Veteran broadcaster John Tapp has declared Kingston Town the best horse he saw in his 50-year career.
Tapp has announced he will retire from Sky Racing on June 16, 50 years after he began his race calling and broadcasting career with Radio 2GB.
Tapp gave up race calling in 1998 but continued with Sky Racing as a commentator on the harness racing show In The Gig and Inside Racing on which he interviewed personalities from all facets of racing.
“Kingston Town dominates my thoughts whenever I think about great horses. He’s the name that keeps springing to my mind,” Tapp told Sky Sports Radio.
“I think I called 19 of his 30 wins.
“The one that sticks in my mind is the Sydney Cup when he was a three-year-old and beat Double Century who had won the Cup the year before.
“Kingston Town toyed with Double Century. It was a forerunner of the things he did later.
“He was lovely to watch. He used to give me goose bumps.”
Tapp’s last official hosting role will be on the season finale of In The Gig almost 50 years to the day after his career started at 2GB.
Tapp said he would continue to train harness horses when he retired from broadcasting.
“I don’t want to have too many horses, just enough that I can be hands-on, he said.”
Tapp was honoured with an Order of Australia Medal in 1996 for service to horse sports as a national and international race caller and to charitable organisations as an organiser and compere of fundraising events.
He was also recognised as an Australia Post Australian Legend in 2007 when he appeared in a special stamp series.
