ANN Livingston, a well-known member of the Moree district whose life centred on family, the land, racehorses and her local community, has died at the age of 97.

She was farewelled at a memorial service at Moree Town and Country Club on June 24.

Born on February 26, 1929, Ann was the daughter of Gerald and Mae Moore of Moorelands, Garah. She was one of three children – identical twin sister, Geraldene, and brother Frank.

Raised on a sheep property, Ann developed a lifelong love of horses, dogs, birds and the Australian bush.

Her early years were spent surrounded by wildlife and wide-open spaces that remained close to her heart throughout her life.

Ann Livingston enjoys a ride on a favourite pony at Boolooroo.

Ann attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Rose Bay from 1938 and, during World War II, following the Japanese submarine attack on Sydney Harbour in 1942, was evacuated to Burradoo with other students.

After leaving school, Ann worked for renowned couturier Honey Wilson, where she developed an appreciation for fashion, art and design.

The years that followed included holidays at Southport, where she enjoyed the beach, horse-racing and a busy social life.

In 1953, Ann married Hugh Duncan Livingston at St Canice’s Church, Elizabeth Bay, before the couple made their home at Boolooroo, north of Moree.

The couple raised four sons – Hugh, born in 1957, Clayton in 1961, Ken in 1963 and Holt in 1965.

Family life revolved around Boolooroo, with Ann embracing motherhood while sharing in agricultural life, fishing, boating, horses, dogs and countless gatherings with relatives and friends.

Sisters Ann Livingston and Geraldene Farrer at Randwick races.

Horse-racing, and the local picnic circuit. became one of Ann’s lifelong passions.

In the late 1950s, her grandfather presented Ann and her twin sister Geraldene with their first racehorse, Mulgate, which went on to win four Boolooroo Picnic Cups and four Mallawa Cups between 1958 and 1962.

Incredibly, Mulgate could very well have made it five consecutive Mallawa Cups if not for a luckless second to Theleme in 1959 – and that was after winning the Mallawa Bracelet just a few races earlier.

Mulgate, ridden by ace heavyweight hoop Bobby Mackay, in 1961 became the first horse on the Golden Triangle to win all three cups at Moree, Mallawa and Talmoi.

Mulgate was purchased as a young horse through the Livingston family’s friendship with Jack Sullivan.

The Moree newsagent was very good friends with champion Sydney jockey Jack Thompson, who suggested Mulgate would do well in the Moree district.

“He was a wishy-washy young horse when we first got him, and nobody liked him very much,” Ann said in the 2019 book, The Triangle.

From stark beginnings, Mulgate went on to win 15 races from just 31 starts.

“It was unbelievable to think that we could have a horse like Mulgate,” Ann fondly said.

“He was a great weight-carrier but he wasn’t an overly big horse . . . a very solid horse, though, and very strong.”

During his picnic rampage in the early 1960s, Mulgate won on both days of the Moree picnic carnival, winning the Welfare Handicap over seven furlongs on the first day and returning 24 hours later to win the Boolooroo Cup over eight furlongs.

Mulgate wins the 1961 Boolooroo Cup at Moree picnic races.

For decades, Ann enjoyed attending race meetings, regularly visiting the Moree stables and spending time with trainers, jockeys, grooms and fellow race-goers.

Her calendar was filled with family traditions and celebrations, including the popular Back Pally Road Christmas parties, picnic weekends, pony club, camping and boating, and annual holidays at Yamba aboard the family boat, Piranha.

Ann also attended Cranbrook School parents’ weekends, enjoyed Country Week tennis, Moree Garden Club activities, a round of golf at Moree Golf Club, trips to the Australian Open in Melbourne, and holidays at Noosa.

Ann Livingston at Mallawa picnic races.

Later in life, Ann found great pleasure watching David Attenborough documentaries while observing the birds and wildlife on the billabong behind her home at Boolooroo.

She was rarely without her much-loved chocolate Labradoodle, Anton, who became her constant companion.

Ann is survived by her four sons, daughters-in-law Gina, Helen and Elizabeth, grandchildren Jock, Bill, Annabel and Katherine Livingston, Tory Thompson and Jamie Corriveau, and great-grandchildren Olivia, Elliana and Lua.

She is remembered as a devoted mother, grandmother and great-grandmother whose love of family, country life and the Moree community shaped a life rich in friendships, traditions and treasured memories.

Rest in peace, Ann . . .