As the winner of three of the big four races on the Australian racing calendar, former jockey Greg Hall now faces his biggest challenge.
Homeless and on a disability pension, Hall has gone public after booking himself into a rehabilitation centre to fight his battle against alcohol.
Hall, who won the Melbourne Cup, Cox Plate and Golden Slipper, said it was hard to admit he was an alcoholic but added it was therapeutic for him to go public with his story.
He entered rehabilitation after former jockey, racing commentator Simon Marshall, contacted him to be interviewed at a recent Friday night Moonee Valley meeting.
“I told him I wouldn’t be any good to you as the alcohol is starting to get the better of me,” Hall told RSN927
“It’s no secret that I’ve had a problem with it for a long time and I made a decision, an overnight decision, and I’ve come to get help.”
Hall says his alcoholism has destroyed his life and he’s estranged from his family, having not seen his 18-year-old daughter Cassie for 14 years.
He has also lost contact with his jockey son Nick who during this year’s spring carnival won a second Caulfield Cup aboard Jameka.
“Nicky is the most dearest thing to my heart,” Hall said.
“I’m not there for him and we’ve lost contact and I understand why.
“That’s what alcohol does. Alcohol doesn’t just hurt me, it’s the ones around you, that love you and care about you.”
Hall stays in rehabilitation for three months and then goes to a transition house for another two months which he says is a stepping stone to getting out into the world again.
“I like a challenge and I know I can do it,” he said.
