Anthony Gobert was the very antithesis of a modern professional racer. In every way, except for one. He was really, really fast.
The sad yet unexpectedly affirmative story of his roller-coaster career and cruelly shortened life could have been so different. Anthony, who died on 17 January aged just 48, was supremely talented, but ultimately fatally flawed. Addiction to alcohol, heroin and almost every other substance going undermined every triumph. But it sure was a wild ride.
It is a sad story, yet perversely has positive elements. For all the things he did right and all the others he did wrong, “Goey” did it his way, with total personal integrity. He never stopped short of excess, and had all the highs and lows you’d expect. Somewhat inevitably racing turned its back on him. Or perhaps it was the other way round. But through it all, the fans loved him. As the tributes from far and wide showed after his death in a Gold Coast hospice.
Many compared him favourably to the sanitised stars of today, all corporate uniforms, polite comments and fake bonhomie. Goey was cheerful enough and generally polite, but never pulled his punches. Rivals were rivals, and he relished beating them.
His uncompromising attitude as much
