Episode 586: Bob Vance - Star NZ jockey of the 80’s and 90’s now training successfully in partnership with wife Jenny.
About this episode
Bob Vance discusses his transition from a successful jockey to training horses with his wife Jenny, including reflections on their daughter Maija's career and injuries.
Bob and Jenny Vance train a very small team at Ardmore in Auckland but boast a healthy strike rate with a Gr 1 win already on the board. I have vivid recollections of Bob winning the 1993 W.S Cox Plate on The Phantom Chance- the first of five Cox Plates I got to call for the Nine Network. Just three years after winning the famous Moonee Valley feature, Bobby Vance decided to call time on his stellar riding career and join his wife Jenny in the training ranks. Swedish born Jenny Moller had also enjoyed a very successful career in the saddle. We tracked Bob down last week and he agreed to join us on this week’s podcast. He begins by talking of the Ardmore training complex and says he and Jenny run the operation unassisted. He reflects on the thrill of a Gr 1 training win at Te Rapa in 2021 with an expat Hong Kong galloper. Bob looks back on he and Jenny’s initial reaction when daughter Maija announced her intention to become a jockey. He talks of Maija’s immediate success in NZ and a subsequent five year stint in Australia. The former ace jockey talks of Maija’s switch to jumps riding and the career ending injuries she sustained in a crash at Rotorua. Bob says he was watching the…
More episodes of John Tapp Racing
- Episode 589: John Sadler- Few Australian horsemen have had a more diverse career within the training sphere.
- Episode 588: Brett Dodson - Coffs Harbour trainer whose love of racing was sparked by radio and TV broadcasts and famous 1980’s magazines.
- Episode 587: Samantha McGuren - Hard working mother-of-two making a name for herself in the northern rivers training ranks.
- Episode 585: Glynn Pretty - The South Australian jockey described by Bart Cummings in the 1960’s as the best horseman to ride for his stable.
- Episode 584: Michael Wrona - Queensland race caller who dared to dream in 1990 still going strong in USA racing.
- Episode 583: Brad Rawiller - A Doomben $10,000 win on a mount he didn’t see coming. He and Rothfire have a lot in common.
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