Queensland racing industry mourns loss of Richie Stephenson

By Jordan Gerrans

Affable Toowoomba trainer Richie Stephenson is being remembered as the life of a party and an astute horseman following his sad passing over the weekend.

He was 79 years of age.

The respected Darling Downs trainer had battled with illness in recent years, having not started a horse in a race since September, 2021.

Hailing from Surat in regional Queensland, Stephenson was best known for his jovial attitude and without any hesitation would often break into song whether it be at the races on race day or of a morning at Clifford Park.

Veteran Toowoomba trainer Rex Lipp rubbed shoulders with Stephenson for decades and noted he loved a drink or two, which would always warm up his vocal cords.

“Richie was a very genuine man and was always the life of a party,” Lipp said.

“He used to love singing and was always out there to help people.

“He was a likeable man from all the racing community as well as the general community of Toowoomba.”

Stephenson gained a reputation as a person who enjoyed a party and having fun, but he was also a very smart trainer.

Emphasis was a galloper he enjoyed great success with in recent years, amassing well over $400,000 in career stakes.

Emphasis won a number of city races, was placed at black-type level as well as running in the Toowoomba Cup of 2019.

He tasted black-type success thanks to Azzaland, with the now-retired Shane Scriven in the saddle in the 2011 Listed Bribie Handicap.

To be regularly competitive in city races through the 2000s underlines just how far his stable had come over the decades.

As Lipp recalls, Stephenson arrived at Toowoomba in his early 30’s with just one horse in his possession.

He cut his teeth in the work force in the shearing sheds of Surat as a shearer and wool presser.

The physically imposing man thrived on the hard work and culture of the shearing sheds in his younger years before he relocated to the Garden City of Toowoomba where his training interests increased.

Lipp has mutual friends with the late Stephenson in the Surat area.

“He was a very well-liked man as a young bloke out there,” Lipp said.

Multiple Group 1-winning hoop Jason Taylor ranks within the top five for jockeys who rode winners for the Stephenson yard in its heyday.

Taylor was in the saddle 22 times for victories for the late trainer.

They struck up a close partnership that began when Taylor was an apprentice that continued right throughout his career as a senior.

The 51-year-old Taylor detailed that Stephenson was a trainer that would put a jockey at ease.

He would often greet the rider with a smile and a relaxed attitude.

“He was always great to ride for, one of the best guys I have ever ridden for,” Taylor remembers.

“His whole attitude and persona, he was just so positive. There was never any pressure there, he would also just tell me to get out there on the track and have fun and hopefully get the result.

“He would leave a lot to me in the race, just tell me that I am the jockey and I am paid to ride them so go do it.

“That was always enjoyable and it goes a long way when you have a relationship like that as a trainer and jockey.”

Peter Moody - one of regional Queensland’s greatest training products – took to social media on Saturday to pay tribute to the late Stephenson.

“Very saddening to hear the passing of a great character of Queensland racing Richie Stephenson,” Moody said on Twitter. 

“The voice of an angel. Vale big Richie. Thinking of friends and family.”

Clifford Park was where Stephenson experienced his most regular success as a trainer, picking up 145 winners across the journey.

He trained on the track for around four decades.

Lipp has a number of Toowoomba Cups on his resume but one stands out to him for his interaction with his old mate just moments after their stayers passed the Clifford Park winning post.

“He was a very good trainer, Richie,” Lipp said.

“Unfortunately for him, I knocked him off in a Toowoomba Cup one year and he just said “you bastard” after the race.

“He never had a big team of horses, he had about 15 at the moment I would think at one time.

“You could always ask him about his horses or a question you needed answered.”

And, while he had gallopers who would shape up in town against the biggest barns, he most certainly loved heading out to his roots in the bush.

Tracks such as Warwick, Gatton, Dalby and even further north towards Cairns, Innisfail and Mackay were all on his hit list.

Racing Queensland Hall of Fame member Bart Sinclair said Stephenson was regarded as a man of integrity, with owners sticking with him for decades and racing a number of different horses with his stable.  

“He loved to burst into song,” Sinclair said on radio.

“He had a lovely smile and laugh, he had a great way about him. He was larger than life at times. He was great fun to be around.”

Racing Queensland extends its condolences to the Stephenson family.