50 wins! Fab's Cowboy's Living Legends push after remarkable feat

Connections of racing marvel Fab's Cowboy have declared they will drive the 147-start veteran to Living Legends themselves if he's allowed in following his 50th career win at Mt Isa on Saturday.

The Moranbah war horse has overcome some hurdles in his racing career, but none as big as the one when he was foaled into one of the worst droughts ever seen in Longreach in 2011 before coming to trainer Bevan "Billy" Johnson and his wife Mel.

After notching up win number 49 at Blackall in October 2022, Fab's Cowboy has been forced to wait 16 starts to bring up the incredible milestone. His race record now stands at 50 wins and 43 placings from 147 starts and prizemoney of $409,830.

With the 12-year-old no stranger to travel, Mel Johnson said the horse came to them in all sorts of trouble after his breeder Fabian Currin passed away before he was able to have his first start.

"Liz and Paul Currin own him and Fabian Currin, Liz's father, bred him and had a massive opinion of him," Johnson said.

"When he bred him he said he'd make something special and he said to Bevan at the races one day ‘I will give you a good horse', unfortunately he never lived to see it.

"Liz had the horse and she said to Paul to break him in for her, so she gave him a half share for it.

"He came in on a two-horse open float from probably the worst drought Longreach had ever seen and he looked ordinary, it was a credit to them to even have the horse alive because everyone was doing it tough."

Johnson said it was a matter of playing the waiting game after win number 49, with the veteran battling big weights and younger horses.

With Walk Cool holding the record of 51 wins, done in Queensland between 1988 and 1995, Johnson said they would give "Cowboy" a chance to equal the magic number.

The great bush hero Fab's Cowboy doing his peculiar thing of stretching out his front legs + bowing down when being saddled. Will chase win No 49 on Saturday. @RacenetTweetspic.twitter.com/w8OxAtzWoL

— Ben Dorries (@bendorries76) June 21, 2022

Under the Australian rules of racing, Fab's Cowboy will be forced into mandatory retirement when he turns 13, which is on August 1 next year.

"He was knocking on the door with 49 for a while, he was battling away carrying big weights against horses half his age, so it had been a slog," she said.

"He's part of the family and part of the furniture around here.

"He gets around and acts like a three-year-old, he will let us know when he has had enough and we will never do anything against his will.

"Racing is what he wants to do, he is calling the shots at the moment.

"We'd love him to be able to go to Living Legends if they would take him, we would drive him all the way there ourselves if we had to."

Livings Legends, just outside of Melbourne, is a 2120km drive from Moranbah, and would take his connections about three days to get there.

Remarkably, the Johnsons missed the landmark win as they were in Brisbane for the Country Cups Challenge Final, where Stampede Warrior ran ninth.

"It was a shame we weren't with him when he won, he is home now and our daughter Dakota has been looking after him and done a fantastic job so credit to them and the guys who took him across to the races," Johnson said.

Remember the name Fab’s Cowboy because soon enough the Queensland war horse might be an answer at your next trivia night.

On Saturday at Mount Isa, the 12-year-old won no less than his 50th race.  It’s a number hard to fathom considering Winx won 37 races. While Fab's Cowboy doesn’t have the notoriety of the mighty mare, don’t underestimate his widespread reach. 

"He’s a lot more well-known than we are that’s for sure,” says Mel Johnson, wife of Moranbah trainer Bevan.  “He’s the people's champ and people throughout the ages have always loved the underdog and horses like him.

“We were leaving Doomben races on Saturday and as we were driving out at the exit in the horse truck we were all screaming ‘Go Cowboy’.  “And I happened to scream out ‘yes, that’s 50’ and the guy checking horses at the gate, who I wasn’t even sure who he was, he asked: ‘did he get it?’ Even he knew what I was talking about.  “It was a great feeling and even the race caller at Doomben put over that Fab’s Cowboy had won his 50th race.”

It’s a remarkable tale of the horse who was bought up in the middle of one of Queensland’s worst droughts and was put on a drip to survive.

While 50 might be a milestone – 51 wins is the modern-day Australian record.

And after more than 12 months and 16 starts since win number 49, connections now have their eyes on the record in his final seven months of racing before mandatory retirement.

Even better if win 51 was in far north Queensland, the only region of the eight in the state where he is yet to salute.

“He is a conceited character, so maybe he always thought he would,” Johnson says of Fab's Cowboy when asked if they ever thought 50 wins was possible.  “He’s always had a presence about him, he must’ve been born with it because the breeders always thought he would be something special.

“He’s a very vocal horse … what he does from here is totally up to him, we just dance to his tune.  “He’s been consistent but probably has been battling against the weights versus horses half his age.  “He is very bullish and has never been liked being told what to do, so I guess those apprentices sit up neat and tidy and hang on for the ride.”