Nimblefoot

Johnny Day was known as The Pedestrian Child Wonder. He started taking part in walking races from around eight years of age and he is recorded as winning 101 races in Melbourne, Sydney and London by the age of ten. He was a small but seemingly tireless walker winning races against adults. As well as prize money, Johnny's father made money by taking bets on his son's races. When walking opportunities started disappearing, Johnny became a jockey and in 1870 won the Melbourne Cup on a horse named Nimblefoot. By this time Johnny was fourteen. This is the last we hear of Johnny Day.

Robert Drewe has taken what is known about Johnny and continued the story in the novel, Nimblefoot. He therefore mixes fact with fiction in the novel. He continues the early story of Johnny's life weaving snippits of historical facts with imagination to continue Johnny's story.

The action of the novel originally takes place in Ballarat and Melbourne and then in Western Australia. Lola Montez and Captain Standish are some of the historical characters receiving mentions as the story unfolds and the author provides glimpses of what trying to make a living in parts of southern Western Australia may have been like in the 1870s. All in all Robert Drewe provides a great yarn as Johnny tries to make a new life far away from people who are following him and probably want him dead.

Master Johnny Day, Australian Champion Pedestrian

He won the Melbourne Cup at 14 then vanished - Sydney Morning Herald 4 August 2022