Merv Maynard

Mervyn "Merv" Maynard ( – 9 April 2017) was an Aboriginal Australian jockey who rode numerous winners in a career spanning almost five decades.

Early life Mervyn Maynard was born around 1931, the son of Aboriginal activist Fred Maynard and Minnie Critchley, an Englishwoman, whose father was a miner. His early life was difficult, owing to his father being under police surveillance because of his political activism, and the children were the targets of death threats. On one occasion, Mervyn and another Aboriginal boy were picked up by police and taken to the police station, which terrified him.

His father died when Merv was still a teenager (in 1946

Career Summary Maynard's career spanned 46 years, winning eight races. The following season he won 10.

In 1952 Maynard won the Queen's Cup Maynard's only regret was that he did not get to meet the then Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, who was, with husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, scheduled to hand out the trophies at the event. However, en route to their Australian engagements, the couple were visiting several African countries, and it was there that they received the news of the death of her father, George VI, so they had to return to England.

Around this time, when he was still under 21, he received an offer from brothers Run Run Shaw and Run Me Shaw, to be their stable jockey in Singapore and British Malaya. He wanted to accept, but the Australian Jockey Club told him that they would not issue him with an Australian jockey's licence if he went. ), winning 19 country races on the black gelding before starting to race him on the big city circuits. Alinga soon won some important races and became a favourite in some, including as equal favourite with Hydrogen in Brisbane (although did not win that one). In October 1953 Alinga broke his leg and after a couple of weeks of trying to save his life, the horse was destroyed under the direction of the RSPCA. Shortly after this, Maynard turned down a lucrative offer from a prestigious Melbourne stables, instead electing to ride the country cup circuit for many years, where he racked up numerous wins, possibly achieving a NSW record. ), and five grandchildren.

in NAIDOC Week 2020, Racing.com featured Maynard along with four other "Indigenous Australians who have left their mark on racing": Darby McCarthy, Frank Reys, Leigh-Ann Goodwin, and Rod Bynder.