Loose lips sink ships, but Old Jack was safe
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday December 18, 2009
The only time I had a kind word from Jack Denham was in the Sydney Turf Club committee room after he won the 1982 Golden Slipper with Marscay at Rosehill Gardens. Congratulations were in order for him and he accepted them with grace. The conversation flowed freely.Any thought of a ceasefire was quickly dispelled next race day. "G'day Jack," was once again greeted with a grunt.This greeting, plus a blank stare, was par for the course from Denham, 85, who died earlier this week. Our paths crossed constantly over the past half-century, and his dislike for the media - and myself, in particular, it seemed - retained intensity.In recent years I made a point of the "G'day". If anything, the scowl in reply was more intense."I don't need you, but you need me," Denham said in a rare interview elsewhere regarding the media.Wrong. I didn't need Denham as he didn't need me. However, positive recollections of a major player on the turf in our era and his contribution should be considered.Denham was a product of his time. When I started in the mid-1950s, trainers shunned the press, following the doctrine of Banjo Paterson in the "Wisdom of Hafiz":Walk not in the track of the trainer, nor hang round the rails at his stall,His wisdom belongs to his patron - shall he give it to one and all?Still, Denham was always extreme with the policy. For instance "Silent" Leo O'Sullivan said nothing and, according to folklore, even got rid of his budgie because it talked too much. Yet there was always the hint of humour in his "ask no questions and you'll be told no lies" demeanour.Some say Denham's sourness with the press came from a racing writer biting him (borrowing money) and taking the knock (refusing to repay). The story doesn't stand up.Another story involves a person who spoke disparagingly about Denham's family. If that allegation was indeed true the accused was as much a racing writer as I'm an astronaut.Over the decades scribes with a ready pen tried to have meaningful dialogue with Denham. Back in the '60s the late Billy Casey, fresh from success with recalcitrant New Zealanders in Melbourne, tried his luck, prompted by the view of Beryl White, one of Denham's owners, that he was "a sweet old man"."Mr Denham," Casey related, bouncing up to the trainer at the races. "I understand you don't have a good relationship with the press. I'm starting as a racing writer in Sydney and I'd like to get off to a clean, friendly start with you."Casey was told where to go in no uncertain terms.But it wasn't only the media Denham treated with disdain. The late Norm Munsie, a former jockey, had a theory about him. Munsie had been a "money rider" stationed at Canterbury when Denham operated from the same training centre. "If you were a battler Denham was only too happy to give you a helping hand," Munsie told me. "But if he reckoned you were as successful as him he would go out of his way to knock you."Denham, with jockey Doug Weir, made his name as King Of The Provincials in the 1950s. Certainly there hasn't been an out-of-town combination to compare with them. Denham came into the game when his brother, the more affable Mick, was outed. Mick was later stable foreman.Winning races and getting the right odds, when the money was on, were far more important to Denham than group 1 successes. And there was no better money-getter.Later he was engaged by Stan Fox, a coal baron and then racing's biggest spender, to train for him at Nebo Lodge, Rosehill. Fox lusted after breaking the T.J. Smith reign in the Sydney trainers' premiership. Denham didn't lay a glove on the master of Tulloch Lodge. He finished second to him six consecutive times in the 1970s.After Smith had dropped out, Denham won two premierships in the 1990s. There was competitive friction between the pair. On one occasion the stewards interviewed them over the double booking of champion jockey Mick Dittman. They found in favour of Smith. "You'll end up training at Wyong," Denham snarled at the conclusion.Smith thought it was great sport and made a suggestion to him about how to "sweeten up".Denham was a late starter in the group 1 activity but notched 59 at the elite level. Smith ended with 279.But Denham holds one unique record - I've never heard an owner with a horse in his stable have anything but the highest praise for him. These days trainers are like politicians, only too happy to spout opinions. Maybe age has taken the edge off me, but in an interview with John Tapp on Sky Channel earlier this year I conceded Denham's silence could be golden. At least he didn't mislead.During the reign of the Denham-trained Might And Power, I defended him in Melbourne. Down there the media expect their seals to perform and Denham took his Sydney form south.At the end of his career I can pay him no higher tribute than to say I was always comfortable backing his horses. And Jack Denham was certainly a character.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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