As jumps racing embarks on another comeback from the brink, Steve Pateman, a key figure in its previous revival 15 years ago, plots his own return to Warrnambool, the heartland of the sport he has made his own.
Many were vocal but few actually led the resistance.
Steve Pateman was one of a handful. The great jumps jockey had always been a passionate advocate and ambassador for the sport, but he now became a galvaniser.
Mike Symons was the newly appointed chairman of the Melbourne Racing Club, a successful businessman and a jumps fanatic.
Symons drew up the KPIs and Pateman’s job was to ram them down the throats of his mates in the jockeys’ room.
There was almost no margin for error. There had been too many deaths – 12 that season and three at the May carnival – and too many terrible headlines.
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