No name put the fear of God into Australian and then Hong Kong registered racing folk than Mr John Schreck did.
Ever.
He was the most feared, respected and revered Chief Racing stipe to ever hold the position.
He resided over the infamous Fine Cotton ring in for example and rounded up all the culprits. And he dealt with every nefarious and blatantly foul as well as the discreetly evil types, with an iron fist.
Nicknamed The Sheriff because one day some yelled out to him at Rosehill and said Sheriff mispronouncing his name Schreck, but it stuck.
“I heard it that day and Keith Robbins who wrote for the Daily Telegraph back then, heard it too, so he coined it.
“It stayed with me, still does, and I guess proved to be appropriate,” said the great man this week.
John Schreck set the standard for excellence as a Chief Steward, probably throughout the world.
Steward panels globally follow his way of rulings and many, many stewards both here and in Hong Kong studied under him. Kim Kelly, the top steward in Hong Kong right now and Mark Van Gestal the Chief Stipe currently in NSW, are both his proteges.
So the Schreck name still carries enormous weight when mentioned out loud or in whispered tones.
And today, at Armidale races, his name is back on track.
This time in the form of his niece, Danni Schreck, who saddles two at the meeting this afternoon.
This will be her first major TAB meeting as a trainer. But, she is living her dream as she has just started to train horses on her own patch of land just outside of Inverell.
“It’s nothing flash but we train them here and occasionally go to the track for a bit of pace work. If we land a few winners maybe we can improve it.
“But we and the horses love it here.”
The ‘we’ is jockey Scott Sweedman who is her partner.
Thus far the duo have had just three runners, at a low-key Glen Innes meet two weeks ago.
And it was very nearly a golden start to her training career when a grey flash named ISHKABIBBLE came storming down the outside from last on the bend to just fail.
To be fair, he was a certainty beaten.
“Just seeing him come home like that was amazing. I was watching and seeing him running them down and the thrill was enormous,” she said.
Ishkabibble (Reliable Man-Cocodiva) is in again today at Armidale. He contests race 3 and Danni part-owns the 6YO maiden.
Sweedman will ride him and what a family joy to see them all combine to win.
“I’ve always been around horses and I just wanted to train a few,” she said about getting into the game. “Uncle John has been a tremendous support and he follows my horses closely.”.
As he will today also.
Danni Schreck is the daughter of John Schreck’s brother.
Horse racing isn’t her main source of income but her hobby and today may well be a day of great day.
Her other runner at Armidale this afternoon, again with Sweedman aboard, is SUPREME HARMONY (mastercraftsman-JanValachi) in race 5.
Another old grey, he too ran at that Glen Innes meeting and was a solid 5th. He must be a hope here too.
Good luck to Danni Schreck, her husband Scott Sweedman and the home-trained horse at Armidale this afternoon.