THE BERT WOLFE AWARDS

WARREN HUINTLY

WARREN Huntly, RSN host and commentator and racing.com analayst , is the 2021-22 Bert Wolf Award winner.

Warren made the unlikely transition from a career as a chemical engineer to 12 years in the corporate world to racing at first as a track man at Flemington.

In more recent years he has become a familiar face on racing.com as a form analyst and as a incisive interviewer on RSN’s Saturday morning ‘First Word” and then Sunday mornings review show ‘Correct Weight’.

Warren also in September 2022 completed four years as president of the VRMA leading the association thorough troubled times during the COVID pandemic.

DAMIEN RACTLIFFE 

DAMIEN Ractliffe, Age chief racing writer, is the 2020-21 Bert Wolfe Award winner.

Damien was both a news breaker and feature writer during 2021 for The Age, with his article on how Melbourne Racing Club would be forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in a new state government tax should they proceed with the planned re-zoning of Sandown racecourse.

RAY HUXLEY

THE late Ray Huxley was the 2019-2020 Bert Wolfe Award winner.

Sadly Ray passed away after a short battle with cancer some weeks after he was named the winner for his 60 continuous years working in the racing industry.

Hucca worked as a racing writer at the Sun, Age and was chief racing writer at The Herald.

MATTHEW HILL

CONGRATULATIONS to Melbourne’s chief racecaller Matthew Hill on being named 2018-19 Bert Wolfe Award winner for overall contribution to racing.

Hill has quickly made his name as the successor to Greg Miles and his spring carnival calls were superb with his Melbourne Cup call of ‘Vow And Declare wins for Australia” especially memorable. He also co hosts racing.com’s At The Last.

Matthew, who received a trophy and a $3000 cheque from the VRC,  is also a VRMA committeeman. Last year’s winner was Herald-Sun racing editor Leo  Schlink.

Other recent winners were Jack Styring OAM, legendary broadcaster and journalist, in 2016-17 winner and .

TONY KNEEBONE

Tony Kneebone, Winning Post editor, won the award for 2015-16 .

Judges,  retired journalists Rhett Kirkwood and Ray Huxley who succeed Judge John Nixon and former VRC secretary Rod Johnson, said Schlink’s series of articles was unmatched in recent times when it came to a racing scandal.

The Bert Wolfe Award is named in honour of the legendary Racing Editor of The Herald for 22 years from 1933-1955.

Inducted into racing’s Hall Of Fame in 2005, Wolfe  wrote under the nom de plume ‘Cardigan’ named after the 1903 Melbourne Cup winner Lord Cardigan which was bred by his grandfather.

Wolfe worked as racing editor of The Referee and was sports editor of  the Argus, before becoming chairman of stewards of the Queensland Turf Club.

In 1933 Sir Keith Murdoch recruited Wolfe as racing editor of The Herald.

Among his most famous stories he was in Mexico to witness the death of  the immortal Phar Lap in 1932 and in 1934 exposed the infamous Erbie/Redlock ring-in.

Racing historians believe Erbie claimed at least a dozen wins under false names.

Erbie had won several races in Sydney which Wolfe had seen and after seeing a photograph of a horse named Redlock who had landed a betting plunge to win at Murray Bridge in South Australia he became suspicious.

Wolfe then made the trip to South Australia to see Redlock win by 12 lengths at Kadina. He asked to examine the horse and found dye was used to conceal Erbie’s distinctive white blaze, confirming his suspicions.