Vale Paul ‘Pegsy’ Egan

Kilmore Racing ambassador and life member Paul ‘Pegs’ Egan died on Thursday following a battle with ill health.

Mr Egan, 79, was the Review’s racing reporter before retiring earlier this year.

He worked as a proofreader and racing journalist at both the Review and prior The Free Press, for more than 20 years.

Mr Egan was also a longtime contributor to The Winning Post.

His love and passion for the horse racing industry extends back more than 60 years ago.

Although living in Melbourne, Mr Egan and his brother Wayne joined as members of Kilmore Racing Club in the early 1980s.

His nickname of ‘Pegs’ came about because of his brother Wayne’s nickname of ‘Weg’ – who would sign his name in a similar vein to cartoonist William Ellis Green, ‘Weg’.

Mr Egan was elected to the committee in the mid 1980s, before serving as chairman, and was honoured to receive life membership at the club, and be appointed club ambassador in recent years.

Kilmore Racing chief executive Ben Murphy said Mr Egan retired from the board in 2014 and was proud to accept the role of the KRC ambassador.

“The ambassador role suited Pegsy perfectly, allowing him to come and host winning owners while always promoting Kilmore and Kilmore Racing Club,” he said.

“His deep racing knowledge and his warm, genuine and hospitable personality made winning a race at Kilmore a special occasion.

“The loss of Pegsy to Kilmore Racing Club is immense and we will never be able to replace the man who was loved by everyone and who cared very deeply about the success of KRC.”

He made many friends in the racing industry, both at Kilmore and beyond, including a long association with horse trainer Lee Hope, who trained horses that Mr Egan owned.

His friendship extended to Mr Hope’s wife Carol Shinn, and their family, including son Blake Shinn – now an accomplished jockey.

One of Mr Egan’s great racing highlights was to see Mr Shinn win the Melbourne Cup on Viewed in 2008.

Mr Shinn paid tribute to Mr Egan last week, and said ‘forever in my thoughts Pegs’.

“He was such a great supporter of mine, my family and was adored by the local community in Kilmore,” he said.

Review general manager/editor Lauren Duffy said Mr Egan was much-loved by Review staff, both past and present, and the wider community.

“He very reluctantly retired as our racing journalist in May – he was not well enough to continue but he just loved reporting about local racing winners that he didn’t want to give it up,” she said.

“We had always valued Pegsy’s contribution but none more so than throughout COVID lockdowns when there was no community sport allowed and we really relied on the racing reports to carry our sport section each week.

“When I first started with The Free Press in 2000, Pegsy had just joined as a proofreader – he had been at the Note Printing Australia in Craigieburn before that – and he instantly became a loved member of the team.

“He was a gentle giant who was friendly, funny and made friends everywhere he went. We were blessed to have him as part of our team.”

Mr Egan is survived by his partner Sue Nolan, his daughters Robyn, Jodie and Nicole, extended family and many, many friends.

His funeral is at 11am on Friday at Kilmore Trackside.