Racing has lost a well known and popular figure with the passing of Jim (Skippy) Meek yesterday.

He was a regular figure around Caulfield having been born nearby; he didn’t wander far from home.

His brothers Bill, Frank (Snowy) and Jack were all horses trainers at some stage of their lives, Jim preferred to work for a regular wage.

Jim joined the stable of Mick Crossey who was a very shrewd trainer, and a big punter, he often caught bookmakers napping, and they paid dearly for it, the scars were quite visible.

Crossey had two great money spinners in the stable, you didn’t need any more, Sir Romeo and Naval Revue, seldom let him down.

With the tracks closed on Sundays, Jim would walk both horses from Caulfield to Brighton Beach and back for a swim.

From there he spent quite some as a track watcher, clocking horses in particular for leading trainers, Angus Armanasco and Geoff Murphy, between the trio they built up a good friendship.

Jim won popularity with his column in the mid-week Sporting Globe, under the non de plume of Skippy, after Skipton, the last colt to win the Derby – Cup double, trained by Jack Fryer, in Roseberry Grove where Jim once lived.

Jim was a member of the Bourke Street Boys, arranged by Rod Johnson, we lunch at Young and Jackson’s after the Cox Plate, we will miss Jim and the stories, above all his sincerity .