Mervyn "Merv" Maynard (c. 1931 – 9 April 2017) was an Aboriginal Australian jockey who rode numerous winners in a career spanning almost five decades.
[2] His early life was difficult, owing to his father being under police surveillance because of his political activism, and the children were the targets of death threats.
Merv began working in a pharmacy in the western Sydney suburb of Lakemba, where he washed bottles, then got a job making deliveries for the local post office.
[4] Maynard's career spanned 46 years,[5] in which he rode over 1,500 winning horses, across four countries:[2] Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia,[1] between 1949 and 1994.
[3] During his career he rode against great Australian jockeys such as Lester Piggott, Darby Munro, Billy Cook, Scobie Breasley, and many others.
The race had been expected to be a contest between the two favourites, Hydrogen and Dalray, champion horses both ridden by experienced jockeys, Keith Nuttal and Darby Munro.
However, en route to their Australian engagements, the couple were visiting several African countries, and it was there that they received the news of the death of her father, George VI, so they had to return to England.
Shortly after this, Maynard turned down a lucrative offer from a prestigious Melbourne stables, instead electing to ride the country cup circuit for many years, where he racked up numerous wins, possibly achieving a NSW record.
[4] He rode in Singapore and Malaysia for four years, where he was accompanied by his wife Judy, after accepting to ride for trainer Keith Daniels.
[5] in NAIDOC Week 2020, Racing.com featured Maynard along with four other "Indigenous Australians who have left their mark on racing": Darby McCarthy, Frank Reys, Leigh-Ann Goodwin, and Rod Bynder.