SA Christmas Cup to honour legendary caller Jim Jacques

Jim Jacques, the voice of South Australian harness racing for more than 25 years, will be honoured with the naming of the SA Christmas Cup at Globe Derby Park on Saturday, December 27.

The Jim Jacques Christmas Cup, one of the Legends of Globe Derby series, will be run over 2230 metres from behind the mobile barrier for horses assessed NR75 or better with stakemoney worth $14,999 and is sponsored by the Seymour Group and SAHRC.

A sixth generation member of a prominent Adelaide trotting family, Jacques began his career in 1985 calling the pony trots which featured many of today’s leading drivers including Danielle Hill, Ryan Hryhorec, Mark Billinger and David Harding.

Two years later Jacques accepted the position of commentator at the Globe Derby trials, serving in that capacity for 10 years.

In 1999 he got his big break into race calling when the primary harness commentator Terry McAuliffe switched to the gallops.

The colourful Jacques enjoyed many magical moments in the commentator’s box during his long and distinguished career, but he is adamant that his favourite call was the 2013 SA Pacing Cup when Smoken Up got up off the canvass to defeat the long leading Caribbean Blaster.

“The crowd just erupted – I’d never heard anything like it. The South Australian crowd really made that race and call,” Jim said.

The first of 23 SA Pacing Cups he described was the 2000 edition won by the great Safe And Sound, trained and driven by ex-South Australian John Justice.

Jacques, who hung up his binoculars on December 10, 2022, nominated Blacks A Fake, who he called to win the 2007 Inter Dominion Championship Final at Globe Derby, as his favourite horse and ‘Mr Cool’ Geoff Webster as the best driver he has seen in SA.

An extremely versatile commentator, Jacques called the first 17 editions of the famous Tour Down Under cycling classic as well as numerous athletic carnivals and greyhound racing.

The Jim Jacques Christmas Cup will be part of a spectacular night’s racing at Globe Derby Park which includes the $25,000 Kevin and Kaye Seymour Feature, a race for SA trained horses assessed NR 60 to 74 over 2230 metres.

The race has been subsidised by the Queensland-based Seymour Group, who have been generous sponsors and supporters of the SA Harness Racing Club for the past 10 months.

Other highlights on the star-studded program will be the $14,000 SA Sires Classic for two-year-old pacers and the Parker Classic for two-year-old trotters.

by Peter Wharton for Harnesslink