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No champion in any sport has retired on a higher note than Damien Oliver did at Perth\u2019s Ascot racecourse on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Renowned for his calmness under pressure, Oliver, at the ripe vintage of 51, produced one of his finest navigational feats \u2013 arguably the best of all his 129 group 1 successes \u2013 to score on Munhamek in the Damien Oliver Gold Rush at his home circuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of his ballsiest rides,\u201d Munhamek\u2019s trainer, Nick Ryan, said of a race that was anything but a procession for the retiring jockey.<\/p>\n
Munhamek, a $7 chance, jumped from the 14 gate. After finding himself well back in traffic, Oliver steered his way through the field with a series of moves that had onlookers gasping. He remained so cool in transit that he eventually was able to give a victory salute before the finish, a gesture that brought him a $500 fine from stewards.<\/p>\n
To tag Oliver the GOAT, the greatest of all time, is a wide stretch \u2013 but no other champion, including George Moore, Mick Dittman, Darren Beadman and Jim Cassidy, reached such a pinnacle as Ollie in a farewell finale.<\/p>\n
It is difficult to consider a chapter that would top Ollie\u2019s 2002 Melbourne Cup triumph on Media Puzzle a week after his brother, Jason, had been killed in a training track spill. Ollie, looking to the heavens after the post on Media Puzzle, looms large in the pantheon of sporting images.<\/p>\n
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Damien Oliver salutes after winning the Melbourne Cup on Media Puzzle in 2002.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Angela Wylie<\/cite><\/p>\n Remember, too, Oliver lost his father, Ray, in a Kalgoorlie race fall in 1975 \u2013 a pair of tragedies to make most consider whether the saddle was a sufficiently safe working environment.<\/p>\n But Ollie had rare steel, the eye of the tiger, and mastered his profession over 35 years. Mounted, he stood out in the field. His balance and poise were still so evident in the Gold Rush. Ollie wasn\u2019t riding for luck \u2013 a regular observation of jockeys finding themselves in a troublesome position \u2013 he was the maestro.<\/p>\n But that was hardly the situation decades ago when, as an apprentice, he was imported to Sydney to ride at Warwick Farm during a jockey\u2019s strike. Indentured apprentices were allowed to participate but Ollie, then with Lee Freedman in Melbourne, came here under the wing of Dr Geoff Chapman, a medico and prominent Rosehill trainer.<\/p>\n During the day, Ollie came down with food poisoning and was shepherded out after the last by The Doc to the car park, where thirsty racegoers were imbibing beer and prawns out of the boot of my station wagon after a hard meeting at The Farm.<\/p>\n The Doc, in \u201cone for the road\u201d mode, joined us and when asked about his patient replied: \u201cHospitals are the unhealthiest venues in the world, he\u2019s better off in my car\u201d.<\/p>\n The diagnosis proved correct and Ollie progressed to greatness. Even his star jump after Saturday\u2019s spectacular finale had an edge on those of his predecessors.<\/p>\n (Dr. Chapman confirmed Ollie won the 1989 Warwick Stakes for him on Groucho, the rider\u2019s first weight-for-age winner. \u201cHe had some bad chicken at the races, I treated him at home on Sunday and put him on the plane the next day back to Lee fit and well,\u201d he explained.)<\/p>\n Frankie Dettori was flashy in full flight but not after he turned 50, while Darren Beadman had shaky landings at the end.<\/p>\n Tuned by decades on a surfboard, Ollie produced a perfect 10 \u2013 just like Munhamek.<\/p>\n Sports news, results and expert commentary.<\/i><\/b> Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\nMost Viewed in Sport<\/h2>\n
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