He won a plethora of top level races during his decorated career, including his first Group 1 win in the Golden Slipper in 1976 at Vivarchi, along with the Melbourne Cup the following year with Gold and Black.
Duggan also won the Sydney Apprentice titles in 1969-70 and 1971-72 and twice won the Villiers Stakes at Randwick at Silver Points (1970) and Torumba (1972).
The star jockey won a number of Group 1 wins, including the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Apollo Eleven in 1973 and the Ming Dynasty in 1978, as well as the Tancred Stakes on Apollo Eleven the same year he won the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
He rode for many trainers, including Jack Denham, Tommy Smith, Guy Walter and Brian Mayfield-Smith, but was once the stable jockey for the legendary Bart Cummings.