One of the doyens of Queensland racing, Darryl Gollan, has died aged 76 after a long illness.
He was first diagnosed with cancer 15 years ago but in his typical resolute way was still a regular at race meetings until recently.
The father of premier Brisbane trainer Tony Gollan, Daryl Gollan had a wide-ranging impact on Queensland racing as a trainer, owner and breeder.
He was the part-owner of champion galloper Dalrello who won the 1975 Group One Doncaster Handicap.
Dalrello’s trainer, the late Jim Atkins, rated Dalrello, who also won two All Aged Stakes, among the best horses he saw in 70 years in Queensland racing.
Gollan was a publican on the Darling Downs for many years but mixed it with being a successful trainer based at Toowoomba.
He trained more than 300 winners with his best horses including top two-year-old Novajinsky and outstanding sprinter Bimbadeen.
The secretary of the Queensland branch of the Australian Trainers Association Cameron Partington said Gollan was a mainstay of training ranks in the state for decades.
“Darryl was a bloke all trainers could turn to for advice and he had friends throughout the state,” Partington said.
Queensland breeders president Basil Nolan said Gollan had been a stalwart and defender of the industry for many years.