Vale John Lyons, Life Member and Community Advocate

Cluden Park will pay tribute to the life of the late John Lyons with a race named in his honour tomorrow – the Vale John Lyons Open Hcp (1000m).

Mr Lyons was a life member of the Townsville Turf Club and a giant in the Townsville racing and business communities over many decades. 

He served as honorary Treasurer and committeeman on the turf club from the late 1970s right through the 1980s and was universally respected by his colleagues, owners, trainers, and jockeys. 

Mr Lyons will also be remembered for his advocacy and work for  Townsville basketball which led to the Crocodiles, and his lifelong love of rugby.

More broadly, his lasting legacy is the magnificent Museum Of Tropical Queensland building in Flinders Street which houses the HMS Pandora Exhibition.

Mr Lyons led a huge fund raising campaign to secure the facility and retain the Pandora exhibits in the city for thousands of visitors to enjoy each year. 

His love of racing was legendary and so was his passion for The Phantom, comic hero. Many of his horses raced in the black and purple colours of the “Ghost who walks”. He called one of his trusty steads Bengali Bitter.

At the height of his business career, he led the city’s business community in innovation and visionary projects and was instrumental in putting the city on the map as a place to invest. 

He created the legendary Skull Cave at his business headquarters in Stanton House in Flinders Street where many deals were sealed and ideas hatched.

When the Townsville Daily Bulletin, as it was known until the early 1980s, dropped The Phantom comic, he dressed as his hero and rode a horse into the paper to deliver his protest with, understandably, much fanfare.

The comic continued to run.

Mr Lyons shared in the partnership of a number of good gallopers over the years.

Among the best was Northern Time who he raced with the Heatley family.

Northern Time recorded five straight wins in Brisbane in the early 1990s, claiming the Lord Mayor’s Cup and Listed Brisbane Handicap along the way.

He was also part of the ownership of the classy galloper Aquitane, who he raced with rugby greats Chris Handy, Paul McLean, Andy Stack, Stan Pilecki and Roger Gould.

Mr Lyons’ passed away on March 9. 

His funeral will be held at St Joseph’s Church on The Strand at 10am, Friday 15 March 2024.  

On Behalf of the Townsville racing community, the turf club extends its deepest sympathies to Mr Lyons’ wife Zilla, and daughters Therese, Shelley, Anna and Ali, their families, and friends.