Queensland racing industry mourns loss of Mel Schumacher

By Jordan Gerrans

Following Melbourne Cup-winning rider Mel Schumacher’s retirement from the saddle, the community of Charleville were always quietly chuffed to have a legend of Australian sport calling their town home.

The 1958 Melbourne Cup winner passed away peacefully on Friday of last week.

Schumacher was 86.

The long-time Queensland hoop last rode in a race in November of 1999 at Toowoomba’s Clifford Park.

He had a career spanning half a century before he did retire.

In retirement, he relocated to be closer to his family at Charleville in Western Queensland.

According to the locals in the area, Schumacher mostly kept to himself and spent time with his beloved family and was not heavily involved in the racing industry following his retirement.

Local councillor and bookmaker Peter Alexander says the people in the area around Charleville were proud to have a person of Schumacher’s stature in the landscape of Australian sport living in their own backyard.

“Racing people and the older generation really resonated with having him in the community,” Alexander said.

“For us that knew about him, he was a champion living in our midst.”

The late jockey is survived by his seven children Mandy, Clayton, Matthew, Robert, Dallas, Karen and Melanie.

Mandy told Racenet that her father enjoyed a low-key life away from the spotlight in the bush. 

"He loved being at Charleville, it was about living a quiet life after racing after being in the limelight like he was during his career, he really enjoyed it," Mandy said.

"When we were growing up, he was very racing orientated, so he would go to the races on Wednesday's and Saturday's, but when he wasn't there, he was always spending time with us.

"He was such a family man, even though racing was his world."

While Schumacher mostly kept to himself and his family, he was most certainly proud of his achievements in the saddle.

Alexander – who is a councillor at the Murweh Shire Council – recalled the former jockey dusting off his famous trophy in the lead-up to the race that stops the nation one year.

He won the famous Cup aboard Baystone for trainer Jack Green.

“When the Melbourne Cup tour came out around about eight years ago they had a function at the RSL that he attended,” Alexander remembers.

“He brought along his Melbourne Cup trophy in pristine condition and the whip he used in that ride.

“He was sharp as a tack in the mind even though he was getting on in age. Once he moved out here, he was a real family man and you would rarely see him at the races.

“He was very close to his family and his grand kids.”

Schumacher was born at Boonah and got his passion for the racing industry by riding ponies around his father’s dairy farming property.

Once he got his start as a jockey, Schumacher held the rare title of being the leading apprentice in Brisbane and Sydney at the same time as he would travel between the two cities for his riding commitments.

While Schumacher will forever be known for his Melbourne Cup triumph, he was also a ‘big race jockey’ and won several other major events.

He lifted a Golden Slipper, Australian Cup and a Doomben 10,000, among other Group and Listed races. 

In a story printed in The Queensland Racing Calendar in December of 1999, Schumacher remarked that he had won a race at every track he had ever ridden at, except for Kilcoy.

In the same article, the late rider noted that he enjoyed competing at regional tracks such as Birdsville, Tambo and Cloncurry in the years before his retirement.

Brisbane Racing Club Racing Manager Bart Sinclair identified that success came quickly to Schumacher as he won the Melbourne Cup as a 21-year-old.

“He was a likeable larrikin, that is the best way to describe him,” Sinclair said on radio on Monday.

“He was great company and a great rider.

“He had a lot of success in the early stages of his career.”

A celebration of Schumacher’s life will be held next Friday at Charleville’s race track from 9:30am.

Racing Queensland extends its condolences to the Schumacher family.