Melbourne Cup Day 2013 unfolded in familiar fashion, with longtime clerk of the course Patto arriving in his trusty horse-drawn cart, mounting his horse, leading the Cup contenders onto the track, and guiding Fiorente back to the scales after triumph. While it was business as usual for many, this day held special significance for the Victorian and Australian racing community, as the day marked Patto’s retirement..

His long-standing association with the Melbourne Cup was remarkable. He had officiated at this prestigious event for almost a third of its 153-year history, and before that, he had been a fixture at Flemington for a solid decade.

As Gai and connections celebrated at a city restaurant that night, Patto, surrounded by his family and friends, gathered in his humble kitchen just across from Flemington at his stables in Crown Street. There, they shared a simple but heartfelt moment over cups of tea and a few beers, celebrating this chapter in the career of Patto.

He had always been a horseman, and was even recognised in June 2021 in the general division of the Order of Australia awards for services to horse racing. Patto had a unique and specialist skill that requires patience and horsemanship to read a horse and its body language.

He started professionally breaking in racehorses when television had only just come to Australia, computers were still a couple of decades off being part of everyday use and the Melbourne Football Club was the AFL, or VFL as it was then, powerhouse.

Yet, despite technological enhancements, not a lot changed when it comes to breaking in a racehorse according to one of Australia’s most revered educators of young horses. “I used the same basics from when I started about 60 years ago until when I finished,” Patterson said.

Patto, who gave up his career as an apprentice jockey at the age of 21 to concentrate on breaking, often said the most important thing to understand was that there is no set system when it comes to breaking in a horse.

“I was still learning towards the end of my career. Every horse is different. Every horse has its own personality. They’re no different to humans in that regard.

“What you can do with one in 10 minutes might take you several days to get the same result from another one. Some pick it up quicker than others, and some don’t pick up a lot of things at all. There’s no set rulebook on it.”