Thoroughbreds » Inductees » Jockeys
Please select a jockey below:
- Frank Treen inducted in 2007
- Damien Oliver inducted in 2007
- Frank 'Tiger' Moore inducted in 2010
- John J Miller inducted in 2010
Frank Treen (1940s/1980s)
This little man is truly a giant of Western Australian racing – Frank Treen was our premier jockey eight times and, in a career spanning 36 years, rode more than 2000 winners.
An outstanding horseman he will be best remembered for his ability to have his mount in a winning position at the right time - if the horse didn't win it wasn't his fault.
His battles with Frank "Tiger" Moore during the sixties are legendary and it can only be wondered what would have been the record of either, without the competition of the other. Frank Treen was WA's leading apprentice in his first full season 1946/47 and won three successive titles.
During his outstanding career, besides being WA's premier jockey eight times, his 2000 winners included winning rides in every state in Australia including a Brisbane Cup, Australia Cup, Hobart Cup, Moonee Valley Cup and countless others.
He rode six winners from seven rides in 1967 at Ascot and was victorious in five Perth Cups, six Kalgoorlie Cups, three Bunbury Cups as well as four Railway Stakes, six Karrakatta Plates and six WA Derbies. In fact Frank holds the Australian record for the number of Metropolitan Cups he won.
Frank Treen retired in 1982 and passed away unexpectedly in 1993.
Damien Oliver (1980s/present)
There can rarely have been a better ambassador of any sport in this State than champion jockey Damien Oliver.
The only West Australian jockey to complete the Grand Slam of Melbourne and Caufield Cups, W.S Cox Plate and Golden Slipper, Damien was born in 1972 to a well known Perth racing family.
Working for Lindsey Rudland, Damien rode 66 winners and was WA's leading apprentice in 1988/89 before going to Victoria and joining the Lee Freedman stable.
He rode 478 winners as an apprentice, including 18 Group One's, his first in the VATC Vic Health Cup on Submariner, trained by Bart Cummings.
He won the Victorian Jockeys premiership twice while still an apprentice. During the next 10 years he won 5 senior Victorian jockey premierships making a total of seven, 2 Melbourne Cups, 4 Caulfield Cups, and twice the W.S Cox Plate.
He has now won more than 60 Group One races and was awarded the Scobie Breasley medal as Victoria's top jockey, six times, including four consecutive wins from 2001 to 2004. He captured the hearts of all Australians in 2002, when he dedicated his Melbourne Cup winning ride on Media Puzzle to his brother Jason, who was killed in a fall in a trial at Belmont Park just the week before.
When Damien bounced back from a horrific race fall to win the Golden Slipper aboard Forensics in April 2007, legendary rider and Australian Hall of Famer, Roy Higgins, commented, "he's the best rider in Australia - possibly one of the best in the world," "What we're seeing now is the man I declared 10 years ago as the best rider in the country. He hasn't lost a thing," said Higgins.
Frank 'Tiger' Moore (1940s/1970s)
Born in Perth in 1926 and raised in Redcliffe by his parents Frank and Ellen Moore, a young Frank Moore gained the nickname ‘Tiger’ early in life. Hon. Bill Mitchell, Member of Parliament for Murchison, often stayed with the Moore family while in Perth. Many of the local children would come and play football at the family’s property and as a young Frank burst out of the pack with the ball Mr Mitchell yelled ‘Go Tiger’ and the name stuck.
Leaving school at the age of 14, Tiger became indentured to Ascot trainer Bunny Hyde in 1940. It was in the 1946-47 season that Tiger won the first of six metropolitan jockey premierships. His battles during the 1950s and 1960s with champion riders such as Frank Treen and Eric Treffone are legendary.
Tiger was a natural sportsman who played off a low golf handicap, however it was his prowess in the saddle that race goers long remember. His record of nine W.A. St. Legers, eight W.A. Oaks, seven W.A. Derbies and five Karrakatta Plates are the envy of any jockey.
Tiger had a strong association with leading Ascot trainer ‘Jock’ Campbell, combining to win many races, including the 1962 Western Australian Guineas and Western Australian Derby with outstanding galloper Nicopolis.
It was Tiger’s association with the champion Aquanita that raised him to prominence on the national racing scene, partnering the horse to seven of his eight wins in the 1962/63 season, including the W.S. Cox Plate, L.K.S. Mackinnon Stakes and Underwood Stakes.
One of Tiger’s greatest honours was being introduced to Queen Elizabeth II during her first Royal Visit to Australia in 1954.
Tiger rode successfully in Malaysia for several seasons, however, weight problems forced his retirement from the saddle in 1975.
In a career spanning 35 years, Tiger rode in excess of 2000 winners and won almost every major race on the Western Australian racing calendar.
Frank ‘Tiger’ Moore passed away in 1992, aged 66.
John J Miller (1960s/1990s)
John James (‘JJ’) Miller was born in Fremantle in 1933 to John (Snr) and Elsie, becoming the newest member of the Miller racing dynasty.
JJ left school at the age of 14, to become indentured to his father John (Snr.) who held a Trainers licence. JJ rode his first winner in 1947 after just six race rides. John (Snr.) also owned the local bakery in Palmyra and JJ was known to place wet hessian bags in the bread oven, creating a makeshift sauna to assist him in losing weight.
As a young jockey, JJ rode in Perth, Mauritius, Melbourne, Brisbane and Singapore, where he won the 1963 jockeys premiership. In 1964 JJ moved to Adelaide to ride for Bart Cummings and Colin Hayes, winning the 1965/66 Adelaide jockeys premiership. JJ took the ride on Ziema for Cummings in the 1965 Melbourne Cup finishing a close second to Light Fingers, another Cummings runner. JJ went one better the following year riding Gallilee to win both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups followed up by victory in the Sydney Cup later in that season. He also rode the great Tobin Bronze to win the Doncaster Handicap at Randwick in 1967.
He returned to Perth in 1970 where he won almost every major race on the Western Australian racing calendar, including a Railway Stakes, two Perth Cups and six Australian Derbies. JJ rode many winners for his wife Kay, who held an open class trainers licence.
JJ rode winners in every Australian state whilst also enjoying success in Singapore, Mauritius, England and Ireland. Not one to shy away from controversy, he often found himself in dispute with Stipendiary Stewards and spent extended periods of his career away from the track.
JJ retired from riding in 1988, riding more than 2200 winners during his 41 years in the saddle. He was granted a Trainer’s licence in 1997, winning the 1999 Perth Cup with King of Saxony.
