Noel McGrowdie

Noel Leonard "Digger" McGrowdie was an Australian jockey, best known for riding Straight Draw to victory at the 1957 Melbourne Cup.

Biography

McGrowdie was born at Breakfast Creek in Brisbane, Queensland. His father, Charles Christopher McGrowdie, was a jockey-turned-racehorse trainer. He finished schooling at St Mary's Christian Brothers' College, Toowoomba.
McGrowdie won the Doomben Cup, Brisbane Cup and Stradbroke Handicap in Brisbane. After moving to Sydney in 1943, he won the Epsom Handicap, Metropolitan, Sydney Cup and Doncaster Handicap. In Melbourne, he won the Oakleigh Plate, Newmarket Handicap and most notably the Melbourne Cub.
In 1960, McGrowdie left Australia on a riding contract in Malaya. That same year, he won the Singapore Gold Cup.
McGrowdie died in a road accident on 9 September 1961 in Parit Buntar, Perak, Malaya. He was 40. He was survived by his wife, son and daughter. He was buried at Randwick Cemetery in the Sydney suburb of South Coogee.