Hunter Valley trainer Tom Wilson, who prepared his first winner as a 21-year-old at Maitland in 1948, has passed away, aged 95.
Wilson began training greyhounds while working at the abattoirs but later continued as a hobby trainer while earning a living for two decades as a professional fisherman on Lake Macquarie.
His best greyhounds were the former Wentworth Park top grader Lord Julight, who got within .20sec of the track record in a 580 yards race there in 1955, and Fassi Fawn, who twice set a course record for 575m on the old Maitland grass track.
At stud she was a top producer and her daughter Jan Jen Jem became the mother of the Gary Ernst-trained Orphan Point, who was a Wentworth Park star, winning 25 races and earning $97,000.
In 2010 Wilson trained Radatain to land a dozen victories, including success at Wentworth Park, while he prepared Bit Isolated for a Wentworth Park win in June, 2011, before she ran a string of placings at headquarters.
Wilson's son, Tom junior, said his father had led out his last runner, at The Gardens, at the age of 89.
Tom Wilson's funeral will be held on Wednesday at 1pm at Ryhope Lake Macquarie Memorial Park, 405 Cessnock Road, Ryhope.
GRNSW wishes to extend sincere condolences to the family and friends of Tom Wilson.
