Western race caller Colin Hodges clearly remembers calling a Country Championships' qualifier at Mudgee on February 25, 2018, even if vision on the day itself was a challenge.

Just as the barriers were released, there was a torrential downpour. Jockeys could barely see anything, let alone Hodges trying to call the race from the grandstand.

Stewards located across the racecourse were conversing as to the whereabouts of horses.

Cosmologist came out of the gloom. The jockey was Eleanor Webster-Hawes and Dean Mirfin was the trainer.

Vision of the race is still available which shows Cosmologist holding on as a $51 outsider.

The fact the gelding was up to 150/1 before the race meant Hodges was second-guessing himself, but had the courage to push through.

“I think it was one-hundred-and-fifty to one last night,” Hodges said in the call.

“Cosmologist, the rank outsider, is out in front... Cosmologist is going up-and-down in the one spot but it’s going to win.

“Trained by Dean Mirfin and ridden by Eleanor Webster-Hawes... (Cosmologist) has scored a stunning win in torrential rain here at Mudgee and is up to the $500,000 final at Royal Randwick.”

Such is Hodges’ attention to detail, the race caller noted Webster-Hawes’ dedication at the time to travel large distances across Western NSW to ride outsiders at places like Cobar and Bourke just to stay in the game.

Another day that Hodges remembers clearly is an Orange race meeting on Melbourne Cup day many years ago.

The city was blanketed by thick fog. Around 2000 people were at Towac Park.

The first race started at 1pm in a blanket of fog and Hodges called the last 50m of the race, all he could see. Clarrie Buckley rode the winner; now his son Grant is a leading jockey. The races were then delayed for two-and-a-half hours before being called off.

Hodges said he hadn’t even got out of the Orange city limits when the fog lifted.

All he could do was grin about it on his 120km drive back to Forbes.

Hodges is an affable character and no doubt many people have stopped him at racetracks for a chat. So, what do people ask him about, outside of racing.

“Mainly rural-type things. People will ask what it’s like in Forbes, did you get that recent rain,” he said.

He said people might mention that their fathers met Col many years ago.

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The sombre part of racing

Hodges has called two races when jockeys were killed.

One was Damien Murphy, a young Irish rider, who was killed at Wellington in a race fall on January 26, 2007.

The other was Reece Potter, killed at Tottenham Picnic Races in March 2011.

At Condobolin in the Central West, near the racecourse, a memorial wall has been constructed honouring jockeys that have been killed by race falls in Australia.

John Payne wrote a book called The Last Ride – where he researched every jockey’s race death in Australia from the 1840s onwards.

Hodges noted the tragedies and said it is important to remember that racing has a sombre side and that many good jockeys have been lost in accidents.

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Honours along the way

Hodges received an Order of Australia Medal in 2017 and the Australian Sports Medal in 2000. He is just as proud of being made a life member of both the Forbes Jockey Club and Bedgerabong Picnic Race Club.

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Calling in Vanuatu

While Hodges has always called around Central Districts and Western NSW clubs and done a few meetings in Southern NSW as a fill-in, he has always been a ‘local’ caller as he loves the country meetings.

The only exception is annual trips to Vanuatu for 14 years in the 1990s and 2000s. In 1993, Hodges was invited to be the Australian race caller in Vanuatu. It was for a once-a-year meeting. Hodges and steward from Orange, Terry Bailey, attended.

Hodges continued calling annually in Vanuatu for another 14 years. Running rails were made out of bamboo, as were many other parts of the course. Results were given in English, French and the local Bislama language. Race meetings attracted crowds of around 5000 people.

Hodges would go for a week each year and loved the experience.

Dubbo Photo News' final instalment about the legendary Col Hodges will appear in next week's issue.