Nick Columb

by Renée Geelen

Four years after the death of Nick Columb, close acquaintances have installed a sculpture of their ‘great friend’ outside Arrowfield Stud’s new yearling barn complex. Created by artist, Linda Klarfeld, the sculpture was unveiled in 2021.

“All four of our statues are of very special people and horses,” said Arrowfield’s John Messara. “Nick was a personal friend to me, a brilliant guy in so many respects, who had an extraordinary impact on his friends. It hadn’t occurred to me to do a sculpture of him, as we like to do them while people or horses are living so they can enjoy being celebrated, and Nick died so suddenly. All his friends said, ‘why don’t we chip in and get one made?’ We decided to put it near the yearling barn, as Nick had enormous success at finding yearlings and turning them into champions. He left his mark on racing in a very special way.”

Born in 1945 in Romania, Columb arrived in Australia as a four-yearold child with his parents who were escaping war torn Europe. With a love of racing and footy, Columb initially studied law at university but this didn’t stick, and he turned to journalism writing for the Melbourne Herald (now the Herald-Sun) for a decade. From there, he ventured into marketing, and then launched his own business, expanding this to invest in a pub, private hospitals, and the Morning Star Estate at Mount Eliza. From a young age, Columb was interested in racing, with his first venture being a very slow filly he leased with a bunch of mates while only just out of school. Later, he purchased a filly named Teversham (Red Gauntlet-Plumage, by Golden Plume) and he took great delight in telling people how she was denied victory at the Avoca Picnic Races by a judge who awarded the race to his cousin’s horse. From this unpromising beginning as an owner, Columb would change his fortunes and he won seventeen Gr.1 races with his horses including the Caulfield Cup twice.

Once his business began to thrive, Columb was able to indulge in his racing hobby. One of his first purchases was a Vain colt who suffered from knee chips, but things improved when he purchased a share in Full On Aces

(Kaoru Star-Better Draw, by Better Boy) who won the 1981 Gr.1 Golden Slipper and both the AJC and VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes. An evening out in Melbourne resulted in a “drunken purchase” of a colt from New Zealand called Little Brown Jug (GodavariPease, by Targui) who had already won the Gr.1 NZ 2000 Guineas. Columb syndicated Little Brown Jug with Tommy Smith and the colt went on to win sixteen of his 36 starts including the Gr.1 Underwood Stakes before retiring to stud where he sired seven stakes winners including Gr.1 winner Stapleton Lass (Little Brown Jug-Big Bess, by Bellissimo).

Trainer Ross McDonald had a great partnership with Columb’s horses beginning with Magari (Maybe Lad-Aurea, by Showdown) who dominated the 1982 spring winning three Gr.1 races; the Gr.1 Malboro Cup (now the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes and previously the Invitation Stakes), Gr.1 Toorak Handicap, and the Gr.1 George Adams Handicap (now the Cantala Stakes). Columb was so taken by Magari, he purchased his dam, Aurea with a 1981 born Century filly at foot, who he named Centaurea (CenturyAurea, by Showdown). Centaurea won five of her 24 races with a highlight being the 1985 Gr.1 South Australian Oaks while ridden by Champion Jockey Lester Piggott. The 1980s were an era of dominance for the New Zealand bred horse, and Columb frequented their yearling sales where he purchased three Gr.1 winners. Tristarc (Sir Tristram-Renarc, by Arctic Explorer), Imposera (Imposing-Calera, by Zamazaan) and Courtza (Pompeii Court-Hunza, by Pakistan II).

Tristarc beat the boys in the 1985 Gr.1 Australian Derby, then as a spring four-yearold, she won the Gr.1 Underwood Stakes, Gr.1 Caulfield Stakes and the Gr.1 Caulfield Cup. In the autumn, she made it five Gr.1 wins with the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes. At stud, she only produced two foals, and only the filly raced; Listarc (Luskin Star) who was a winner. Listarc had similar bad luck at stud, leaving only one colt, and that ended Tristarc’s descendants.

Imposera won the Gr.1 South Australian Oaks at three, then won the 1988 Gr.1 Caulfield Cup at four. All up, she won seven of her 34 starts and over a $1million in prizemoney which was a lot for that era, especially when only a few years before Tristarc had won more big races while accumulating just over $800,000 in prizemoney. Imposing produced four winners including group placed Tristera (Sir Tristram) who left Gr.1 winner Teranaba (Anabaa).

Boom two-year-old Courtza won the 1989 Gr.1 Blue Diamond and the Gr.1 Golden Slipper, then was a dual Gr.2 winner at three and notably ran third in the Gr.2 Moonee Valley Stakes over a mile behind Zabeel

(Sir Tristram) and Dr Grace (Sir Tristram). As a broodmare, she left three winners and it was her second foal who would guarantee her name continues in pedigrees. This colt, O’Reilly (Last Tycoon) won four of his six starts, two at Gr.1 level, and went on to be New Zealand’s Champion Sire.

In the same year as Courtza was burning up the juvenile ranks, Columb became president of the Footscray Football Club (Western Bulldogs). Around that time, the stock market crash affected Columb’s ability to purchase horses, and he was quoted as saying, “I went to bed a rich man, woke up a poor one.” Despite these challenges, Columb remained involved as the Chairman of The Racehorse Owners’ Association (TROA) with his commitment spanning fifteen years from 1987 to 2001. “Without owners there is no racing,” he said. “We ‘feed’ everyone – trainers, jockeys, strappers, vets, float drivers, grain merchants and race club committees. Without horses out on the tracks there’d be nothing to bet on. Indeed, all we’d see is grass growing!”

During his tenure at TROA, Columb was instrumental, along with others, in introducing the SuperVOBIS Scheme, making improvements to owners’ privileges and facilities, and pushing authorities for the wider distribution of prizemoney. Columb’s positive influence for owners was expanded through stints with the National Racehorse Owners’ Association and the Asia Pacific Racehorse Owners’ Association. In his later years, Columb worked as the Senior International Racing Consultant for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and one of the highlights was heading to the 2014 Arqana August Yearling Sale in France with Mark Richards and purchasing Pakistan Star (Shamardal-Nina Celebre, by Peintre Celebre) for 180,000 euros who then made HK$6million at the HKJC International Sale before going on to win five races including two at Gr.1 level. “Charismatic and hugely popular, Pakistan Star could fairly be described as one of the great characters of the racing world. One could say exactly the same about Nick Columb, a larger-thanlife enthusiast who gave so much to the sport which he loved,” said John Berry, for TDN in 2018.

Sculptured by Linda Klarfeld and unveiled in 2021, the Nick Columb statue stands outside the Arrowfield Yearling Barn on their property near Scone.

What was the briefing given to you by Arrowfield Stud when they commissioned this piece?

The sculpture was not commissioned by Arrowfield Stud but by a small group of close friends of Nick Columb including John Messara. Arrowfield was a natural home for the statue because of Nick’s connection with the farm and the horses. The brief was to create a memorial to Nick which would be true to the person he was.

How did the process of design work?

I specialise in memorial work. I also have a degree in psychology which I feel helps me to find and express meaning for the family, friends, and community in the sculptures that I create. I work closely with the people that knew my subject throughout the creation process. I listen to the stories and feedback until I can capture this meaning. I get many photos of my subject from throughout their life and any objects that the friends have that remind them of him. There will be specific things that are more relevant and meaningful than others that should be used in the sculpture. Having done this I then refine the concept, in the case of Nick Columb it was about winning. He is holding a race book in his hand and is in a power pose of someone whose horse has won! I create a small plasticine model of the sculpture to show how it will look in 3D and then once that it is approved, I make the sculpture in the full-size and cast it in bronze.

How did you become a sculptor?

I was born a sculptor, it’s a calling. I made my first portrait bust at age seven. And while other fourteen-year-old kids were doing sport I spent many lunch times and afternoons in the art room. I then studied in Prague and in New York as a sculptor’s apprentice and when I was nineteen, I found a benefactor who supported my early career. Shortly after I was discovered by the Catholic Church and have been sculpting ever since. I have now created over 40 public monuments around Australia including most recently the busts of the Hon. Tony Abbott and The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull for the Prime Minister’s Avenue.

What do you love most about the Nick Columb sculpture?

The optimism of it. Nick’s flamboyance! But mainly I like the thought behind it, the fact that his friends cared enough about him that they would commission me to make a sculpture of him. That is a huge achievement, to have friends like that and be the kind of person your friends care so much about. Getting a sculpture of someone is the ultimate form of recognition and appreciation. BB