VETERAN TRAINERS

Evening Post, Issue 28, 1 August 1936, Page 22

VETERAN TRAINERS

Probably the oldest active' trainer now in the Dominion is the Treritham veteran J. W. Lowe, the owner-trainer of Red Sun, Sunee, and Good Sun Lowe, though he does not look it, is in his eightieth year, but he is still as alert and keeri^as many men thirty years younger. He was the first trainer to set up at Trentham when the new course was opened there in 1906, and he has besn there ever since. His list of successes includes many of the leading events in the land. Western Australia claims to have an older active trainer even than Lowe. This is Fred Hill, who recently celebrated his eighty-second birthday Before daybreak on his birthday Hill was on the Perth training track with his team, which includes a recent winner over hurdles, Lancefield Gold In his younger days Hill had considerable experience in taking horses abroad. He took Sir Modred to America, and was also in charge of horses at different times from Australia to South Africa (during the Boerr War), India, and England. Victoria's veteran still in the active ranks is James Scobie, who celebrated his seventy-sixth birthday in Melbourne a fortnight ago and received congratulations from all over Australia. Scobie was born at Ararat on July 18. 1860, and at that town won the first race in which he rode. He has trained winners of nearly every important race in Melbourne and Sydney, and has won big events in Adelaide, Western Australia, and Tasmania.