“John Miller was a great hands-and-heels jockey. Darby McCarthy, at his peak, was a sensational horseman. They were geniuses. Higgins at his best was equally as good in Sydney as Melbourne. Many Melbourne jockeys didn’t fire in Sydney.”

Horses, too, also left an indelible memory.

“When I saw Tulloch, I thought I’d never see a better horse, and I haven’t,” Bourke said.

“A couple might get near him, possibly Kingston Town. It was a tragedy he never won a Melbourne Cup. At his [Tulloch’s] first start in 23 months [he nearly died in that time] at Flemington, he went around against the local idol Lord, who started favourite. It was a two-horse war down the straight, and nobody knew who won. When Tulloch’s number went up, people actually did throw hats in the air.”

After his retirement from The Age, Bourke joined Racing Victoria, where he helped foreign journalists covering the Melbourne spring carnival. He is one of 10 life members of the Victorian Racing Media Association.