Many have carved a niche for themselves in the realm of horse racing for their contributions to the sport that did not include actually participation in any races.
Some of them earned dubious distinction for exploits that will forever be fodder for spirited discussion when the events surrounding them are the subject of conversation.
There are those such as Bill Collins, how he gained his notoriety for being perhaps the best race caller of all time, such that he became known as The Accurate One.”
There are others who gained their spot in the history of racing for doing things that brought the sport no glory, those responsible for shady dealings, assassination attempts, horse substitution and doing whatever they deemed necessary in order to gain an unfair advantage of one kind or another.
Most of these peripheral celebrities were men of good intentions who happened to earn a place in racing history because of an uncanny coincidence of events over which they had no control, but were simply unwitting accomplices to the unfolding of circumstances, that viewed from a historical perspective, seem to be the product of an unusually fertile imagination, the stuff of movie scripts.
The cast of characters that have left an indelible mark on Australian horse racing is not entirely limited to horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and bookmakers. One such case in point involves William "Bill" Henry Collins, the most famous race caller to ever pick up a microphone. His seemingly encyclopaedic knowledge of horses, betting, jockeys and trainers placed him in demand at race tracks around the world including the United Kingdom, USA, South Africa, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.
While the cast of characters amongst famous Australian punters includes more than a few who had a somewhat cavalier regard for scrupulous adherence to societal rules and regulations, most managed to avoid serious legal consequences, except for George Freeman
John Singleton. From a humble beginning to one of the richest businessmen in Australia, John Singleton has come a long way. Well known as a larrikin in Australia, Singo holds no bounds when it comes to celebrating victories on the Australian turf.