RELATED CONTENT
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In the past 35 years Frank McCarthy has attended some of the country’s top sporting events.
His food vans have taken him to the Grand Prix, the Melbourne Cup and the Avalon Airshow, to name a few.
But there is one event that stands out above all others – the May Racing Carnival.
“It’s a pilgrimage and people have been coming here for many, many years,” Mr McCarthy said.
“It’s an annual pilgrimage, it’s a time of year to catch up with old friends. All roads lead to Warrnambool in the first week of May.”
Mr McCarthy said this year was no exception.
“We’ve got perfect conditions and we’ve just witnessed a spectacular grand annual,” he said.
“I’ve just come down from up on the hill and you couldn’t see a blade of grass on the hill.”
It was at the Warrnambool racecourse that Mr McCarthy’s late father Frank began the family catering business.
“He conceived this idea to sell hot chips at the May Races,” Mr McCarthy said.
“He started in the tents and the business has grown and grown.”
Mr McKenna said he was impressed by the jockey’s talent and impeccable judgement.
Mr McCarthy’s father “threw a deep fryer” into a caravan and sold buckets of hot chips for 20 cents a pop.
In 1982 Mr McCarthy took over the business and it has gone from strength to strength.
One keen racegoer who has seen her fair share of race meets shares Mr McCarthy’s view about the May Racing Carnival.
Gai Waterhouse, the undisputed first lady of Australian racing, has been coming to Warrnambool for the carnival for five years.
“I really enjoy it and I come down with my husband, he’s been about eight times,” Mrs Waterhouse said.
“I enjoy it hugely – it’s grassroots racing and I like that it brings the whole community together and a lot of people from outside the community come along as well.
Mrs Waterhouse has reduced the number of race meets she attends now, preferring to “stay home and keep the home fires burning”. But the May Racing Carnival is one she would be loathe to miss.
Also at the track were two former footy rivals.
It was a first for Collingwood legend Peter McKenna and he was keen to catch up with his old foe John Goold.
“It’s my first time here, I got the train down,” Mr McKenna said.
“It’s great – I’ve run into so many people I know.”
And while there were a number of people who were keen to talk to the footy great, Mr McKenna was keen to meet one of his own sporting idols – jockey Damian Lane.
“I love him and I’m like a kid in a lolly shop – I want to meet him and get his autograph,” he said.
“I only ever back him – I don’t back anybody else,” he said.
Mr McKenna said he was keen to return to the event.
He was preparing for a busy weekend, with an invitation to Collingwood’s 125th anniversary celebration at Crown Casino on Saturday night.
“We’re playing Carlton and we’ve got a big dinner dance at Crown Casino,” Mr McKenna said.
“They’ve bought out a book with the 125 best players ever at Collingwood.”
Mr McKenna, while humble about his career, is included in the list.
“I went down to Collingwood in 1965 as a young kid hoping to play in the thirds or seconds and I went straight into the firsts so it was a huge thrill.
“I played with Collingwood for 11 years and I had one year at Carlton,” he said.
“I won the AFL goal kicking twice and I kicked 100 goals three years in a row.”
Mr McKenna also won the club’s best and fairest.
But one honour he missed out on was being part of a premiership side.
In 1970, that title was ripped from the Magpies by their old rival Carlton.
Mr Goold remembers the day well and believes Mr McKenna was robbed.
“We were 44 points down at half-time and we got up and won,” he said.
“If Tuddenham had hit the right bloke, Kevin Hall, who was playing on him it might have been a different story.
“He missed him and hit McKenna who had kicked about six goals up to that time.
“It stuffed him and we won the game.”
Mr Goold was full of praise for his former opponent.
“He was an outstanding player and he was also nature’s gentleman.”
Mr Goold has attended the May Racing Carnival about 40 times.
“It’s just wonderful, it’s a very special day,” he said.
Mr Goold has fond memories of his football career. “In the grand final against Collingwood 122,000 people watched the game,” he said.
“The gates closed at 10am because it was a full house.”
Mr Goold said he believed the game has changed since his time with the Blues.
“In our day we had positions and you had to be good enough to beat the bloke you were on,” he said.
“These days they have a swam of bees and no positions.”
Mr Goold said he believed the difference between a winning and losing team was attitude.
“There’s only one or two per cent difference in ability in the teams,” he said.
“The one single difference is attitude.”
