Roy Higgins was born at Koondrook, Victoria, in 1938 and commenced his riding career at Deniliquin in 1953. After establishing himself in the country, he made his way to Melbourne where he was to become one of Victoria's greatest-ever jockeys.
Higgins won his first Melbourne Jockeys' Premiership in the 1964/65 season and he was to go on to win it a further ten times to equal the long-standing record of Bill Duncan.
He was one of four Australian jockeys to have ridden 100 Group 1 victories.
Despite a constant battle with weight throughout his career, Higgins rode over 2,300 winners including two Melbourne Cups, a Caulfield Cup, a W.S. Cox Plate, four VRC Derbies, five VRC Oaks and four Blue Diamond Stakes.
He rode the winners of many major interstate races including two Sydney Cups (1962-69), two Golden Slipper Stakes (1966-73) and the AJC Oaks six times.
Higgins also rode five winners in a day at successive meetings at Flemington in March 1972.
Higgins' last ride in a race was at Flemington in October 1983.
Roy passed away on 8 March 2014 at the age of 75.
Image Source: Fairfax Media