ALAN Cowie was the pin-up jockey on the Gold Coast around the turn of the century and this week the Turf Club honoured his achievements by making him a member of the Hall of Fame.

Cowie, known to all and sundry as “Pup”, was inducted alongside trainers John and Helen Page, and race broadcaster Steve Hawkins at the annual GCTC Horse of the Year awards on Wednesday.

“It was very unexpected,” Cowie said. “I am very proud to get this award. It means a lot to me. There’s some good names I’m up there beside, that’s for sure.”

Cowie rode in 8000 races over an 18-year period, landing 760 winners.

He won the Gold Coast premiership in 2000-01 before his flourishing career came to an end on Magic Millions day 2002 when he suffered serious spinal injuries in a fall.

“It will be 17 years in January. It doesn’t seem like it was yesterday, but time does fly by and you don’t think it’s been that long,” Cowie said.

While his riding career ended that day and his life changed forever, Cowie says remaining a part of the industry has helped him along the journey.

He has kept a close association with racing as a jockey manager and is handling the rides for Scott Galloway and Matthew McGuren.

“I’m fortunate enough at the moment to have two exceptional riders in my opinion,” he said.

“It is good that I can be in the same industry and dealing with the same people.

“Just looking around the room (on Wednesday), there were so many people that have been friends since day one.

“It’s a close-knit community.”

Cowie doesn’t hesitate in naming Noel Doyle’s grand campaigner Kinjite as the best horse he ever rode “by far”.

“I won my only Group 1 on him in the Spring Champion Stakes,” he said. “The rest were like Mini-Minors compared to him. He was a Rolls Royce.”

Cowie said he and Hawkins had been great mates for a long time and he was thrilled to see the popular broadcaster also inducted.

John and Helen Page were unable to attend the event, with John having had recent surgery, but Helen described it as “a great honour”.

“We’ve done a lot together, but generally it’s only one of us getting the accolades for when we’ve had success, so it was very nice to be acknowledged together,” she said.

“John’s been coming to the Gold Coast since the 1960s, targeting horses at the winter carnival. We were married in 1986 and we moved permanently to the Gold Coast in 1997.”