The surname Cobcroft has been synonymous with equestrian sport and thoroughbred racing in this country for decades.
Brien and John, two brothers from Willow Tree in NSW, were both revered horsemen. Brien rode at two Olympic Games and won Eventing bronze in Mexico in 1968. He was also a champion cutting rider.
John, an international polo player who represented Australia, was the driving force who continued the family’s long tradition of breeding racehorses under the banner of Paraweena Pastoral Company.
Brien Cobcroft in full flight at the Mexico Olympics on the beautiful Depeche | Image courtesy of L'annee Hippique, Monuments Australia
Both men, along with their wives Jill and Denise, who were also instrumental in the development of the Cobcroft brand carried on the shoulders of many top-class racehorses, have passed away.
And so, sadly, they are not here to revel in the family’s greatest achievement yet as breeders.
Bloodlines
It was their bloodlines that fuelled the recent climb up to The Everest for Yes Yes Yes (Rubick). Sin Sin Sin (Fantastic Light {USA}), the dam of the runaway winner of the world’s richest race on turf was bred by John.
And the blood from a long line of speedy black type winners produced by Paraweena also flows through the veins of In Her Time (Time Thief) which finished ninth in the same edition of The Everest (1200 metres).
Yes Yes Yes
Her part-owner Peter Brown, one of John’s closest friends who played a part in the decisions that have led to these incredible results, was fortunate to be at Randwick that day to savour the momentous occasion.
“I turned up there with my family and I said I have to do one thing before I do anything and so I went to the old members’ stand where Johnny used to have a drink. I touched the bar and gave him a thought.
“I went and said g’day to him because I knew he would have had his chest puffed out and he would have been that proud having two of the 12 runners from his bloodlines. Not a bad effort for a boy from Quirindi,” said Peter.
“I went and said g’day to him because I knew he would have had his chest puffed out and he would have been that proud having two of the 12 runners from his bloodlines." - Peter Brown
Peter goes a long way back with John. They first met when John’s horses were trained by Newcastle legend Jimmy Johnstone.
Peter worked as a banker and spent his spare time strapping for the stable. A close friendship between Peter and John grew over many an early morning conversation about breeding and before they knew it they were racing horses together.
The late John Cobcroft
In the latter years of their relationship when John’s health started to fail, he rang his old mate Peter to ask something important of him.
“He said 'Peter I want you to do me a favour'. He said he was very ill and wouldn't be living too long and asked me to look after Denise who was his lovely wife because he said she’s going to do it tough.
“I promised John I would look after her and dear me it was a wonderful experience. She was a wonderful woman that had a very colourful past.
Denise and John Cobcroft at a Sydney Ball in 1974 | Image courtesy of L'annee Hippique, Monuments Australia
The niece of an Academy Award-winning actor, US-born Denise was a Hollywood star herself.
“She was in 690 Broadway shows with Ethel Merman and six major films with the likes of Peter Ustinov and Tony Curtis and personal friends with John Wayne, Liz Taylor and Marilyn Monroe.
“This was an incredible woman that I looked after and I’m just a scrubber from Newcastle,” he quipped.
The caretaker
Peter was as close as you can get to John and Denise Cobcroft and is now a trustee of the Estate of the late Denise Cobcroft so there’s no better person to shed some deserved light on their extraordinary influence on Australian racing and breeding.
“I’m just the caretaker. John put 40 years of his life into this and gave Denise money to continue and breed the horses.
“I’m just the caretaker. John put 40 years of his life into this." - Peter Brown
“All the money went into a managed trust and we bred the horses on Fred Moses’ farm. And all these Group horses came along and won races.”
After his death John left Denise three mares including Hell It’s Hot (Zeditave) which is the dam of In Her Time who will race for Peter and Orbis Bloodstock in the G1 VRC Sprint Classic (1200 metres) at Flemington on Saturday.
Hell It’s Hot hails from a line of Paraweena mares that link back to the 1950s and a colt that belonged to John’s father Gavin and his uncle Arthur - Caranna (Valognes {GB}).
In Her Time will race for Peter and Orbis Bloodstock in the G1 VRC Sprint Classic (1200 metres) at Flemington
Under Athol Mulley he was a dominant winner of the 1955 AJC Derby (2400 metres) and also that year he collected both the Rosehill Guineas (2000 metres) and Caulfield Guineas (1600 metres). When he retired from his illustrious racing career he went on to stand as a stallion at the family’s property ‘Paraweena’.
“He was a horse and a half and he’s the core if you go back through all these horses.”
“He was a horse and a half and he’s the core if you go back through all these horses.” - Peter Brown
Caranna was bred to one of the Cobcroft’s mares Vistaed a horse for which their respect was so great they named a paddock on the farm in her honour.
But in a fascinating twist, this mare along with several others were almost lost from the Australian Stud Book.
“As a young man, John was wandering the paddocks with his uncle and spots these thoroughbred mares. His uncle said if you want to breed with them you can have them so he gave John the mares but when he bred them to Caranna they discovered that they were not in the Stud Book.
“He had to write a letter to France to get these mares reinstated. These mares that were put back into the Stud Book are the basis of two great Australian sprinting families today that were bred at the farm,” said Peter.
Under The Louvre
Through Steam Heat (Saltier {USA}), the grand-dam of In Her Time, Yes Yes Yes also traces back to the original mating of Caranna and Vistaed all those years ago.
And it doesn’t stop there. G1 Stradbroke H. (1400 metres) winner Under The Louvre (Excellent Art {GB}), now standing at Grandview Stud in QLD, also traces back to Vistaed through his dam Barcelona Girl (Noverre {USA}) which was bred by Denise Cobcroft.
She originally sold Barcelona Girl as a weanling to Australian fashion designer Lisa Ho. When Lisa fell on hard financial times her assets had to be dispersed, including this mare. With the advice of Peter, Denise bought her back and the first resultant foal they bred from Barcelona Girl happened to be Under the Louvre.
The theory
Peter has a theory on what’s been the key to all of this success.
“Firstly, I think it was concentrating on a small band of mares and putting them to good stallions without going to the top of the range stallions.
“And they bred to race. They raced and raced and raced them and when you have success you build your better breed. It takes generations to build it.
“You’ve got to manage their racing programs. They sent their horses to good trainers who understood these families.”
Trained by Kris Lees, In Her Time is the winner of more than $3 million in prizemoney
Trained by Kris Lees, In Her Time is the winner of more than $3 million in prizemoney and is now on target for more Group 1 glory at Flemington in the VRC Sprint run over 1200 metres this weekend.
Appropriately, Peter named her after Denise.
“All the men used to say gee she was a good sort in her time and she was always late. She had four clocks in her home in Paddington all deliberately set to different times. Some would be 30 minutes or 20 minutes ahead of time and she would say it was to give herself extra time. She was a time thief and that’s, of course, the name of the sire of this mare.
“Jimmy Johnstone always told me you have to name horses well,” he said with a laugh.
A legacy
Denise was much loved by those close to her including former Chairman of the Australian Racing Hall of Fame and Australian Jockey Club Bob Charley.
Bob is one of the trustees of the Denise Cobcroft Breeding Trust which has shown extraordinary generosity to the racing community including a contribution of $460,000 to the National Jockeys Trust.
“Racing’s been lambasted in recent times in the media about cruelty to horses which is deplorable but another side to the horse story in Australia is people like the Cobcrofts who kept their horses on their property until they died.
“And then following the death of John and Denise have bequeathed money to go to injured jockeys and their families,” he said.
Like Peter, he speaks highly of Denise.
“We have very fond memories of dear Denise, she was a marvellous woman,” said Bob.
"We have very fond memories of dear Denise, she was a marvellous woman." - Bob Charley
And when I asked him what Denise and her husband John might have thought of the recent success their bloodlines have enjoyed he said;
“They would have been over the moon. But in no way were they, showy people. They would have been blown away by the fact that their stock produced something as great as that and will go on producing.”
We should all spare a thought for the Cobcrofts when In Her Time races at headquarters this week.
