A. G. (Athol George) Mulley, a former champion jockey in Australia, died Saturday night in a Queensland Gold Coast nursing home after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 78.Best remembered for partnering Australian champion *Bernborough to 15 consecutive wins in ten months in 1945-'46, Mulley was said by observers of the Australian Turf to have been a consummate jockey with wonderful hands and balance.

Mulley won his first race at 17, the start of a dazzling career that spanned 39 years, included two apprentice jockey championships, one jockey's championship, three Golden Slipper Stakes (Aus-G1), two Epsom Handicaps (Aus-Gr.1), two AJC Derbys (Aus-G1), and nearly every other major race in Australia, apart from his record run with *Bernborough, who under Mulley, 17.1 hands high horse became arguably the greatest Australian-bred horse of all time.

Mulley also rode 700 winners in Britain, France, the United States, Singapore, India, South Africa, and Ceylon.

When an injured eye forced Mulley from the saddle, he took to training in New South Wales and Tasmania until ill health caught up with him in the 1990s.—Delamere Usher