June 21, 2020
On behalf of the Salisbury family and his great mate - the racing icon Subzero – it is with much sadness that we share news of the passing of Graham Salisbury late today.
Graham, 76, had been battling prostate cancer over many years (diagnosed 2006), many shared alongside the health battles of Subbie, but today he finally succumbed peacefully with his family by his side in Bendigo Hospital, Subbie back at their Heathcote farm, perhaps waiting for an evening stubbie with Graham and an endless chat.
But the dynamic and remarkably unique duo of Australian racing, epitomized in its much broader community senses, never shirked their challenges over this time to deliver so much to so many over a quarter of century together. 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,” he said.
That is how close they were, that’s our concern right now.
But of course, share a thought right now for Graham’s wife Anita, children Anthony and Nicole, brother Johnny, and departed sister Dorothy at his passing.
I recall the American sports-writer Red Smith, whose obituaries or eulogies were legendary, because they were so real, like Graham.
Writing of a golfing colleague he started:
“Dying is no big deal, the least of us will manage that. Living is the trick.”
And that is the simple way of remembering Graham Salisbury. He lived a thorough life, of his own tricks.
If you knew Graham, many a chat would start with a pre-cursor like “I’m here to tell ya” – and that he would, and he wouldn’t care if it was politically correct or who may be offended or even listened, but listen they would or have to – Graham was old school, but then so much more, his school taught differently.
Though Graham loved a chat, he rarely listed to one, his late life deafness, feigned or otherwise, allowed him such indignation’s.
Graham was nominated for Australian of The Year – Seniors division of Victoria 2019, worthy but never sought and never achieved, but recognized, though recognition was never part of Graham’s make up.
I once wrote of Graham, by pinching an H G Nelson line, “he was as tough as bird poo on the car roof,” and still that sits well today and now forever.
He may not have taken a personal shine to suits or Spring St, even Epsom Rd at times, but he was as comfortable talking to Prime Ministers (Howard and Rudd), giving them a few tips, and Governor’s General (William Neale), as numerous kids in schools, the aged in care or the infirmed in hospices. Graham had a quite common touch, though his bedside manner was unique.
He was a darling – when it suited them – of Sheiks and Supermodels, as much as he was of publicans and punters. And, of course he always had his best sidekick, Subbie, by his side, though Graham would always defer to the star of the show. They travelled the world from Dubai to Crown Casino, feted and feigned and never copied.
Of course, his racing life is well documented from clerk of the course, but it is through Subzero that Graham will and should always be remembered, bought him for $1 off connections when he retired and vowed to make him “the people’s horse”. And that he did with a return on investment insurmountable.
Everybody touched by Graham and that relationship with Subbie and community has a moment of recall without hesitation. This tough gruff exterior of a bloke would melt before a sick child as Subbie nuzzled into to more than feign interest but to care and provide solace.
This tough gruff exterior of a bloke would stand endlessly before a seas of swarming kids so all experienced a chance to see and share Subbie, many not knowing he was a Melbourne Cup winner, many seeing the big grey and his mate as friends.
This tough gruff exterior of a bloke would walk into old people’s homes to share a little light on a shadowed world.
And mostly this for nothing but what he wanted to do and to share. This was what Graham Salisbury was about. Giving, never taking. But he would never ask for anything more or took a lot less.
Graham Salisbury and Subzero at The Emerald Hotel with owner Gerry Lewis. | Photo: Supplied
I will recall just one here, as Graham often did, at Very Special Kids Hospice in Glenferrie Rd Hawthorn. Graham and Subbie have been friends of my charity Pinchapoo for many years, but the therapeutic value of animals is highly regarded but when it is Subbie it was remarkable – he became a VSK favourite.
Graham tells this story. It’s of a terminally ill girl called Freya. “He went up to her and nuzzled her cheek and she had the most beautiful smile on her face. He stayed right there, didn’t leave her side for ages. There’s a beautiful picture of the two of them looking right into each other’s eyes.”
Freya would pass the next day, but the family wrote to Graham to thank him for making her last moment’s happy. “It still gets me today,” he told me”, If I’d known I would have taken Subbie to the funeral, but that place, Subbie knows those kids,” he said.
But share your own stories on this page, everybody has them.
Subbie of course won a South Australian Derby and a Melbourne Cup before Graham made him “the people’s horse.
Richard Freedman recalls. “What a character Graham was, 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 bought so many people, totally unique,” Freedman said.
“Graham would always pay 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.,” Freedman said.
David Kobritz part-owned Subbie in his racing career before agreeing to sell to Graham for $1, the best sale and investment ever made he says.
“What he did for us as owners made us so proud of the horse, and we will be forever thankful,” Kobritz said.
How do you express it, the way he looked after Subbie, 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 $1 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 a time, it was about Subbie, never of himself, a remarkable man.”
Greg Hall was Subbie’s jockey but his days with Salisbury go back to an 8YO at Chiquita Lodge at Flemington, when Graham was stabled there.
“I remember as a young kid needing my teeth done, Graham drove me to the dentist, had them pulled out, he was like a father figure to me,” Hall said.
“Fast forward to what happened, who’d have thought. I’d pay him a couple of hundred bucks to take me to the barrier just so we could chat, we had a great time but then along came Subbie. But forget what I did with the big grey, Graham was remarkable, they loved each other and there will never be anything like it again.”
“Forget the horse whisperers and all that crap, Graham’s rapport with that horse was remarkable, they were inseparable, it will never happen again.”
Graham told me for a G1X interview one day: “There will be plenty of horse who come along like him (Subbie) one day, who you think can do what he did, but there will never be another like him,” he said.
Racing Victoria respected Graham Salisbury tonight.
RV Chief Executive, Giles Thompson, said: “This is an incredibly sad day for the Victorian racing industry as we farewell 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.
Please happily remember your respects for the Salisbury family but also share your thoughts for Graham and Subbie as they would wish.
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