Apart from being one of the greatest sons of The Buzzard, Playboy is the horse that was the foundation of the career of arguably Australia’s greatest ever trainer in Thomas John (TJ) Smith. TJ was born on 3 September, 1916, the eldest of seven children with his father Neil, an itinerant labourer and horse-breaker. By 1927 the family had arrived in Goolgowi, a railway siding town in south western NSW. Living in relative poverty, young Tommy received little schooling, instead working alongside his father in a variety of jobs on farms, carting wool, and even road building. His father was a skilled horseman and passed down his knowledge to his son who would earn extra money by catching brumbies and breaking them in before selling them to the local rabbit…