James Scobie (1860-1940), horse trainer, was born at Ararat, Victoria, and at age 20 he rode his first metropolitan jumping winner at Ballarat. From 1882 to 1893 he trained and rode the winners of all the major horse jumping races in Melbourne and Oakbank, South Australia. In 1900 he trained his first Melbourne Cup winner, Clean Sweep; he was to train four more Melbourne Cup winners over the course of the 1920s. Scobie married Joan Shaw Patterson in 1888, and their two sons, Norman and Austin, both became horse trainers. Scobie was known for his exacting and attentive attitude to horse training and he continued training almost until his death. His autobiography, My Life on the Australian Turf, was published in 1929.
Updated 2008
