Tributes flow for ‘Subbie’s mate’ Salisbury
Much-loved Victorian horseman Graham Salisbury has died after a long battle with prostate cancer, aged 76.
Racing journalist Bruce Clark, long a friend of the Salisbury family, announced his death through social media last night. Salisbury died at Bendigo Hospital yesterday with his family at his side.
Salisbury, a clerk of the course for Racing Victoria and its predecessor, the Victoria Racing Club, for more than 40 years, is best known for his association with Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) winner Subzero (Kala Dancer). He purchased the grey upon his retirement and fostered a relationship that continued until his death.
Not only did Subzero work as a clerk of the course for 15 years, but Salisbury and ‘Subbie’ became widely regarded as the best racing ambassadors in the game.
Together, they travelled the world, visiting some of the world’s great racing hotspots like Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai, but they also visited countless schools and nursing homes, hospitals and hospices, lifting spirits and raising equine awareness everywhere they went. There are countless stories of Salisbury and Subzero putting smiles on faces in places where grins are few and far between.
“The dynamic and remarkably unique duo of Australian racing, epitomised in its much broader community senses, never shirked their challenges over this time to deliver so much to so many over a quarter of a century together,” Clark wrote in his obituary on Subzero’s Facebook fan page yesterday. “Graham was even planning a ‘last dance’ with Subbie as he was facing his own.
“The inseparable duo – ‘he was like a son to me,’ Graham would say – may now be separated physically, but their impact remains ever-lasting and without peer. I remember a stark but now real conversation with Graham that went, ‘I hope I go before him because I couldn’t live without him.’”
Both had battled their fair share of health problems in recent years. Salisbury was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006 and had fought the disease and its many side effects on and off in the 14 years since.
As Salisbury fought on tenaciously, Subzero also faced the infirmities of old age. The rising 32-year-old was on the brink of death last year having suffered a serious bout of colic, as well as kidney and peritonitis issues. When the Lee Freedman-trained Subzero was retired in 1994, connections sold him to Salisbury for $1 on the promise that he would make the ghostly grey “the people’s horse”. It was a promise that was undoubtedly fulfilled.
“What a character Graham was,” Freedman’s brother Richard told Clark. “He didn’t do it for himself, he did it for racing. He was a one-off.
“He made ‘Subbie’ one of the world’s greatest thoroughbreds – not for what he did on the track, but because of what he did off it and the joy he brought to so many people, totally unique.
“Graham would always play second fiddle, but without Graham there was no ‘Subbie’. There has been no greater bond of horse and human partnership. If there was ever a statue it should be to immortalise Graham and Subbie.”
Subzero’s part-owner during his racing career, David Kobritz, believes that the decision to sell the gelding to Salisbury for $1 was the best decision and investment he could have made.
“What he did for us as owners made us so proud of the horse and we will be forever thankful,” Kobritz told Clark. “How do you express it, the way he looked after ‘Subbie’? He presented him to the public, his true identity for the industry; so remarkable, it’s all Graham’s work.
“We didn’t know Graham when we sold him for a dollar but we were so lucky to find him. He always underplayed his role, he never looked for glory. When he rang for a chat, which would take time, it was about Subbie, never about himself. Simply a remarkable man.”
In a statement, Racing Victoria chief executive Giles Thompson paid tribute to “one of our greatest and much loved servants”.
“Graham’s dedication to the sport was incredible and Victorian racing will be forever indebted to him for his service and his great love of the horse.
“He was one of our longest serving employees, spending more than 40 years in the saddle as a clerk of the course, in the process earning an army of friends within our industry.
“He will be best remembered though for his work alongside his great mate Subzero, together bringing joy to the masses as they toured the community promoting our sport and the thoroughbred.
“From school children to the elderly, those battling ill health to Hollywood A-listers, racing devotees to everyday Australians, Graham and Subzero touched so many hearts.
“There will be many a tear shed as people remember Graham and the bond he shared with one of our most famous racehorses, ‘Subbie’, the Melbourne Cup winner who soared to even greater heights off the track thanks to the incredible love and dedication of Graham.”
Salisbury is survived by his wife Anita, his children Anthony and Nicole and his best mate Subzero.
To read Bruce Clark’s tribute to Graham Salisbury, click here.