Wayne Wood started the year as CEO of the Royal Turf Club in Sri Lanka and will most likely end it as the new general manager of the Tamworth Jockey Club.
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In between the gigs he returned to Brisbane and retired, or semi-retired.
This would seem somewhat remarkable, but for the fact that Wood has spent decades continually moving between positions, organisations, states and countries in the racing industry.
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He arrived in Tamworth dripping with experience, rich in adventure and champing at the bit - eager to espouse the "most exciting time" the TJC has entered after work began on the much-needed $450,000 upgrade of its drainage system.
"And, hopefully, it will attract more horses from down at the Hunter and Newcastle and beyond to come to Tamworth, where the racing will be on a great surface, where all runners will be able to get an even chance," he said.
Raised in Sydney, Wood was weaned on racing from a young age as an assistant for former Sydney trainer Ted Stanton, a cousin of his father.
It is the third time he has worked in Tamworth. When he first lobbed in town, in 1978, as a cadet steward, he had already worked as a junior clerk at the Sydney Turf Club. He then worked at the Australian Jockey Club - where, at 22, he was the youngest person to start a metropolitan race in Australia.
After a two-year stint in Tamworth, Wood was named chairman of stipendiary stewards at the West Australian Turf Club.
While there, he became the youngest chairman of stewards for a principal club in Australia. He was 33.
Wood was also awarded the WA Racing Achiever of the Year, for making the greatest contribution to the advancement of racing in the state.
In 1989, he was back in Tamworth for a six-year stint as chief steward - before being made chief investigator for Queensland Racing.
He has also served as chief integrity steward at the Royal Western India Turf Club in Mumbai, director of racing and chief steward at the Bangalore Turf Club and chairman of stewards at the Royal Turf Club, in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka.
"Sri Lanka was a great experience because I set up a race club there from scratch," he said of the RTC. The year was 2016.
He returned to the RTC this year, but came back to Australia when COVID struck.
Prior to arriving in Tamworth and starting work this week, he was a consultant at the Kilcoy Race Club in Queensland.
Wood thanked member for Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson and Racing NSW for making the drainage upgrade possible.
