WARRNAMBOOL-BORN Jim Moloney was rewarded for his outstanding training achievements when he was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame at a gala function in Brisbane last night.
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Moloney was not at the function but his son John accepted Australia racing’s highest honour for his father in front of more than 400 people.
The 90-year-old began his career working for his father Jerry in Warrnambool before setting up his stables on the corner of Barkly and Foster streets in 1946.
From his Warrnambool stables Moloney had countless country and city winners, including Swynphilos which won the 1955 Newmarket Handicap at Flemington.
Moloney left Warrnambool in October 1956 to set up a training operation at Mordialloc where the winners kept coming.
He won a host of feature races but his name will always be associated with the mighty sprinter Vain, which he trained to win 12 of his 14 starts, including the 1969 Golden Slipper Stakes.
His three victories with Vain in the 1969 Melbourne Cup week were a supreme training accomplishment. The respected trainer won his home-town cup with Malvern Belle (1956 and 1957), Warri Symbol in 1979 and Safraz in 1980.
Moloney established a formidable partnership with Port Fairy-born jockey Pat Hyland and they were a force to be reckoned with across several decades.
Hyland served his apprenticeship with Moloney in Warrnambool before moving to Melbourne with his master.
Moloney was also renowned for his work on behalf of the Australian Trainers’ Association and as a mentor of young jockeys.
Former top trainer Brian Mayfield-Smith was also inducted into the hall of fame.
Mayfield-Smith’s wife Maree was born in Warrnambool.
Mayfield-Smith gained his trainer’s licence in Queensland in 1971 before relocating to Sydney in 1976.
During the next two decades he trained the winners of 29 group 1 races. Two more training premierships followed in 1986-87 and 1987-88.
Others to be inducted into the hall of fame last night included jockeys Glen Boss and Robert Thompson; trainer Harry Telford; associates Eduardo M. Cojuangco jnr and Bert Lillye; and horses Danehill, Choisir, Briseis and Danehill.