Michael "Jack" Holt (14 November 1879 – 10 June 1951) was an Australian horse trainer and philanthropist. Popularly known as the "Wizard of Mordialloc", Holt headed the Victorian trainers' premiership at least twelve times.[1]
Biography
Holt was born in Berwick, Victoria, a younger son of Michael Holt ( – 5 April 1910) and his wife Mary Holt, née Corkery (c. 1843 – 13 June 1913). He may have been christened "Michael"[2] but called himself "Jackson",[3][4] invariably shortened to "Jack". He lived with his two spinster sisters in the suburb of Mordialloc.
He first trained horses at Berwick, Victoria, and won his first race, the 1911 Standish Handicap, with his own mare, Carette.
Memsie Stakes 11 times: Eurythmic (1920, 1921 and 1922); Englefield (1924); Heroic (1925 and 1926); Royal Charter (1927); Highland (1929); High Brae (1932); Hall Mark (1935); Noble Prince (1946)
Williamstown Cup: Tangalooma (1921); Second Wind (1930 and 1931)
Other horses he trained were: Avenger, Beau Fils, David, El Ray, Gallantic, Hyperion, Idea, King Pan, Man at Arms, Metellus, Radiant Lady, Royal Joker, Sailing Home, Sir Ibex, Smoke Bomb, Studio and Victorian King. His jockeys included Frank Dempsey, Theo Lewis and W. Duncan.
Holt was a devoted Catholic. When he died he was accorded a Requiem Mass at his local church, St. Brigid's, Mordialloc, to which he had been a faithful and generous adherent. His remains were interred in the Berwick Cemetery.[6]
St. Brigid's School received £1000 to continue funding the prizes at their annual picnic, a tradition begun by Holt many years before.
A considerable sum was left in the care of his sister Madge Holt to be left on her death to be distributed to each of: Royal Melbourne Hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital, Alfred Hospital. Prince Henry Hospital, Children's Hospital, St. Joseph's Foundling Hospital, Little Sisters of the Poor, St. Anthony's Home, Caritas Christl Hospice for the Dying, Nazareth House, and Mercy Public Maternity Hospital. Holt had also made generous donations to these charities during his lifetime, as well as lending his name and influence to the running of fund-raising carnivals and annual billiard displays by Walter Lindrum.[8]
Michael Holt ( – 5 April 1910) was married to Mary Holt ( – 13 June 1913), who was born in County Cork.[9]
Margaret Mary "Madge" "Maggie" Holt ( – 14 May 1952) significant bequest to charities.[10]
William "Willie" Holt ( – )
Jackson "Jack" Holt (c. 1880 – 10 June 1951) never married and lived at "Lethe", 8 Francis Street, Mordialloc, Victoria with his two sisters.
Catherine "Kitty" Holt ( – 19 April 1945)
References
^"Trained Many Great Horses". The Age. No. 29, 989. Victoria, Australia. 11 June 1951. p. 12. Retrieved 14 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
^John Ritchie, 'Holt, Michael (Jack) (1879–1951)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/holt-michael-jack-6719/text11603, published first in hardcopy 1983, accessed online 15 September 2017.
^"Family Notices". The Age. No. 29, 990. Victoria, Australia. 12 June 1951. p. 6. Retrieved 15 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Family Notices". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 32, 690. Victoria, Australia. 12 June 1951. p. 14. Retrieved 15 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
^It is not certain whether this horse and Thrice above are different animals, but neither is a misprint.
^"Jackson Holt". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXXXIV, no. 5006. Victoria, Australia. 5 July 1951. p. 12. Retrieved 14 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.