Lou Robertson was born in Brightwater New Zealand in 1875 and started driving when he was 10 years old winning his first race aged 11.
He came to Australia in 1902 with his bloodstock-agent brother Andrew to manage the Allendale Stock Farm at Mentone (now Moorabbin Airport) for wealthy furniture manufacturers and retailers, Canadian immigrants Allen and George Tye.
Robertson quickly became a dominant force in trotting.
He won three Victorian driving championships. He set Victorian mile, Australasian two-mile and three-mile world records with the champion pacer Almont.
Taking horses back to New Zealand, he won the 1903 the Auckland Cup with Plain G, the 1905 New Zealand Cup with Birchmark and sold the 1906 winner Belmont M.
He broke the Australian two-mile record with Dan Patch in 1907 and won the prestigious Richmond Thousand with The Maid in 1913.
Lou Robertson was an innovator with his feeding, balancing and shoeing methods.
He was first to wear a wristwatch, unusual at that time, to record fractions while driving horses.
Lou trained and drove multiple high-class winners including Belmont M, Charming Bells, Dan Bells, Delavan Chimes, Grattan Bells, Medium Direct and the champion mare Norice.
Robertson then changed to training thoroughbreds.
He drove his last harness race in 1915, a week after training Lavendo to win the 1915 Caulfield Cup.
Robertson won three Caulfield Cups and the 1935 Melbourne Cup.
He was leading Melbourne trainer 1928-29, 1943-44, 1944-45, before retiring in 1954.
Lou Robertson was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2004.
He died in Melbourne in 1955.
Read more: Australian Racing Museum Hall of Fame trainer Lou Robertson
Watch: Lou Robertson's induction, accepted by grandson David
