Victorian trots community mourns death of veteran horseman Bob Conroy

Victorian harness racing has lost of one of its longest serving and most highly regarded horseman.

Daylesford veteran trainer Bob Conroy died in a training incident on Tuesday.

He was 88 years-old and leaves an indelible mark on the industry.

He and his wife Pat bred hundreds of standardbreds as he ultimately became one of the biggest devotees of the trotting gait in Australia with a stable made up almost exclusively of trotters.

Mary Beverley provided him with some his earlier big successes, with her biggest being the 1973 VFL Dullard Cup for trotters with Conroy in the sulky.

Not only did she make her mark on the track, but also as a foundation mare for the Conroys.

She left five winners in a family which went on to produce Laurels winner Lucy Lastic (12 wins), which has in turn gone on to leave the likes of pacer You Lazy Boy (17 wins) and handy trotter Girls Go First (9 wins), which continues to race.

Conroy is particularly well remembered for his deeds with top class trotter Amazon (25 wins and $100,000 in earnings), which was one of Australia’s best squaregaiters of his day.

Amazon had a stunning 1984, winning the Australasian Trotters’ Championship, EB Cochran Cup and Chris Howe Trotters’ Cup. He also time trialed in 1:57.7.

He also trained smart trotting mare Miss Universe, which enjoyed a stellar career with 20 wins and raced in the top flight.

Conroy had numerous highlights, including no less than seven Ballarat and District Trotting Club trainers’ premierships (1974-75, 83-84, 84-85, 85-86, 86-87, 90-91 and 96-97) and getting four starters into a feature final at Moonee Valley in 2004.

He also had the distinction of training the first winner on Ballarat’s new 1000m circuit in 1993, with his daughter Anne-Maree taking the reins on Times A Marching.

Although the bulk of his success was with trotters, he did also oversee the career of star pacer Lincoln Star, which won the 1978 Bendigo Cup.

In latter years Conroy was rarely seen at the track on race days, leaving racing duties to son and daughter Glenn and Anne-Maree.

However, his substantial influence remained, as shown in his support for the establishment of monte racing in Victoria.

He helped getting montes up off the ground through the presence of Optimum, which in 2012 was one of the circuit’s star performers.

Anne-Maree Conroy rode Optimum to victory in an exhibition race on Ballarat Cup night in 2012 and went on to take out a feature series.

Smart trotting Margaret Ruth provided Bob Conroy with his last winner at Geelong on Saturday night

A son of the late Tom and Rose Conroy, Bob (Robert Baden) is survived by wife Pat, and sons and daughters Peter, Glenn, Julie, Helen and Anne-Maree.