THE BOY FROM THE BUSH WHO MADE HIS MARK IN AUSTRALIAN RACING

BRIAN MAYFIELD-SMITH had an inauspicious start to his training career in the battlers’ backyard at Cluden Racecourse in Townsville.

Some of his old mates from Mt Carmel College in Charters Towers tell of Brian’s rise to fame in Australian racing and how he never forgot his roots.

They told their stories to Terry Butts for his Silks and Saddles column, which we reproduce courtesy of the North Queensland Register:

Once upon a time there lived a young man in an old caravan down on the flood prone area of Cluden racecourse – where the flash new cars of Townsville Turf club members now park.

He had a few horses in some tumble down stables, freezing in winter, unbearable in summer, that were eventually condemned. For when it rained everything got wet, horses, feed, tackle and the trainer.

It was, in a word not the most salubrious address in town. But the young bloke persevered, landed a plonk or two with horses he had brought south from Cairns and eventually headed to Brisbane where he told his mates he would ‘climb the mountain.’

He didn’t mean Mt Brisbane either, though he had some success with a horse named Taubadan.

Brian Mayfield Smith meant Sydney and soon after packed his swag and with little else but confidence and determination took on TJ Smith and Co.

The rest of course is history. He came and conquered, and even today as he clears out his Melbourne tack room for the last time, he ponders the mountain he climbed.

Brian Mayfield Smith, and his two brothers Laurie and Noel, both trainers, all attended Mt Carmel College at Charters Towers as boarders.

Local chemist Michael Collins was in Brian’s class and kept fairly close contact. Michael’s two most recent horses the aptly-named Goldfield Ashes and At The Crease were trained by BMS.

He remembers this kid at school who was opening bowler for the Mt Carmel cricket team and played centre, in spite of his weight for the league side. “He was always focused and tenacious, though at school never mentioned a career in horse training.’’ said Michael.

In fact, he began life after school as an apprentice electrician but the lure for the bush and open spaces overtook any plans of an urban existence and, by fluke, ended up training a couple of horses in Cairns.

In that same class at Mt Carmel was a young Townsville student, destined to become a high profile business entrepreneur. John Lyons, is a racing fanatic, known for a wicked sense of humor and in the past owner of several horses, many of which ended up under Mayfield Smith’s care.

One was Abira, owned in partnership by Pat Savage, Michael Collins and Chris Martinez, and named of course by Lyons. It stood for Australian Branch of the IRA. And, like most, it wasn’t much good (horse, that is.)

Brian Mayfield Smith’s achievements as a trainer are well documented and don’t have to be listed here. What is worth mentioning is that he is another son of North Queensland to have made the grade on ground first harrowed by Phil Allotta, Dick Roden, Henry Davis to name just a few. John O’shea, from Mareeba (though he insists on calling Cairns home) continues the tradition.

In jockeys’ ranks we had George Moore, Neville Sellwood (he did his Army service here) and Billy Camelleri from Burdekin who made his name in the Sydney riding ranks as Billy Camer.

Brian Mayfield Smith’s departure of his own volition, is a sad indictment on the current state of the industry overall and the future of training. He claims he can’t survive financially with a stable of 17 horses. If he can’t survive how can 95 per cent of the other trainers in Australia?

So 40 odd years after he left the caravan and abandoned the Cluden mudflats, Brian Mayfield-Smith has had enough of mountain climbing and is going to curl up with his wife Maree and his cutting ponies on a retirement farm at Yea, a dramatically picturesque part of Victoria’s north east. With just his memories, the cartons of ribbons and the cups accumulated during an exceptionally successful career.

I wonder if the days in the sun at Mt Carmel, old associates like Billy Coughlan, the departed Gil Jacques (Brian gave him Taubadan), Michael Collins, John Lyons and all the other old mates, friends and knockabouts from the region will be part of those treasured memories. Maybe!