FOR the greater part of his life, he had lived in a bewildering whirlwind of stark sensationalism. He had been popularised to the point of homage, yet he had been pilloried with an intensity that had been almost inflammable.
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He was lionised and even idolised by the huge race-going crowds of Australia, only to be, later cast aside and castigated by the very same people who worshipped, earlier at his shrine.
For just on a quarter of a century, Darby Munro had been a household name and the most dynamic figure to grace the Australian turf. The playboy of all jockeys, with his fingers littered with gold and diamond rings, his epic feats of horsemanship in countless races have marked him down as a phenomenon of the saddle who wielded the whip with the same dexterity in either hand and whose outstanding judgement of pace, in weight-for-age and handicap races at least, bordered on the uncanny.
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He was born David Hugh Munro and was the kid brother of the famous Jim Munro, who piloted two Melbourne Cup winners plus other classic races worldwide.
The main talk around the traps was "just wait till young Darby gets his licence". Racegoers and owners didn't have to wait too long. He rode his first winner at Grafton and won the Doncaster Handicap in his second race ride.
A year later, his brilliant riding on the champion three-year-old Hallmark saw him gather in both the AJC and VRC Derbies. A first Melbourne Cup victory looked certain until the owners of Hallmark decided to go for the Sydney apprentice Jack O'Sullivan, who with his allowance, steered the star colt to a narrow win. Darby was shattered by the decision and never accepted another ride from Hallmark's owners.
He was nicknamed "Darby" by his father because young David had super strong arms, so strong, that his father reckoned the youngster could break out from a pair of manacles, which the convicts coined "darbies".
Munro was probably the greatest "money-rider" of all time; he never won a jockeys' premiership, he was only interested in the money. Some of the huge plunges he landed were from his first Melbourne Cup win on Peter Pan in 1934 which bought hirn a block flats in Randwick. In 1940, hundreds of thousands of pounds was expected to be paid out by bookmakers if the New Zealand champion Beau Vite was to win the Melbourne Cup.
Gun shots had already been fired at the champion the week before the big event and even his regular jockey received death threats and refused the ride.
The owners then offered Munro the unheard of amount of five thousand pounds to take the ride on the top-weight. Beau Vite was pounding along in fifth place and looking like the possible winner, Munro's mount was deliberately knocked off balance and pocketed which ended any hope of victory.
Munro years later said that Beau Vite was weighted out of both the 1940 and 1941 wins and was one of the best horses he ever rode. In 1944, Munro won his second Melbourne Cup on the favourite Sirius. On radio, Munro told all the hundreds of Australian servicemen and thousands of punters to back Sirius.
Opening up at 25-1 in the market, the money came thick and fast for Sirius. Munro obliged by winning the Cup at 12-1 by three lengths and was fined one hundred pounds for making his earlier comments on the radio. From the proceeds, another block of flats was purchased in Coogee.
Early in 1946, Munro was once again the unfair victim of massive hysteria and abuse. Riding the race favourite Shannon, with 61kg, the mighty colt was left stranded 100 yards behind at the barrier when the field was dispatched. Giving the field nearly a furlong start, Munro decided to chase the field which began one the greatest rides in Australian racing history. Munro had unbelievably weaved and dashed past 22 other horses in the race and was beaten by a neck.
Renowned journalist Bill Whitaker said that Shannon covered the last furlong in the record time of 13 seconds. Old-timers described Munro's ride as not the ride of a human, but that of a demon, emphasising his "Demon Darby" title.
That same year, Munro won his third Melbourne Cup when he rode the Sydney stayer Russia, but this ride was certainly one for the annals because no other jockey in the history of the Cup had ever won the Cup drunk. At 8am on the morning of the Cup, Sydney jockey Billy Cook was on his way to trackwork when a taxi driver was assisting Munro into the hotel foyer. Cook later recalled, "Munro was mumbling and swaying sideways and believe me, he didn't know where he was he was that pissed" ... minutes later, hotel staff contacted his room and his brother rushed down to survey the carnage.
Russia's trainer Ted Hush briefly came to the hotel and was mortified with Munro's condition but brother Jim assured the nervous trainer that Darby would be fine to ride the horse later in the afternoon. Hush later informed the VRC stewards that Munro was suffering from the flu and was being treated by a doctor and would have to forfeit four earlier rides that day before the Cup.
For hours, Munro sat in cold baths and drank gallons of hot coffee and water in an attempt to sober up. All jockeys in those days had to be on the course and report to the jockeys room no later than one hour before the big event and the race against the clock was certainly in play.
Just before 2pm, the famous jockey, assisted by his brother, walked into the jockeys room. Billy Cook said later, "He gingerly walked into the jockeys room, he was ashen-faced, bleary-eyed and looked terrible".
In the mounting yard, Ted Hush said later, "Darby looked like a ghost and I was conscious that I had better take care when I legged him up onto the horse that he didn't tumble over the other side. I wished him luck, then he just looked down at me and winked and said, did you get all our money on Ted".
Jumping quickly, Munro drove Russia up amongst the leading bunch and settling his charge calmly on the fence, he quickly got Russia into a comfortable zone "by putting the horse to sleep" by humming tunes or counting numbers". Darby later admitted they both fell asleep for nearly two miles of the race before the field headed into the straight.
Thousands of race goers historically roar as the field enters the straight in the Cup and the noise alarmingly woke both the bewildered jockey and his steed. Munro quickly stood in the irons and in a second had Russia wide awake and sprinting to the lead and within a few more bounds, Russia dashed down the rest of the straight to win by five panels, claiming nearly 47,000 pounds in bets for the Munro clan and the horse's connections. These were the days when the basic wage was around eight pounds a week, so the financial returns in those times, were extraordinary.
Both Jim and Darby Munro were colourful, dashing and rich men but more importantly, they were both very generous persons. Nothing in the realms of donations exceeded their generosity. No school or college in Randwick or Coogee escaped their attention.
They were both high living characters, extremely good men at heart and terribly likeable. Unbelievably, when they strolled around shopping in shops with their families, heaps of shoppers would pause, clap their hands and cheer their presence.
