The now 51-year-old holds the Australian record for Group 1 wins at 128 and has won Victorian racing’s highest honour, the Scobie Breasley Medal, an unparalleled 11 times.
His first Group 1 came aboard the Lee Freedman-trained Submariner in 1990 at Caulfield in the Show Day Cup (now the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes) with his most recent elite level success coming in June this year when he guided Amokura to victory in the Queensland Oaks.
Ollie, as he is affectionately known, boasts the ‘Grand Slam’ of Australian racing with wins in the Melbourne Cup (Doriemus, Media Puzzle and Fiorente), the Cox Plate (Dane Ripper and Northerly), Caulfield Cup (Mannerism, Paris Lane, Doriemus and Sky Heights), and Golden Slipper (Forensics).
He is also a seven-time VRC Oaks winner, six-time VRC Derby winner and has won the Thousand Guineas, Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Black Caviar Lightning, and Mackinnon Stakes (now Champions Stakes) a total of five times each.