Sad news this week from Sydney where revered pedigree guru Malcolm Campbell passed away in his sleep at age 93 and one of his favourite horses is running this Saturday and may well get a little help from above.
A long-time friend of Malcolm Campbell, Gary Martin contacted us to let me know of his passing as he felt there were so many older people in bloodstock and racing that would have fond memories of Malcolm and his sheer genius in regards to a pedigree.
“Malcolm had not been in good health for some time with mobility issues and failing eyesight, but his passion for pedigrees never waned and he spent most days on his computer that had been specially set up for him so he could continue to study the horses and bloodlines he loved,” said Gary Martin.
“Malcolm was an exceptional man. We had been friends since about 1995 when we met at Arrowfield Stud and I used to go on the stud tours with him.
“An independent thinker when it came to horses and breeding, he was never a slave to fashion and would often come up with things from completely left field. He just saw things in a pedigree that other people didn’t and even now would often say to me, ‘I’m still learning… always learning’.
“He was good at other things too and was a child prodigy on the piano which not many people know… he could certainly tickle the ivories!
“He had a great life pursuing his passion and is survived by his partner Sharon Currie and their lovely family.”
Last year we ran a story at the end of the Brisbane Winter Carnival about the pedigree of Cool Archie, who had blazed through the carnival undefeated and he traces in tail female line to a champion filly called Bravery…. a horse that was dear to the heart of Malcolm back in the days when he was consulting to some of the biggest breeders in the country.
Malcolm enjoyed much success for many years as an advisor to varied clients that included Lindsay Park back in the days of Colin Hayes and the Dabernig family, also Bob Lapointe and the Doncaster Syndicate were others to reap the rewards of his wisdom.
Malcolm with his pedigree insights and the late bloodstock agent Les Young were instrumental in the rise of Brian Mayfield -Smith to be leading Sydney trainer in the mid 1980’s backed by a fine stable of horses trained out of Rosehill at Nebo Lodge.
Bravery, who was bred and retained to race by the Doncaster Syndicate, was one of those horses – Read the story here A Passion That Lasts a Lifetime.
I spoke to Malcolm at that time, enjoying a wide ranging conversation that led to a great story which finished like this.
The names on a pedigree page are living, breathing horses in the mind’s eye of Campbell, whose extraordinary knowledge and recall is impressive to this day.
“I’ve had a lot of luck in life and have helped breed a lot of good horses. You get a lot of satisfaction from all of those winners, but they can’t all be champions,” Campbell said mentioning Sea Pictures (Rolle(GB)), Beau Rossa (Unencumbered) and more recently Seradess (Astern)as Group winners that were by stallions considered less than fashionable.
“Cool Archie has La Troienne, Eulogy and Rainbird in him, my very favourite families…. I just hope he gets a chance at stud one day.”
Malcolm would be thrilled to see Cool Archie has returned to his birthplace at Newhaven Park and is indeed being given his chance at stud.
Malcolm continued to ring from time to time when he saw something of interest.
He rang last September and said to me, “Did you see the Nicconi that won at Geelong, I think it’s a good horse.
“You go and have a look at that pedigree. Sire Nicconi and dam Olive bred the same way, both have lines of Danzig, Scenic and Bletchingly.”
I duly looked at the race replay and the pedigree and followed Malcom’s tip in making the horse a Breednet One to Watch.
That horse was Oliveanotherday.
Trained by Tom Dabernig, Oliveanotherday has now won his past five starts in a row including the Listed Wangoom and then the Group III MRC Heath Stakes.
Oliveanotherday will up the ante again on Saturday at Flemington running in the Group II VRC Bobby Lewis in which he will be favourite and I can’t help thinking Malcolm will be watching closely from above.
