Apart from being one of the greatest sons of The Buzzard, Playboy is the horse that was the foundation of the career of arguably Australia’s greatest ever trainer in Thomas John (TJ) Smith. TJ was born on 3 September, 1916, the eldest of seven children with his father Neil, an itinerant labourer and horse-breaker. By 1927 the family had arrived in Goolgowi, a railway siding town in south western NSW. Living in relative poverty, young Tommy received little schooling, instead working alongside his father in a variety of jobs on farms, carting wool, and even road building. His father was a skilled horseman and passed down his knowledge to his son who would earn extra money by catching brumbies and breaking them in before selling them to the local rabbit trappers. Tommy’s father acquired some rogue racehorses from Sydney and they raced in the local picnic races with TJ on board. He claimed to have ridden his first winner at 12 and this sparked a dream to leave the tough life and become a jockey.
When 14yo, Tom headed to Melbourne with an introduction to a Mordiallic trainer Bill McLaughlin. It was the middle of the depression and Smith lasted less than a year with the struggling trainer before an uncle gave him a contact at the AJC. In Sydney,
