End of an era: David Manning farewells RSN after 5 decades in radio

Today marks the end of an extraordinary racing radio career spanning nearly five decades.

RSN 927’s David Manning has played a major role in presenting not only radio shows, but many other facets of racing radio.

Now, he’s moving on to spend more time with his family.

Program Director Andrew Bensley says “When I first met David, it was at 3DB in 1984 when racing was being broadcast, but he’d already started his media work, helping out ‘The Accurate One’ Bill Collins at every city race meeting on Saturdays, for DB and Channel 7 broadcasts in the late 70s.”

“In those days, John Vertigan would be crossing to David every Saturday to read out markets for the meetings being covered by radio.”

“Thousands of listeners felt David was a part of their afternoon when radio was the driver.”

David, like many other staff members, joined 3UZ when the Victorian Racing Industry purchased the station to guarantee race broadcasts.

He continued to thrive with every opportunity and found his way to presenting nightly racing shifts, which he has done for the past decade.

Bensley says “David is one who just quietly goes about his business without much fuss, but he’d admit the shift from Elizabeth Street to our new studios at Racing Victoria tested his will, having to learn brand new equipment.”

In recent times, his interaction with form analysts and race callers has given David great satisfaction in linking everything together.

David had a crack at calling races himself when travelling to tracks like Woodend. He helped out good friend Greg Miles on the ABC. At one point, he also worked as a salesman, selling fabric from which wedding dresses could be made.

David turned to his hand to training standardbreds and was one of the first to buy horses out of New Zealand in the 90s.

He had instant success with a horse called Dillon Dave.

RSN says David has left an indelible mark on racing radio in Victoria and should be congratulated on his outstanding service to the industry.

David and his wife Julie are now looking forward to spending time up north away from the cold, seeing their daughter in Canada a bit more often and son Michael, who trains a couple of pacers at Rochester.

Bensley summed up the feelings of colleagues in saying “David, words aren’t enough, but a huge thank you from all the people whose lives you’ve touched over the past five decades.”