George Tipping remembered as a giant of outback Queensland racing

By Jordan Gerrans

At George Tipping’s camp site at a race meeting across outback Queensland over the decades, there was an "open camp" policy.

If you were looking for something to eat, the fire was cooking some meat.

If you wanted a drink, he would usually have an ice cold beer ready.

And, if you were keen to chat about the upcoming races, he was your man.

Tipping is being remembered for his expert nous to prepare a winner across the state as well as his happy-go-lucky and approachable attitude after his passing earlier this week.

There was not many feature or Cup races the Tipping stable did not win in the North West and surrounding districts in his five decades as a trainer.

After suffering heart problems of late, he passed away from a stroke at age 75 this week.

George had lost his beloved wife Vicky in the recent years before his death.

Another legend of regional Queensland - Fred Brophy – raced horses with Tipping for decades and had a gelding named Charminar with him until he started to wind down his training operation last year.

Brophy is one of the more popular people across the state as a fourth-generation boxing tent owner, which is where he first ran into Tipping.

Brophy – who was awarded with a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2011 – came into contact with the late horseman at track’s such as Birdsville, Mount Isa, Cloncurry and everywhere else in between. 

“Everyone respected him, he had been doing it for a long time, training horses,” Brophy – who has been running the boxing tent at Birdsville for 40 years - said.

“He was a good old country trainer, he liked the bush, he was a bushman.

“He did the hard yards; he went to all the race meetings in the outback of western Queensland and everyone knew him out there.

“He was an honest bloke and apart of the community in the outback.”

He was not just a bush trainer, either.

The Tipping barn has great success at higher levels.

He prepared a South Australian metropolitan winner, running second in Brisbane in town twice as well as starting gallopers in black-type events.

Regardless of his fortunes with his team of horses in the city, Tipping never forget his roots in the outback.

As many of the same people within the racing industry would travel to towns such as Birdsville, Richmond, Camooweal or Winton every year, he was always a welcoming face at the camp site.

“It was an open camp for anyone to come if they wanted to throw their swags down,” Brophy remembers.

“If anyone wanted a meal or a beer, he was the type of person to look after them, just go over to George Tipping’s place and he would help.

“He was a one-off style of person.”

The renowned horseman travelled his stable far and wide across the Sunshine State but he saved his greatest achievements for his home deck at Mount Isa.

The record books show he collected more than a 100 winners at the track but that number is likely to be much more as he was most prominent as a trainer back in the 1970s.

Legendary figure in the Queensland jockey ranks – Keith Ballard – rode for Tipping on and off for some 40 years.

The combination won Cup races together and had an outstanding association, with their families still close to this day.

Following Tipping’s passing this week, the Ballard clan were working with Tipping’s family to collate George’s history and influence in racing into a document.

Keith jokes that they had a “love hate relationship” at times, which many a jockey and trainer can have, but the veteran hoop says they quickly got over their differences.

“He was a very good trainer and conditioner,” Keith said.

“He was always a happy-go-lucky type person and he was very good company.

“He had some good horses over the years.”

Longstreet was a versatile horse the team had great success with, claiming the majority of the Cup races in the North West, and winning 16 races all up.

It was not just Keith from the famous Ballard family that rode for Tipping.

Keith’s son – Dan – also was a regular to be legged-up on to a Tipping galloper, as was Keith’s wife Denise when she was still riding.

“There would not be a lot of people who could say that,” Keith said with a laugh.

The Ballard family would often set up camp adjacent to Tipping on their regular pilgrimages to far and away tracks across Queensland.

Keith first crossed paths with Tipping in Winton when he was a teenager, before the late trainer moved around to towns such as Emerald, Biloela, Cloncurry and on to Mount Isa across his life.

Tipping was at his peak as a trainer back in the 1970s, Keith explains.

He was a jockey in his earliest days in the industry, but weight quickly got the best of him.

He trained on a full-time basis with weekly racing at Mount Isa and Cloncurry, with as many as 20 in work at a time. 

As he had such a large team of gallopers, he could race a bunch at Mount Isa while someone else from his team would travel another group of  horses to another meeting in the bush.

He had many top horses such as The Partner, Top Ace, Lover’s Mission, Obscure Desire and Cruise Control, among others.

Even in the years before he slowed down his training operation, Tipping travelled his horses across the state.

He picked up a winner at Atherton’s Morrow Park in late 2020, with the galloper ridden by Townsville-based hoop Jeffrey Felix.

While Felix lives and works in Townsville, he was a regular visitor to the outback and he was smiling to pilot a winner for Tipping.

“I know him well from Mount Isa, he is a good mate of mine, old George,” Felix said in the jockeys room just minutes after the victory.

Brophy was only in Mount Isa a couple of months ago for their annual rodeo, which coincides with the Mailman Express festivities.

He ran into Tipping at his boxing tent and they shared a laugh, while Brophy recognised he was not in great health.

“He loved horse racing and boxing, that is why we got on so well, as well as people and the outback,” Brophy said.

“He was a good bloke to have training your horses, he was a good bloke and always did the right thing by the people who owned the horses.

“He was a good bloke to be with as a country bloke.

“He trained horses for the pleasure and leisure of it, it was not all business and serious.”

Racing Queensland extends its condolences to the Tipping family.