Queensland Hall of Fame trainer Tom Dawson has died aged 98.
Dawson was inducted to the Hall of Fame last year which emphasised his outstanding ability as he rarely had more than a dozen horses in work.
He was a jockey in the 1930s and 40s and then took on training in the 1950s.
He had early success with horses such as the stayer Midswain and the Queensland Sires’ winner Ivanhoe.
However, Dawson was at his top in the 1970s and 80s when his team included the outstanding sprinter Charlton Boy and the prolific winner Ima Shadow.
Charlton Boy’s 15 wins included the Doomben 10,000, Queensland Sires’, Queensland Guineas and the AJC Tramway Stakes.
Ima Shadow, who won 31 races, was originally a top sprinter and was placed in the Stradbroke Handicap but Dawson was able to turn him into a stayer.
He won the feature distance events – the Albion Park Cup, Sir Winston Churchill Stakes, Exhibition Handicap and Gold Coast Cup.
Dawson’s other top horses included Night Charmer, Princess Tiber, Lord Diere, Lochinvar and Spritely Jet who all won feature races.
He was also a top producer of apprentices with Shane Scriven and Jamie Bayliss among his many top junior riders.
“Tom was like a second father. I owe him a lot because we didn’t always see eye to eye on some matters when I was a kid,” Scriven said.
“It was only in adulthood that I realised how much he had done for me.”
Dawson’s long time friend, Brisbane Race Club racing manager Bart Sinclair, said Dawson had been in good spirits when he saw him recently.
“But apparently he had a fall and went downhill,” Sinclair said.
“Tom should be remembered as one of the best horsemen produced in Queensland.”
