THE oldest bookmaker in the world, Doug Carroll might not have been able to set up his stand at the Silver City Cup for the first time in his 99 years but he really set the scene for the Melbourne Cup festivities at Aruma Lodge this week.
Every year the nursing home puts on a special lunch, complete with sweeps and a fashion competition, on cup day and one of Mr Carroll’s friends, Ray Bitmead, thought it would be a nice touch to bring his old bookie bag to add to the scene.
“Doug’s been in Aruma Lodge for about four weeks,” said Mr Bitmead.
“They all dress up on Melbourne Cup Day so I thought it would be a nice idea to let them have their photo taken with a bookie as well.”
Mr Bitmead said he had known Mr Carroll for most of his life because he became a bookmaker at the same time as his father, Alf Bitmead, in about 1955.
“They went into the Broken Hill Bookmakers’ Association together to register but were told it was a closed shop,” Mr Bitmead said.
So the young fellows sought advice from city’s legendary union leader, Shorty O’Neil, president of the Barrier Industrial Council.
“Shorty said ‘You’re both born and bred here, aren’t you? Well, we’ll see about that’,” Mr Bitmead said.
“Dad got a call soon after that saying the Bookmakers’ Association had had a meeting and that they’d let him and Doug in.”
Mr Bitmead said Mr Carroll joked that he would keeping working as long as he could calculate the payout on a $10 wager at 2-1 odds.
“He’s a hundred next year and the other day he asked me when the trots are holding their next meeting,” Mr Bitmead said. “Surely he’s set some sort of record.”
