All sectors of racing came forth to pay their final respects at the passing of Ned Dougherty who died last week at the age of 86.

Ned was a unique man, his knowledge of racing and how it should be administered has stood the test of time.

He entered the racing game as a jockey, mostly in the country, there were those periodical trips to Sydney courses, Randwick, Rosehill, Canterbury, Moorf ield, Roseberry, Ascot, or Victoria Park, these were all metropolitan courses at that time, many have faced away since then.

Ned was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth; it was a competitive era, competing against the top jockeys, Darby Munro, Billy Cook, Jack Thompson and numerous other outstanding riders.

He rode countless winners on a wide variety of courses throughout New South Wales; he held a record at one stage of having ridden 20 plus winners consecutively during periodical trips to Sydney.

On retirement Ned joined the administration of racing, the Central Districts of New South Wales as Chief Steward.

With a no nonsense attitude Dougherty had an impact on innumerable people on and off the track, including his former apprentice, Terry Bailey, who acted as a pallbearer at his memorial service.

“He taught me more about life in general than racing, and about how to be a better human being, “said Bailey, Racing Victoria’s Chairman of Stewards.

“You could never go to a university and receive the kind of training that Ned Dougherty gave me.”

“Just to be alongside him for that period was special, he treated me like a son, he was an icon in this area.”

“He ruled with an iron fist, and that is the way it has to be, but he never asked anyone to do anything that he couldn’t , he earned a lot of respect for that,” said Terry Bailey.