'Mountain Rogue' was written during the winter of 1943 when the author was a prisoner of war in a concentration camp in Germany. It was published in serial form in The Sporting Globe in 1945, introduced by the following note quoted in the introduction to Of the Thunder of Hooves:
'Mr Sabey says he wrote it at a difficult period, owing to reprisals, for the smallest circulation in the world - a Digger from Queensland suffering from nephritis, who had lost interest in this world and seemed booked for another. This old bushman had spent his days with horses. Gradually the author got his interest back to a mythical horse he called Mountain Rogue.'
Sabey continues: 'Now many years after, I have re-written this story of the Son of Melodie, including the account of his capture, breaking in, tragic introduction to the racing world and purchase by a humble journalist, myself.
'There is a great deal of truth running through this story...' (Melbourne, 1982)
