Harness racing has lost a dear friend in Geoff Ampt, who passed away suddenly overnight.
Ampt, a Coulter Media Award winning photographer who covered trots for many years at the Showgrounds, Moonee Valley and Tabcorp Park Melton, struck up a friendship with long-time photographer Graeme Prosser and the pair worked together prior to Prosser's retirement in recent years.
Ampt, a keen lawn bowler, was also formerly a photographer for The Age, covering harness racing among many other general news and sports rounds.
As the newspaper industry reduced its workforce, Ampt finished with Fairfax and aligned with Prosser’s business, a partnership made all the smoother when Prosser moved across the road.
“He’s here every morning about half past eight, looks at the emails and sorts out those things and has been a tremendous help,” Prosser told HRV's Trots Media in 2016.
“People have had our pictures and said they have been some of the best they have seen in Australia. We tried to make them unique when the opportunity arose. We tried to do a bit extra.”
HRV extends sincere sympathy to Geoff’s wife Lorraine and family during this difficult time.