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Illawarra Turf Club is proud to induct three new Legends into its Hall of Fame.

Premiership-winning jockeys Harold Light and Norm Munsie, and trainer Kevin Robinson will have their achievements and contributions recognised with the ITC’s top honour.

They will join the inaugural ITC Legends inductees including 18-time Kembla Grange Trainers’ Premiership winner, Gwenda Markwell, multiple Group 1-winning trainer Bede Murray, revered Golden Slipper-winning jockey Cliff Clare, and original ITC Secretary Julie Humphries who later dedicated three decades to volunteering for the club.

ITC Chairman, Barry Vandenbergh established the Legends program to shine a light on the people who have gone above and beyond for the betterment of the club.

“The Legends have all made a significant personal contribution to the prosperity and growth of Illawarra Turf Club and this is our way of saying thank you,” Mr. Vandenbergh said.

“Each nominee has been carefully considered by the board of directors and we are in agreement they are deserving recipients of the Legends title.”

Saturday’s meeting at Kembla Grange Racecourse will be dedicated to celebrating the new Legends, all of whom are being honoured posthumously. A special ceremony and lunch will be held to mark the occasion.

Each of the new Legends will have a race named after them and their families will be on track to present the sash to the winning horse’s connections. Framed portraits of the Legends are hung at the entrance to the Members Bar.

Norm Munsie
Inaugural Illawarra Turf Club Jockeys’ Premiership winner in 1977-78.

Norman Stewart Munsie first gained an interest in horse racing as a young paperboy when making regular deliveries to the house of Moorefield (Kogarah) trainer, Bill Childs. Helping in the stables before and after school each day, he was rewarded with an apprenticeship to Childs at the age of 15.

Norm’s first race ride was on Brazen Sovereign at Rosehill on October 27, 1951. Soon after, he rode his first winner aboard the aptly named Journalist, trained by his master who was the private trainer for newspaper baron, Frank Packer. Backed from 200/1 into 33/1, this was the beginning of a formidable combination between jockey, trainer and owner, pulling off many huge plunges on the track.

Outriding his allowance with more than 100 winners as an apprentice, Norm relocated to Canterbury in 1955 when Moorefield closed as a training centre.

Ever reliable and loyal, he would soon forge relationships with great local trainers such as Bob Mead, Bill McCurley, John Berry, Colin Vickery, Ron McDonald, Athol “Skeeter” Hazelton, Ron “Splinter” Duggan, Keith Hill, Les Edwards, John Wenman and many others.

Norm had a great association with trainer Kevin Robinson, particularly around Kembla Grange and the Southern Districts of NSW.

Among Norm’s highlights were countless country cups and multiple winners at the same meeting.

He rode five winners on the same card at Canberra on 15th May 1962, another four at Nowra on 14th March 1964, and the last four winners of the day at Canberra on 2nd March 1963. He was also the inaugural Illawarra Turf Club Jockeys’ Premiership winner in 1977-78.

Norm’s last race ride was Crafty Hawk for his great mate Athol “Skeeter” Hazelton at Nowra in October 1990. Upon his retirement from the saddle, he fulfilled one of his lifetime passions as a gardener with the AJC at Randwick. He also put these skills to great use with his care for the Norm Munsie Rose Garden located outside the Bert Lillye Lounge at Kembla Grange.

He sadly lost his life in a fishing accident, incidentally another lifetime passion on 7th May 2004.

Kevin Robinson
5 x Kembla Grange Local Trainers’ Premiership winner and dual-code Group 1 winner (thoroughbreds and harness racing)

Harness racing - Kevin Robinson began training standardbreds in 1952 and won with his first ever starter, Regal Gold, at Harold Park. He would later name his stables Regal Lodge. He was inducted into the Harold Park Legends Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Shoalhaven Hall of Sporting Fame in 2008.

Included in his many highlights were the following:

• Won the Inter-Dominion in New Zealand with First Lee in 1968
• Won the Harold Park trainers and drivers premiership in 1975-76 season
• Competed in an international series at Yonkers Raceway in New York 1968 with "First Lee"
• Group 1 wins with First Lee, Frosty Imp, Dulacca Road, Under A Cloud and Matong Way
• Trained top class harness horses Spike, Dillon Light, Bill's Student and Mount Fitton
• Driven top class horses Koala King and Gammalite
• Won 22 races at Harold Park with Frosty Imp
• Last drive at Harold Park was a winner on "Kingston Low" in 1988

Thoroughbred Racing - Kevin’s first thoroughbred winner was Legal Pal at Kembla Grange in 1960 but it wasn’t until the mid-80s that he expanded into training racehorses on a full-time basis. Some of his better gallopers in the 70s and 80s were Black Benny, Beau Kingdom and Le De’Jeuner.

His greatest performance in racing was when he won two feature races on the same program at Randwick in 1996 – the Group 1 Australian Oaks with Kenbelle and the Group 3 Frank Packer Plate with Mr Piper.

Kevin trained many other top horses including Play Or Pay, Century Reign, Dance Til Dawn, Prince Rupert, Mine Blast, Soup Kitchen, Golden Step and Committal. He enjoyed a golden run during the 1990s which included winning the overall Trainers Premiership at Kembla Grange on three straight occasions and fivve Illawarra Turf Club Local Trainers Premierships.

Kevin was also one of the few trainers to have won a Group 1 race in both codes of Harness and Thoroughbreds racing.

Harold Light
Multiple Kembla Grange Jockeys’ Premiership winner

Harold Light was a regular face around both Kembla Grange and Nowra during the 1970s and 80s and won multiple jockeys’ premierships at both tracks.

When the Sydney jockeys’ room was going through a golden era, Harold competed with the best of them. He won his last Kembla Grange Premiership in 1981/82 defeating the likes of Clarrie Buckley, Brian Wood, Rodney Quinn, Cliff Clare, Norm Munsie, Tony Marney, Jack Thompson and Ray Selkrig.

Beginning his career on 4th August 1955, Harold rode successfully in Sydney and New Zealand through to May 1963 when increasing weight got the better of him.

He became a taxi driver and was out of the game until the lure of racing became too strong and he made a return to race riding on 28th April 1976.

During this latter period, Harold was one of the hardest working jockeys in Sydney. He would commence riding work each morning at Randwick before meeting extra commitments at Canterbury.

Harold would also travel to Kembla Grange for trackwork on a weekly basis to help local trainers. His last race ride was on the Bart Cummings-trained Boot Hill in the mid-80s at Kembla Grange.