Fab's Cowboy part of the Johnson family in Barcaldine

By Jordan Gerrans

As a fresh set of eyes around the Johnson racing team, Tyler Leslight is as good a judge as any about the stable’s champion and how he is treated and valued internally.

That champion is of course bush legend Fab’s Cowboy.

He is a 49-time career winner as he aims to soon raise the bat for a half century.

Bevan Johnson (trainer), Mel Johnson (stable hand and Bevan’s wife) and Dakota Graham (jockey) have been along for the entire ride with ‘Cowboy’.

Cowboy has been part of the family and stable since he made his race debut back in late 2015.

Between the three of them, and the rest of the Johnson clan and barn, they treat their dear old gelding like he is one of the family at their Barcaldine stable.

They all love him deeply and treat him as such.

Apprentice jockey Leslight joined the Johnson stable as Bevan’s apprentice in the early stages of last year.

While Bevan – or Bill as everyone calls him – is a man of few words, Leslight can speak for his boss about how much Cowboy means to the team.

“Bill loves that horse nearly as much as his children and that is dead set true,” Leslight said.

The now 12-year-old Fab’s Cowboy provided Leslight with his maiden race win at Gladstone in April of last year.

They have since combined to win two more races.

An endearing moment a few days after that most recent of the victories – which came at Blackall in October of 2022 – underlines the connection Bill and old Cowboy have.

The veteran galloper was a little under the weather after that Blackall triumph and got sick.

Fearing old Cowboy may be on his last legs, Bill ensured that he would make it back to the track.

“Bill slept in that horses' stable for two nights,” Leslight said.

“That is the dead set truth, Mel found him down there on the ground with the horse.

“Him and that horse have an unreal bond that I have never seen before.

“He is probably one of the more intelligent horses I have been around as well, he is smarter than most of us, and people underrate just how smart he is.”

The Johnson stable have two young, fit and keen track work riders in Leslight and Graham.

However, they rarely get a morning gallop on the experienced Cowboy.

That is saved for the boss, Bill, such is his relationship with his favourite horse.

Mel treats the son of American stallion Greenwood Lake like he is one of her own.

“He is not just a horse, he is one of the kids,” Mel said.

“He has spent most of his life with us. He is family.”

After going to 49 victories at Blackall with Leslight in the saddle last year, the pursuit quickly turned to making it 50 career wins.

It is an elusive milestone that not many gallopers could ever dream of reaching.

A horse by the name of Walk Cool – who raced at many of the tracks Fab’s Cowboy frequents – has 51 victories to his name.

Walk Cool ran his last race in August of 1995 and is now the target for the current day bush icon.

Walk Cool is regarded as the record holder for the modern era of racing in Australia.

Since the 49^th triumph, Cowboy has gone 15 starts without success. He has placed on eight occasions in that period.

“He is still going as good as we was four years ago, he is just fighting horses half his age with more weight than them,” Bill says.

“He is tough, we know he is tough.”

There is no suggestion that Cowboy has had enough after 145 career starts.

He also has 42 minor placings on his resume. 

Despite not winning for over a year now, there is plenty of gas left in the tank.

“All the Western jockeys say this and Jason Hoopert said it to me the other day about Cowboy,” Leslight said.

“Hoops told me that the horse is not finished yet after watching his run, that showed that the horse wanted to be there.

“He still has that presence and he wants to have a go.”

Mel’s daughter Dakota has won on seven occasions on old Cowboy.

She got on well with him when she was an apprentice and was still claiming. 

With the veteran war horse needing to be ridden by claiming youngsters more so now, Dakota’s race rides on the stable star are few and far between.

While she would love to see him go past 50, Dakota says those around him are not driven by the mark and will always do what is best for the beloved horse.

“If he did not want to do it, we would not send him around,” Dakota said.

“It is not about breaking the record for wins, but it is not about that really.

“It is just the horse, he just wants to keep racing. He still thinks he is about three years old.”

After Cowboy was his maiden winner, Leslight thought he was going to raise the bat not long ago at Mount Isa.

It was four runs ago in late August on the sand at ‘Isa.

Leslight and Cowboy were beaten half-a-length on that occasion.

With less than 100 metres to travel, the 24-year-old hoop thought he was about to bring up the milestone.

“I was nearly in tears with 50 metres to go,” the jockey said.

“I could see how close I was and I wanted to be the one to bring up 50 wins. Unfortunately the weight got the better of us, but he is still so genuine and wants to be a part of racing.

“Hopefully I can be the one to bring up 50 wins on him, that would be a dream come true.”

He has won on multiple occasions at tracks such as Roma, Gladstone, Charleville, Bundaberg, Blackall, Moranbah, Barcaldine and Cunnamulla.

Bill does not dwell on what his stable stalwart has achieved.

“You probably do not take it all in until someone says something about it,” Bill said.

There is two areas of the state he has not tasted victory in yet.

Fab’s Cowboy has not won in the city and he has not scored in the Far North Queensland racing district.

He has won in every other district in the state.

“He is not our horse or the owners’ horse,” Mel said.

“He has become the peoples horse.

“The majority of rural Queensland know him and I have spoken to people in different states who know who he is. He has a cult following and is a bit special.”