Victoria DerbyBy Brad Kingsbury
A PIECE of one of Australian racing’s greatest prizes, the Victoria Derby, returned to Berwick on Saturday night.
Berwickbased jockey Noel Callow won the 151yearold race in a day of extreme personal highs and lows at Flemington.
As the drama of Derby Day unfolded, his wife Renee was watching it all at their Berwick home, rolling with every punch, as her man was firstly dubbed a villain and then crowned as the hero.
Early in the afternoon, Noel was beaten on a shortpriced race favourite and incurred the wrath of many in the record crowd who had backed the horse. All was forgiven, though, when he booted home Benicio in the Derby.
Despite Callow having been toughened by 15 years in the racing game, Renee, who has been his partner for most of that time, knew he would have been devastated by the reaction and felt for him.
“Everyone rides a bad race. But why did it have to be in that race on such a big day?” she asked.
“When I saw it I knew how he would be feeling and you could see he was upset.
“He was so excited in the morning and I was just hoping he would ride another winner and not have to go through the day like that and then come home upset.”
On that point, Renee said Noel was used to the pressure and had handled his recent rise in profile with his characteristic wit and enthusiasm, making it easier for himself and his family.
“Noel’s always been the same. He gets upset and angry but when he’s like that you just leave him alone for half an hour and it’s all over and he’s back laughing again,” she said.
“He’s everywhere at the moment and it’s a bit of a laugh really. Every time you open a paper he’s in it. He’s riding the bigger races now and he deserves all his success because he still does it pretty hard with his weight.”
There were no big celebrations in the Callow household after the Derby win, with water the only drink and a strict diet still in force as the carnival continues.
Renee said that will remain the case until early December when Noel takes a break and heads to Macau with fellow hoops and good mates Vin Hall and Luke Currie with her blessing.
“I told him he could go as long as he filled the shopping list I’ve written and it’s a long one,” she laughed.
