John Tapp Racing

Great to talk to Tony Erhart who could be the only 73 year old in Australia who’s still riding regular trackwork on a metropolitan racecourse. He says he’s never enjoyed it more. He talks of his unexpected heart bypass surgery in 2014. He didn’t see it coming! A year after his major surgery, Tony went close to becoming the oldest winning rider on a Queensland metropolitan track  when he was beaten narrowly on Top Tone at Doomben.  Tony retired from race riding to become chief work rider for his wife Lorraine. He had barely started his new role when a freak accident left him with a broken femur. He says he intended to stay out of the saddle but last October it got the better of him. Tony talks of childhood days at Gympie, his happy times at pony club, and the disappointment he experienced the first time he tried for an apprenticeship. He approached another trainer and got the job. He has never forgotten his debut at a defunct Gold Coast racecourse. Nor has he forgotten the buzz of riding his first winner