Amid the many tributes following Robbie Laing’s sudden death at age 66, one theme ran strong. As Matt Stewart writes, the five-time Group 1-winning trainer, former jockey, farrier, breaker and racing historian was a natural horseman who forged his own unique path, often to his own financial detriment.
Just one thing rose above the carnage of the 2009 Warrnambool May carnival.
It was a sublime feat of both horse and trainer.
As horses stumbled and perished throughout the three-day meet, including the Robbie Laing trained Pride Of Westbury in a maiden hurdle, and as the wagons circled to have the sport eliminated, Sir Pentire won the famously gruelling Grand Annual Steeplechase.
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