He was the first, and as of 2022[update] the only Indigenous Australian jockey to win the prestigious Melbourne Cup when, in 1973, he rode to victory on Gala Supreme.
In his career as a jockey he had 1,330 winning rides, made more impressive by the fact that there was only one metropolitan and one regional race meeting per week in those days.
Many believed that it would have hindered his prospects had he discussed his Aboriginal heritage openly in a time of racial discrimination and legislative limitations.
The reconciliation movement was yet to be realised and people were marginalised simply on the basis of race and colour... Dad was proud of [his parents'] Aboriginal and Filipino heritage.
[citation needed] Reys was a teenager when first indentured as an apprentice jockey in June 1949, to trainer Alfred Baker at Cairns.
[citation needed] In his early riding years Reys worked hard to establish himself as a fully fledged jockey without the assistance of anyone but his "boss", Mr.
He won the Warwick Farm Autumn Handicap on Beaupa and rode three winners in an afternoon at the provincial racecourse Kembla Grange, Wollongong.
[2] Among the highlights of his time in Victoria were: In January 1969, Reys was badly injured a few days after the William Reid Stakes.
After his return to riding,"Turf Monthly" magazine noted in July 1969 that he rode "with considerable success at the Victorian mid-week provincial meetings".
Gala Supreme carrying 7 stone 10 pounds (49 kg) and Frank Reys won the Melbourne Cup at 9-1 in a time of 3.19.15.
Two hundred metres from the winning post Reys squeezed Gala Supreme through a gap, left by the favourite, who had drifted off a straight course.
Reys had three of his brothers in the crowd – Fred, Tony and Eric – to witness what was later called "one of the most stunning comebacks from adversity in Australian sporting history."
In 1976, three years after his career highlight aboard Gala Supreme, and after winning a Flemington race for his Melbourne Cup trainer Ray Hutchins, Reys announced his immediate retirement from the saddle.
In 2004 Shelley was invited to address the Board of the National Australia Day Council (NADC) to propose an Indigenous-inclusive way of marking the anniversary of the First Fleet's arrival.
As a result of her recommendations, Australia Day 2005 was officially launched during a sunrise ceremony at Uluru and Shelley was appointed Board member and Vice-Chairman of the NADC for ten years (2004 - 2014).
Shelley is currently the Chair of the Council for the Order of Australia (since 2022) and Board Director of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games for Brisbane 2032 (since 2022).
On 11 June 2012, Shelley Reys was named an Officer of the Order of Australia for "distinguished service to the Indigenous community, to reconciliation and social inclusion, and as an advocate for improved educational, health and employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.