Harold Russell Maddock

Harold Russell (Russ) Maddock (born 1918) was an Australia-born jockey who rode in Queensland and the United Kingdom.

Maddock was born in Brisbane began his career as an apprentice in the early 1930s and in 1936 rode his first winner "Camogean" in Toowoomba, a provincial city about 80 miles west of Brisbane. He was apprenticed to a horsetrainer named Mitchell. He became one of the top Australian jockeys with many jockey's premierships to his name. In 1959 he was named "Jockey of the Century" during the Queensland Centennial. Despite regular attempts to tempt him overseas he remained in Brisbane until a short venture to Malaysia in 1960 followed by a contract in the United Kingdom saw him move to horseracing Utopia. He settled into the UK racing scene quickly with a win at his first ride in the UK at Aintree on Mix n Match in the Earl of Sefton Plate on 25 March 1961 and the wins soon mounted up. He was successful in the UK and France. A few of the horses he was associated with in the UK are "The Pouncer", "Althrey Don", "Mountain Call" and "Park Top". In 1969 he was injured in a racefall at Brighton. It was the end of his career but he continued to live in the UK at his London home. His wife Brenda continued her painting career and both daughters were on UK stage and TV and finally in 1981 he returned to Queensland and settled on "The Gold Coast" where he still resides.

External links

[http://www.queenslandracing.com.au/Events/HallOfFame.asp Queensland Hall of Fame - 2005]