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Title: Racehorses in Australia
Author: W. H. Lang, - To be updated
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Racehorses in Australia" ***
RACEHORSES IN AUSTRALIA
The blocks in this book were made by the Globe Engraving Co. and
Messrs. Patterson Shugg Pty. Ltd. of Melbourne, and Messrs. Hartland &
Hyde and Messrs. Bacon & Co. of Sydney.
Wholly set up and printed in Australia by Messrs. W. C. Penfold & Co.
Ltd. of Hosking Place, Sydney, and published by Sydney Ure Smith at 24
Bond Street, Sydney, for Art in Australia Ltd.
[Illustration:
_From an old painting_
A change of horses never meant a change of whisky.
It was always then as now—JOHNNIE WALKER.
JOHN WALKER & SONS, LTD.
SCOTCH WHISKY DISTILLERS
KILMARNOCK, SCOTLAND.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 1.
HEAD OF TRAFALGAR, one of the most genuine stayers bred in Australia
of recent years. From a painting of the horse, at the age of 7
years, in the possession of Dr. Stewart McKay.
]
RACEHORSES IN AUSTRALIA
WITH PAINTINGS BY
MARTIN STAINFORTH
EDITED BY
DR. W. H. LANG
KEN AUSTIN AND
DR. STEWART McKAY
PUBLISHED BY ART IN AUSTRALIA LIMITED
24 BOND STREET, SYDNEY
LONDON: CONSTABLE & COMPANY LIMITED
10 ORANGE STREET, LEICESTER SQUARE
1922
CONSTABLE & CO. LTD.
LONDON
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction By Ken Austin 1
Racehorses in Australia By Dr. W. H. Lang 3
Martin Stainforth—an appreciation By Dr. Stewart McKay 105
The Secret of Staying Power By Dr. Stewart McKay 117
The A.J.C. and Randwick By Ken Austin 124
The V.R.C. and Flemington By Dr. W. H. Lang 130
The Thoroughbred Homes of Australia By Ken Austin 137
Famous Racehorses By Frank Wilkinson (Martindale) 147
Racing in New South Wales 159
ILLUSTRATIONS
COLORED PLATES
Plate
Head of Trafalgar 1
Musket 2
Carbine 3
Trenton 4
Cross Battery 5
The Finish for the V.R.C. Flying Stakes, 1902 6
Maltster 7
Wallace 8
Lanius 9
Linacre 10
Yippingale 11
Trafalgar 12
Brattle 13
Poitrel 14
Gloaming 15
Artilleryman 16
Triptych 17
Cetigne 18
Kennaquhair 19
Comedy King 20
Woorak 21
Panacre 22
Eurythmic 23
The Finish for the A.J.C. Craven Plate, 1918 24
BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
Duke Foote 107
Desert Gold 107
Malt King 108
Biplane 108
The Welkin 109
Cagou 109
Greenstead 110
Beauford 110
Martin Stainforth 111
Pencil Sketches 111
Anatomical Study 112
Sketch of Pony 112
Artilleryman 113
Ready 113
Pal 114
Mallwyd Albert 114
Views of Randwick 125
Plan of Randwick 126
Views of Flemington 135
Plans of Flemington 136
Jorrocks 147
Veno 148
Fisherman 148
Flying Buck 149
Archer 149
Clove 150
Yattendon 150
Maribyrnong 151
The Barb 151
Tim Whiffler 152
Chester 152
First King 153
Robinson Crusoe 153
Goldsbrough 154
Grand Flaneur 154
Abercorn 155
Malua 155
Wakeful 156
La Carabine 156
Carlita 157
Tartan 157
Poseidon 158
Prince Foote 158
INTRODUCTION
This volume should have made its appearance towards the close of last
year but the regrettable death of Bertram Stevens, who had the work in
hand, practically suspended matters in connection with its publication.
With characteristic energy Mr. Harry Julius took up the work, and it is
due to his efforts that the book is now complete. The amount of detail
work concerned in bringing out this publication has been very great, and
can only be appreciated properly by those like myself who have been
connected with Mr. Harry Julius during the time the book was in the
press.
The scope of the volume as originally planned by the late Bertram
Stevens was very much wider than the present book. It was found as the
work progressed that the project was too ambitious and the field too
large to cover in detail.
A general view of the development of Australian racing has been
embodied, and the breeding of the racehorse in the Southern Hemisphere
lightly touched on. The illustrations, which include some of the best
performers of the present day, are devoted mainly to reproductions of
pictures painted by Mr. Martin Stainforth. To make a comprehensive list
of famous horses, Mr. Stainforth executed a number of paintings
especially for the book. Pictures of other horses who have made their
names famous on the racecourse or at the stud are also reproduced, and
should serve as a valuable record to those interested in the
thoroughbred.
Delays have been experienced in many cases with the colour
reproductions. Many of the original blocks had to be discarded as they
failed to accurately record the original colour and detail of line of
Martin Stainforth’s pictures. To overcome this a great many of the
colour plates were made again.
The publishers are indebted to a great many people for their helpful
efforts—those who have loaned pictures for reproduction, and the
officials of the Australian Jockey Club, Victoria Racing Club and the
Rosehill Race Club—in connection with the publication of this book.
They have been particularly fortunate in having been able to secure Dr.
W. H. Lang to write the bulk of the letterpress. No one is more
conversant with the thoroughbred than Dr. Lang, and his literary style
speaks for itself.
Dr. Stewart McKay has contributed a scientific article which opens up a
new train of thought in connection with the racehorse, while others who
have lent a helping hand are Messrs. Frank Wilkinson and Tom Willis.
Thanks are due to the trustees of the National Art Gallery of N.S.W.,
Sir Samuel Hordern, Dr. Stewart McKay, Messrs. McEvilly, R. De Mestre,
W. A. Crowle, G. F. Rowe, A. J. Morton, Jas. Barden, F. G. White, Norman
Falkiner, W. M. Borthwick, J. Campbell Wood, T. A. Stirton, Dr. Herbert
Marks, Mrs. H. Gordon, Mrs. Flemmich, Mrs. F. Body, and Mrs. Herbert
Marks, for permission to reproduce pictures in their possession.
KEN AUSTIN.
THE RACEHORSE IN AUSTRALIA
By Dr. W. H. LANG.
Chapter I.
The Pre-historic Days.
The History of the Racehorse in Australia is such a short one that you
might, with reason, imagine that the entire narrative could be condensed
into a very small space when committed to print. But you would be
utterly wrong. On the contrary, an historian, with his heart in the
business, could reel off a number of fair-sized volumes, and still his
work would not be fulfilled to his entire satisfaction. A little ancient
history may be useful to us before we commence to study the subject. As
you know, there was no trace of the genus horse on our island continent
before the coming of the white man. In America, on the other hand,
although there was no horse as we know him, before the advent of the
Conqueror Cortez, in 1518, yet the fossilised remains of the Eohippus,
the Protohippus and Hipparion are so numerous and well distributed on
the great American continents that these wide lands seem to have been
the most favoured home of the great race of equidae, in the far-off days
before the ice.
The whole species was then cut off, to a horse, possibly by an epidemic,
or by the ravages, more probably, of some insect or microbe, and its
history in that quarter of the globe recommenced with the Conquest. In
vivid contrast the tale of our own Australian horse, and all our other
domestic animals, begins as late as the 10th day of January, 1788.
Governor Phillip brought with him from the Cape of Good Hope, where he
had called to obtain supplies on his voyage hither with his first fleet
of convicts, a stallion and three mares with foals at foot, a few
cattle, and in all 500 head of live stock, but which consisted for the
most part of poultry.
The new Colony had a good deal of bad luck at this time. The four-footed
animals, owing to the negligence of a convict herdsman, strayed away,
and although one has reason to believe that the horses were recovered,
there is no certainty on that head. With the cattle there is a different
story to tell, and on the very day upon which I am writing this, I read,
in “The English Sporting Magazine” of 1797, the story of their loss and
recovery. A boat’s crew sought a bay on the coast whilst searching for
fresh water. At the spot where the men landed they fell in with a
convict who had escaped five years before, and who had joined the
blacks. This man showed them where the lost cattle had made their home,
deep in some fertile valley, and in the course of their nine years of
liberty they had increased in numbers to sixty-one head. It was a
valuable find for the struggling colonists, who, from drought and flood,
had lost a large portion of their property.
In the very early years of “the Colony” there was exceedingly little
need for the assistance of light horses in the daily work of the place,
whilst the desire to possess an animal more speedy than that owned by a
neighbour had not yet arisen at all. You will, perhaps, recollect that,
until the year 1813 or thereabouts, the only portion of our vast
continent which was being made use of by white men was a little strip of
soil between the Blue Mountains and the sea, some forty miles by eighty,
and the few horses which had now been brought over from the Cape, or out
from the Old Country, were simply beasts of burden, or, at the best,
perhaps, hacks and harness horses.
It was on the 31st day of May of that year that Blaxland, Wentworth and
Lawson burst their way through the hitherto impenetrable ranges and
scrub into the limitless lands beyond, and it was upon that same day
that the use for a swift and long-enduring saddle horse was discovered
by the inhabitants who followed in the tracks of these explorers, and
the first real need of the thoroughbred as a sire found its way into
Australia.
Yet, though there seems to have been such a limited demand for the
thoroughbred steed in these very early days, there were, at least, three
importations before the transit of the Blue Mountains had been
accomplished, and you cannot help wondering what was the inducement
which tempted the importers to take the risk.
A mist floats over the particulars of these first arrivals. In the
closing years of the eighteenth century there is on record that a blood
horse, Rockingham by name, was shipped to Australia from the Cape of
Good Hope. It was at the end of the seventeen nineties, and the only
other authentic fact which I can ascertain concerning him is that he
subsequently became known as “Young Rockingham.” There is no trace of
anything which he may have left behind him in the way of progeny. He was
probably by Rockingham, a stallion which was covering in England about
this period, but not the Rockingham, of course, by Humphrey Clinker, who
appears in the pedigree of Doncaster. The day of that sire had not yet
dawned.
A blood horse called Washington is said to have been imported from
America in 1802. The first volume of the “Australian Stud Book” simply
mentions the fact, and adds that he was “said to have been a very
handsome horse,” and there it ends. But Mr. T. Merry, in his book on the
American horse, states that he was by Timoleon, and that he was not sent
to Australia until 1825. The third importation before the transit was of
one whose name is still alive, and that is “Old” Hector, or simply
Hector. The exact year of his arrival here is uncertain. A correspondent
in a weekly paper some months ago gives it with confidence as 1803, and
states that the horse died in 1821. The first volume of the “Stud Book”
quotes it as 1810, but refers to him as a “Persian.” Hector was a
favourite name amongst horse-masters, and there were as many Hectors in
Australia as there were King Harrys on the field of Shrewsbury. The
thoroughbred Hector is described as “a very fine, commanding horse. The
gameness of his stock proves that he was not an Indian horse.” The
second volume corrects the dates, and believes that Hector was imported
in 1806, whilst the seventh volume adds that Hector went to Tasmania
from New South Wales in 1820. In a Tasmanian advertisement he is
described as “by Hector, probably Hector by Trentham,” the property of
the Iron Duke. All this is not only of interest, but it is of a certain
value to studmasters, for the blood of Old Hector survives in some force
to-day through the descendants of his daughter Old Betty. But, as that
famous mare, the ancestress of such a very numerous and worthy family,
was not foaled until 1829, we are left in a deep quagmire of doubt as to
what her real pedigree can possibly have been. The “Stud Book,” however,
accepts the mare as being by Hector.
And, to close these very early, almost prehistoric data, a bay stallion,
named The Governor, was imported about 1817. He was by Walton from
Enchantress, by Volunteer, from a mare by Mambrino, but I can find no
mention whatsoever of this horse’s services, nor of his progeny. That,
indeed, was inevitable, for until this period no race mare with a clean
pedigree had ever come to our shores. Our country at that time was no
land of promise, so hopelessly far away was it from the Old World, and
from civilisation, over seas very dangerous, not only on account of the
smallness of the vessels employed in transport, but also from the
unceasing violence of the enemy.
Chapter II.
The First Race Mare.
But now, after Waterloo, with the seemingly interminable wars and
tumults lulled into peace and calm at last, things were beginning to
shape themselves in the Colony. Evans had explored the country a hundred
miles or so farther out than that point to which Blaxland’s little
company had penetrated, and he had discovered the Macquarie River, and
named it. Oxley had already condemned as useless almost all the fertile
land of the Southern Riverina, although, at any rate, he had thrown it
open, and in 1824 Hamilton Hume had walked with his few followers, and
with Hovell, an old ship’s captain with whom he continually fought, from
Lake George to Port Phillip Bay. Cattle and sheep had increased
enormously, the country over which they depastured seemed to be without
end, but markets were few and far apart. Horses of stamina, and
therefore of the best blood were urgently required in order to round up
the mobs of bullocks and cows which roamed the unfenced plains, and to
accomplish the long journeys to the distant towns.
And thus it was that our best early stallions, and some of our mares
which still, through their descendants, carry on their lines, were
brought to Australia. Steeltrap, in 1823, was the first of the
successful stallions to land. His was valuable blood. He was by Scud,
and Scud sired two Derby winners, the first, Sam, bred in 1815, the very
year in which Steeltrap was foaled, and the second, Sailor, in 1817. The
Oaks winner of 1819, Shoveler, was also a Scud filly, and therefore it
is perfectly evident that Steeltrap came from the most fashionable blood
of his day, and must have been worth a great deal of money. His dam was
by Sorcerer out of Pamella, by Whiskey from Lais. He was a chestnut, and
“sired very game horses.” Their gameness, no doubt, was exhibited during
the long and tiring journeys after cattle, for contests must have been
rare in which they could have had opportunities of proving their mettle
on the racecourse. Steeltrap remains with us still in the persons of the
descendants of “The Steeltrap mare.” There were several matrons
identified by the same cognomen, but this particular representative of
the clan was out of “a Government mare,” presumably clean bred, and she
left two daughters, Beeswing and Marchioness, both by The Marquis, a son
of Dover.
Zulu, the winner of the great Melbourne Cup in 1881, came from this
line, as well as Bylong, Stanley, Sweetmeat and Tridentate, while around
Wagga numbers of the same breed are still alive through the medium of
the mares Lady Cameron, Lady Phoebe, Latona and Antonia.
In the same year, 1824, which brought us Steeltrap, there also came to
our shores Bay Camerton, or Old Camerton, or simply Camerton. He was
known by each and all of these names from time to time. He was by
Camerton, from Waltonia, by Walton, and quickly ran out, on his dam’s
side, to the very famous Burton Barb mare, which is now so readily
identified as the tap-root of the exceptionally high qualitied No. 2
family. Bay Camerton survives through the line of Camilla, a daughter of
his when mated with Old Betty. But now, in the following year, 1825,
arrived the first of all the race mares that have made Australian Turf
story. This was Manto. It was indeed a happy day for our Turf when she,
then a three-year-old, landed in New South Wales. She was bred in
England in 1822, was bought by Mr. Icely, Coombing Park, and imported to
Australia in 1825. I can find no description of the colour of Manto, as,
curiously, she does not appear in the “General Stud Book.” The omission
came about probably in this manner: In 1780 the Duke of Cumberland, “the
Butcher” of Culloden, bred a mare named Rose, by Sweet Briar out of
Merliton, by Snap. She passed through several hands, but ultimately
ended up in the ownership of old Dick Goodisson, an eccentric fellow,
and the favourite jockey, as well as companion of the Marquis of
Queensberry, better known as “old Q.,” and worse known in the lines of
the Poet Wordsworth as “Degenerate Douglas.” Dick Goodisson bred a filly
by Buzzard from Rose in 1800, a full brother to the same-named Lyncaeus,
and two more sisters, one in 1802, and another in 1803. These mares were
simply known, after the slack method of the time, as “sisters to
Lyncaeus.” The last foal of one of these same sisters to Lyncaeus, by
Soothsayer, the individual dropped in 1802, was this Manto of ours, and
Mr. Wanklyn, the erudite keeper of the “New Zealand Stud Book,” and a
prolific author in the matter of “Stud Book” lore, believes that it was
the fact that she was the youngest born foal of her mother, and that she
was sold as a youngster to go abroad, which accounted for the
non-appearance of her name in the recognised official records of the
day.
Before leaving England, Manto had been served by Young Grasshopper, by
Grasshopper, who was by Windle, a son of Beningborough, by King Fergus,
by Eclipse. Young Grasshopper’s dam was a daughter of Sorcerer, and as
Manto was by Soothsayer, by Sorcerer, we have an early illustration of
the value of close in-breeding. Manto dropped her foal a few days after
setting her feet on Australian soil, and the little thing was christened
Cornelia. Unfortunately, Mr. Icely, unappreciative of the excellence and
value of his importations, failed to keep anything like accurate records
of his stud. He did not even take a note of the colour of his foals. We
do know, however, that Manto, subsequent to the birth of Cornelia, also
foaled Chancellor, to Steeltrap, Lady Godiva to Rous’ Emigrant, Lycurgus
to Whisker, and Emilius to Operator.
She also produced a colt named Jupiter, which was sent to South
Australia, but he is returned without the name of his sire attached. It
is to Cornelia that we must look for the tap-root from which nearly one
thousand racehorses in Australia have traced their origin. She threw a
colt named Emancipation, by Toss, a bold experiment in still more
extensive in-breeding to Sorcerer—a filly, Lady Flora, by Whisker, a
full sister to her, named Besom, a colt, Euclid, by Operator, a filly,
Old Moonshine, by Rous’ Emigrant, and Flora McIvor, also by Emigrant.
Moonshine’s name still crops up through Coquette, Speculation and
Progress—Grand Flaneur’s understudy, but Flora McIvor had an enormous
family. For Mr. Icely she threw the fillies Fatima, Florence, Faultless,
Emily, Zoe, Flora and Chloe, and five colts, Figaro, Cossack, Nutwith,
The Chevalier and Bay Middleton. Mr. Icely then disposed of the old mare
to Mr. Redwood, of Nelson, New Zealand, and for him she produced at the
age of 26 and 28, or possibly, for Mr. Icely’s lack of stud records
causes much uncertainty, at 27 and 29. Io and Waimea, Flora McIvor’s
pair of New Zealand children, and her children’s children, from these
two famous mares, rose up and called her blessed. Io and Waimea were
dropped in 1855 and ’57, and then, full of years and honours, and with
no further offspring, the grand old mare died in 1861. The list of great
racehorses which claim her for their ancestress is too long to quote,
but the names of even a few of these will tell you what a very
cornerstone of our pastime Flora McIvor has proved herself to be. There
was Bloodshot. I can see him in the Cup chasing Newhaven home now, when
my eyes are closed. And then there were Chicago, Churchill, Circe,
Cissy, Cremorne, Cuirassier, Euroclydon, Frailty, The Gem, Havoc,
Manuka, Newmaster, Niagara, Nonsense, Oudeis, Parthian, Progress, Siege
Gun, Trenton, Wakatipu, Wild Rose, Zalinski, Beauford and Zoe, whilst
the brood mares that trace to the same source run into hundreds.
Chapter III.
The ’Thirties.
There were very few clean bred horses imported to Australia between the
arrival of Manto and the ’thirties of the last century. Such as they
were, these are not only very interesting, but several of them proved
themselves to be extremely valuable, and we have their representatives
racing with credit on our courses to this day. Thus, in 1826, The
Cressey Company brought to Tasmania the chestnut horse Buffalo, by
Fyldener, a great grandson of Herod, from Roxana, a granddaughter, on
both sides of the house, of the immortal Eclipse. It is a little
surprising to find a commercial company in those far-off days selecting
a stallion of such superlative blood lines for the purpose of producing
utility horses in this distant land, for the racehorse can scarcely yet
have entered into its calculations when the company made its purchases.
We may be very certain that the managers had very wise heads upon their
shoulders. By the same ship they also imported the stallion Bolivar, and
the chestnut mare who became so famous in after days, Edella. The latter
produced three chestnuts to her fellow traveller Buffalo, the colts
Liberty and Fyldener, and the filly Curiosity. Edella was by Warrior, a
great grandson of Herod, from Risk, a great, great, granddaughter of
Herod from a Precipitate mare, and Precipitate was a granddaughter of
Eclipse. You can thus see how tremendously closely our ancestors bred in
and in to Herod and O’Kelly’s mighty nonpareil Eclipse. Curiosity, the
in-bred daughter of Buffalo and Edella, was put to Peter Finn, a horse
by Whalebone from a Delpini mare, brought to Tasmania in 1826, in the
brig “Anne,” and the result was the bay filly Diana. This mare became
the property of Mr. Field, of Tasmania, and his family has religiously
cherished her descendants ever since. Mr. Field put Diana to Bay
Middleton, a son of imported Jersey, who was by Buzzard, a son of
Blacklock from Cobweb, the great Bay Middleton’s dam. The result of the
union was the filly Resistance, who, when her time came, was sent to
Peter Wilkins, a brown horse by The Flying Dutchman from Boarding School
Miss. A daughter of hers was christened Edella, after her
great-great-grand dam. One wishes that those forebears of ours had had
more ingenuity in their choice of names. Edellas, Curiosities, Camillas,
Violets and Cobwebs fly in clouds through the earlier stud books.
However that may be, this particular Edella threw two great colts,
Stockwell, by St. Albans, and Bagot, by the same sire. Stockwell, after
showing that he was a first-class racehorse, unfortunately died, and
Bagot, when his name had been changed to Malua, was the greatest horse
of his day, and founder of his family. This history of the introduction
of the horse into Australasia is an engrossing theme, but if we gave way
to our desires and followed each and all of them up through the century
we would run into many volumes. Skeleton was the only new arrival during
1827, and his name has, but for Woorak’s successes, nearly died out from
our modern pedigrees. I, however, possess several letters from the
Marquis of Sligo to Mr. W. Reilly, Skeleton’s importer, concerning him,
and pointing out to Mr. Reilly the horse’s many qualities.
As a piece of contemporary history, one of these letters is worthy of
reproduction in a history of the Racehorse in Australia:—
“Mansfield Street,
“London,
“30th March, 1832.
“My Dear Sir,—
“In reply to your note requesting me to give my opinion of Skeleton,
who formerly belonged to me, and whom you have sent to New South
Wales, I have much pleasure in confirming the representation of my
cousin, Captain Browne, relative to his performance and character;
indeed, I can go much farther, in consequence of what has occurred
since his statement was made. Every one of Skeleton’s brothers have
since distinguished themselves in the highest degree, so much so that,
when I wished to purchase another brother on account of my knowledge
of the good qualities of two former ones, I was asked 500 guineas for
him, though only a yearling. One of his brothers (not the same) was
since sold for 700 guineas, a three-year-old, and that in Ireland,
where money is scarce.
“My conviction is that, had he been fairly treated by my trainer, he
would have found himself one of the best horses in England. Indeed,
his public as well as his private trials warrant me in saying so. The
proof of my opinion was my seeking to re-purchase his sire (Master
Robert), and purchasing his brother.
“Were Skeleton now in this country, I would not hesitate to adopt him
into my stud, which is pretty numerous and of some value, as may be
proved by my selling last year a two-year-old, Fang, a relative, too,
of Skeleton, for the enormous sum of 3,300 guineas money, and
contingencies worth at market 500 more, making by £100 the greatest
price ever given for a two-year-old. Mr. Western’s opinion of him is,
I think, quite correct, and I know no stallion more likely to effect
an important improvement in the breed of horses in Australia.”
“(Signed) SLIGO.”
You see what an alteration in values has taken place during the ninety
years since the Marquis penned these lines. Three thousand guineas was
an “enormous sum” for a horse, and seven hundred a great price for a
three-year-old in Ireland, “where money is scarce.” Times have changed,
indeed, with a vengeance. The Captain Browne mentioned in the letter was
the father of our very familiar old friend, Rolf Boldrewood, and
Skeleton has left behind him a deep mark in the Malvolio and Woorak
family, through Madcap, Giovani, Lady Laurestina, and finally Latona, by
Skeleton out of Miss Lane.
Chapter IV.
The Foundation Stallions of Australia.
All told, there were forty-seven blood stallions imported into Australia
between the beginning of things and the end of 1838, and, considering
what state the world had been in, politically and socially, during a
great part of that period, and remembering the weary length of the
voyage, the risk of capture by the French, and all the dangers incident
to a sea voyage of some twelve thousand miles in small vessels, ships
which could only be described as cockleshells, we did not do so very
badly after all. It is interesting, and valuable, too, to mark the
chronological order of the advent of such of these as have left a name
behind them, in spite of the great gulf of time and all the tremendous
events which have taken place on the earth since their brief day.
Blood Stallions of Note That Were Imported Between 1799 and 1838.
1799. Young Rockingham, by Rockingham.
1810. Hector, or Old Hector.
1817. The Governor.
1822. Stride, still alive through Princess, by Gratis from Roan Kit, by
Stride out of a daughter of Camerton, from Cleodora, by Hector.
1824. Camerton. (No. 2.)
Steeltrap (chestnut), by Scud—Prophetess. Sire of Jorrock’s dam.
Satellite (a bay Arab); got great weight carriers and police
horses.
1826. Buffalo (chestnut), by Fyldener—Roxana. (No. 13.)
Peter Fin (bay), by Whalebone—Scotina.
1827. Skeleton (grey), by Master Robert—Drone’s dam. (No. 2.)
1828. Emigrant (Rous’) (brown), by Pioneer—Ringtail. (No. 4.)
Theorem (chestnut), by Merlin—Pawn. (No. 1.)
1829. Toss (bay), by Bourbon—Tramp’s dam. (No. 3.)
1830. Romeo (chestnut), by Partisan—Vice. (No. 1.)
1831. Wanderer (bay), by Wanderer—Ogress. (No. 2.)
1832. Little John (bay), by Little John—Anna. (No. 11.)
1835. Gratis (bay), by Middleton—Lamia. (No. 42.)
1836. Dover (bay), by Patron—Maid of Kent. (No. 15.)
1837. Operator (chestnut), by Emilius—Worthless. (No. 11.)
1838. Lawson’s Emigrant (brown), by Tramp—dam by Blucher.
Rubens (chestnut), by Priam—Sister to Portrait.
1838 or 9. Cap-a-pie (bay), by The Colonel—Sister to Cactus. (No. 5.)
Emigrant was the king of them all. If ever you run out the pedigree of
an Australian-bred horse of to-day, whose ancestors have dwelt for some
generations in Australia, there crops up the name of Rous’ Emigrant. It
forms a memorial, far more enduring than brass or iron, to that very
gallant sailor and splendid judge of all things connected with the
racehorse, the Hon. H. J. Rous, “The Admiral.”
Rous’ Emigrant was a black brown, according to one who actually saw him,
although some authorities, including the General Stud Book, describe him
as having been a bay. In my own eyes I always frame a mental picture of
a rich, glowing, mahogany brown horse, with a bold, generous, manly
head, a great full eye, a noble crest, deep, fine shoulders, a barrel as
round as any cask, and a tremendous loin. “He carries his flag like a
Russian duke” of the olden time, and his quarters and gaskins are
immense, with hocks straight, flat and strong. Old Mr. Gosper, of
Windsor, N.S.W., is reported to have given the following verdict
concerning Emigrant, and in the vernacular, “I never seed an ’orse that
I liked better than Rous’ Emigrant. ’Is ’oofs looked as though they war
made o’ granite, and at eighteen there wasn’t a blemish of no sort on
’is legs.” A rare horse.
But if the tide of emigration had been a somewhat weak one up to 1839,
something had evidently occurred in the history of the colony, or in the
world’s politics, so as to entirely alter that state of affairs, and I
am not quite sure what that something might have been. The prosperity of
Australia about this period was not very startling. The price of cattle
was low, the population was not increasing in a satisfactory manner,
“boiling-down” had already been resorted to, and yet, between 1839 and
the commencement of 1844, fifty-three blood stallions were brought into
the country. And the bustle and boom of the gold rush was still in the
womb of futurity.
Chapter V.
The Foundation Brood Mares of Australia.
We have examined the foundation stones of our thoroughbred horse, so far
as the sires are concerned, and now it is necessary to look at that even
more important element in the building up of our racing stock, the early
brood mares. We have already noted the arrival of Manto and the birth of
Cornelia, the most important events which ever occurred in the
chronicles of our Australian turf. None of the mares that followed,
between 1825 and the early ’forties of the last century, were nearly so
potent for good, although the influence of one or two of these has been
sufficiently great.
Here is a brief list of those worthy matrons:—
1825. Manto, by Soothsayer—sister to Lyncaeus. (No. 18.)
Cornelia, by Young Grasshopper—Manto. (No. 18.)
1826. Edella, by Warrior—Risk. (No. 3.)
Cutty Sark (chestnut), probably by Soothsayer, but pedigree never
authenticated.
Spaewife (chestnut), by Soothsayer—Rous’ Emigrant’s dam. (No. 4.)
1828. Whizgig (bay), by Whalebone—dam by Canopus. (No. 3.)
Lorina, by Smolensko—dam by Whiskey—Hoity Toity. (No. 26.)
Dam of Alice Hawthorne.
1830. Lady Emily, by Manfred—dam by Cossack. (No. 29.)
Gulnare (grey), by Young Gohanna—Ultima. (No. 17.)
1831. Merino, by Whalebone—Vicarage. (No. 3.)
The Cape mare, said to have been by Driver. (No. 24.)
Fairy, by Catton—Voltaire’s dam. (No. 12.)
Octavia, by Whalebone—Blacking. (No. 5.)
1834. Penelope, by Phantom—dam by Woful. (No. 26.)
1839. Georgiana (Kater’s), by Waverly—sister to Corduroy. (No. 5.)
Persiani, by The Colonel—dam by Reveller. (No. 12.)
And then, during the ’forties, there came Falklandina, Quadroon,
Paraguay, Nora Creina, Miss Lane, Splendora and the Giggler. A few
others there were, but their sun has waned, their glory is faded,
already they have slipped over the horizon of time, and are out of
sight. Of the early arrivals, apart from Manto and Cornelia, Edella has
handed down to us such horses as Caramut, Malua, Mozart, Rapidity,
Glenloth, Sheet Anchor, and numerous matrons which may, at any moment,
teem, once more, with winners as of old. Spaewife lives through David, a
Debutant winner, Finland, Fishery, and all that Fishwife family which
brings back so vividly the name of that excellent old sportsman, Mr.
John Turnbull. Quambone, Fucile, Tim Whiffler and Troubadour spring from
the same root. Whizgig is responsible for Blink Bonny, Coronet, Meteor,
Prodigal, Ringwood, Rufus, Strop and Tim Swiveller.
Most of this little troupe came over to the mainland from Tasmania in
order to earn their fame.
Lady Emily is the founder of the tribe of Beaumont, The Bohemian, Lady
Betty, The Nun, Pardon, Picture and Reprieve, but Gulnare, who was
imported in the same year as Lady Emily, has left a much more indelible
mark on our records than any other of the pioneers, with the exception
of Manto.
That very remarkable man, Captain John Macarthur, who, I believe, did
more for young Australia than any other individual, imported this mare.
She was a grey, but her colour character seems to have been lost during
the gulf of years between us and them. Sappho retains her ghostly
influence over her descendants much more markedly than does Gulnare.
Yattendon was the great exponent of the family, but many good horses
came from the same line, such as Camden, Cassandra, Dainty Ariel,
Survivor, and so on, and there are a goodly number of mares still with
us from one of which the ancient glories of the house may readily be
revived. Merino, Fairy and Octavia are practically dead, but the Cape
mare, through Moss Rose, had many good descendants in the early days,
and she may yet again come to the front.
There is a very grave doubt, however, what the ultimate origin of this
useful mare might have been, for the Cape mare was thirty years old when
she is said to have dropped Moss Rose, and this is a very unusual, if
not unprecedented, age at which a clean bred mare could drop a foal. Of
those mares imported in the ’forties, Falklandina still exists.
Ritualist, the sire of some useful jumpers of to-day, comes from her,
and Maddelina, Torah, Terlinga and Monastery each claim her as their
ancestress. It is a South Australian family. Quadroon was a live wire
until of recent years, when she seems to have weakened considerably.
Chuckster, Grey Gown, Hyacinth, Kit Nubbles, Metford, Oreillet,
Riverton, Swiveller and Trenchant are amongst the best moderns who run
back straight to this old dame.
Paraguay, with a very limited list of foalings to her name, will
probably live for ever in Australian turf lore, as, of her two sons,
Whalebone and Sir Hercules, the latter has made a very deep mark in the
honour list. Miss Lane we have seen as the founder of the Madcap clan.
She was incestuously bred, her sire, Rector, a son of Muley, having
produced her from a Muley mare. The Giggler was at one time full of
promise, but with the failure of Menschikoff at the stud she seems to be
fading into oblivion. And the last of the 1840 to 1850 immigrants which
we will mention here is Nora Creina. Our reason for paying particular
attention to her is that we have authentic notes concerning her journey
hither, and as one voyage is not unlike another, we may, from this one
example, receive a general idea of the difficulties and pleasures of
transportation at that time from the Old Country. Mr. William Pomeroy
Green, in the year 1842, chartered a ship from Plymouth, and brought his
whole family, and all his household goods, along with him to this new
land. I do not know whether the vessel was a brig, a barque, or a
ship—most probably a barque—but, at all events, she was only of 500 tons
register.
Into this little thing was squeezed a family consisting of the father
and mother, six sons, one daughter, a governess, a butler, a carpenter,
with his family, the head groom, a second groom, a herdsman, a “useful
boy,” a gardener, a laundress, a man cook, with his wife, a housemaid,
and a nurse, a young and inexperienced surgeon, two young friends of the
family named Richard Singleton and James Ellis, Mr. Walker, a Sydney
merchant and his sister, a Mr. Wray from Devonshire—an invalid—Mr.
William Stawell, afterwards famous as Sir William Stawell, Chief Justice
of Victoria, as well as all the crew and live stock.
The latter consisted of two thoroughbreds, Rory O’More, by Birdcatcher
out of Nora Creina’s dam, Nora Creina herself, by Sir Edward Codrington
from a mare by Drone, her dam Mary Anne, by Waxy Pope out of Witch, by
Sorcerer; a hunter named Pickwick; a favourite mare of Mr. Green’s
Taglioni; a Durham cow christened “Sarah”—and Mr. Stawell took out two
bulls.
Here was prospective romance for you, and as much of it as you please.
Mr. Stawell, of course, married Miss Green, and their sons are amongst
the best-known, most trusted and well-liked of all Victorians of the
present day. The patriarchs of old, the Swiss Family Robinson of our
childhood, were never in it for the enterprise and romance of the whole
affair. They sailed on August 8th, 1842. The ship “Sarah” was not very
seaworthy—indeed, she was lost on the return voyage—but although there
were several gales experienced on the passage, and parts of the bulwarks
were washed away, they all arrived in safety at Port Phillip on the
first day of December. “Mr. Stawell swam his bulls ashore, but our
horses were taken in a horse box on a launch.”
In his diary, Mr. Green, under a September entry, says:—“My horses are
doing well. I take them to the main hatch every day that is fine, and
give them the height of grooming and salt water washing.” Mr. Green was
a man of method, and he kept accurate records of his stud doings. There
is no lack of particulars with regard to Norah Creina’s foalings, and
the only thing about it which we can complain of is, that he put her to
her near relative, Rory O’More, for all the first seven seasons. She had
slipped a foal, however, on board the “Sarah,” to an English horse. I
have no doubt he could not well do otherwise, there probably being no
other available stallion within reach. The old mare had fourteen foals.
Of these, the most famous were Tricolor (V.R.C. Derby), Oriflamme (Derby
and Leger), Royal Irishman (Adelaide Leger), Norma (Australian and
Adelaide Cups), Dolphin (Adelaide Cup), Pollio (Australia Cup), Quality
(V.R.C. Oaks), Spark (the Hobart and Launceston Cups), and Garryowen, a
lesser light. Such races, no doubt, were easier to win then than they
are now, but it was a creditable record.
Taglioni, the “favourite mare,” although with no given pedigree, has
rendered herself more or less immortal, in that Explosion, an Ascot Vale
winner, Pegasus, a Hawkes Bay Guineas winner, Volume (New Zealand St.
Leger), and some others trace to her.
So now we have taken a rapid and somewhat bird’s-eye view of the
thoroughbred arrivals in the Colony down to the beginning of the fifties
of the nineteenth century, and we shall now endeavour to take a like
bird’s-eye photograph of what these same horses came out to do, and what
racing was like in their day.
Chapter VI.
Racing in Victoria, From the Beginning.
Horse racing in Sydney, of course, commenced some years earlier than it
did in the Port Phillip division of the Colony, settlement in the north
there having an advantage of nearly forty years over the south. I find
in a copy of the first Melbourne “Argus” ever printed, on June 2nd,
1846, the entries for a race meeting at Homebush. Amongst these appear
the names of Alice Hawthorn and Gulnare. They are somewhat puzzling at
that date, as Macarthur’s Gulnare was three and twenty years old in ’46,
whilst her daughter, also named Gulnare, was still breeding in ’83, a
fact which apparently puts her also out of court. The name seems to have
been a popular one, for some reason or another. There was also a mob of
Alice Hawthorns, and this particular individual was most probably the
mare by Operator from Lorina (imp.), a bay foaled about 1840.
But it is Victorian racing to which we are for the most part going to
direct our attention at present. In January, 1803, a survey party had
examined the site of the present Melbourne. Collins had formed a convict
settlement during the same year at Sorrento, down close to the Heads,
but had quickly abandoned the enterprise. Hume, as we have seen, had
reached the neighbourhood of Geelong in ’24; Captain Wishart, in his
cutter, “Fairy,” had entered and named Port Fairy after his little craft
in ’27; Dutton, on a sealing expedition, had built a house at Portland
in 1829, and Mr. Henty had made a permanent settlement there in ’34. In
May, ’35, Batman entered Port Phillip Bay in a schooner from Tasmania,
and Fawkner’s schooner “Enterprise” navigated the lower reaches of the
Yarra in August of that year. He was the son of a convict who had been
in Collins’ Sorrento picnic party, and was attracted back by his
favourable recollections of the place.
In 1836 the blacks came down from the Goulburn and committed murder,
somewhere near to the Werribee. In ’37 Messrs. Gellibrand and Hesse,
exploring beyond Geelong, were lost, and killed by the aborigines, and
life was very unsettled and wild. But now mobs of cattle had commenced
to be driven over from Botany Bay to the new settlement, and white men,
with the restlessness and energy of our race, were arriving with
frequency, for reports concerning the place were distinctly good, and in
1838, so numerous were the inhabitants of Port Phillip, that they
decided that the time was ripe in which to inaugurate a race meeting. We
are a strange nation; a peculiar people. March 6th was the great day,
just eighty-three years ago. There were five hundred spectators present,
and four races took place for their edification. Two were won by a mare
named Mountain Maid, and two by a gelding, Postboy. Four starters
constituted the largest field of the day. The course was right handed,
one mile round the she-oak clad Batman’s Hill, a rising ground between
the present Spencer Street Railway Station and the gasworks. The
starting post was at the site of the North Melbourne Railway Station. As
you enter the city from Sydney, you can, if you care to, recall the
scene. The scrub was thick between the hill and the surrounding country.
It was cut by winding, deeply-indented waggon tracks, for the ground was
soft and boggy. Two carts, sheltered from the sun by old sails,
performed the functions of publicans’ booths.
It was a two-days’ meeting, but the second helping, like so many second
helpings of other things than race days, was a failure, or even, indeed,
an utter fiasco. In 1839 there was again a two-days’ gathering on the
slopes of Batman’s Hill. The racing was poor, Postboy and Mountain Maid
again being strongly in evidence, but the attendance was so large that
it was generally agreed that the population must have doubled since the
previous year. But now the turf world fairly began to hum, and Batman’s
Hill was no longer considered suitable for the purposes of racing. The
experienced eye of someone had “spotted” the flats by the Salt Water
River as being made to order for the sport, and on the 3rd of March,
1840, the first race meeting at Flemington was successfully carried
through. It was a three-days’ affair, and for the first time in Port
Phillip the riders sported colours. The quality of the competitors must
have been very poor, for, if you look up the arrivals, in their
chronological order on a previous page, you will see that few, if any,
of their stock can have been taking part in the contests, and,
therefore, most of them must have been nothing better than half-bred
hacks. But the spirit of emulation had now caught fire, and all through
the country owners were making matches one with another, and
metropolitan racing was booming to such an extent that a ruling body
called “The Port Phillip Turf Club” was called into existence. To the
deliberations of this body, and their resulting actions, we owe the fact
that horses in Victoria now take their ages from the first day of August
in each year.
And now the course itself, at Flemington, became firmly and thoroughly
established when, in 1844, plans were submitted to the Town Council, and
that body approving of them, the place was declared to be a reserve for
the purposes of racing. Five trustees were appointed, in whose name the
ground was held, these including the Crown Commissioner of the day, the
Surveyor-in-Charge, Mr. J. C. Riddel, Mr. Dalmahoy Campbell and Mr.
William J. Stawell. Shortly afterwards the Superintendent of Port
Phillip declared this transaction not to be legal, and a new grant was
completed on October 22nd, 1847. The land included those portions of the
Parish of Doutta Galla from 23 to 28 inclusive, beside the Saltwater or
Maribyrnong River, the trustees being Mr. Riddel, Mr. Stawell, Mr.
Dalmahoy Campbell again, and Mr. Colin Campbell. The term of years was
subsequently increased from ten to twenty-one, which, on the latest
renewal of the compact, was finally extended to ninety-nine, at the rent
of one peppercorn per annum. The spot was then known to the inhabitants
as “The Racecourse,” but a little village now began to grow up in the
neighbourhood, and this was soon christened “Flemington,” in honour of a
genial butcher who supplied meat to the hamlet, and whose name was Bob
Fleming. In those early days everyone went to the races, and the route
to and from the course was either by river-steamer or by road. The boats
left the wharves at eleven o’clock and returned at sunset, and you may
be sure there were hot times in the town o’ nights after the races.
Bands and Christy minstrels enlivened the voyage by water. Passengers on
the trip home not infrequently toppled overboard, and one or two were
actually drowned. Accidents by road were common. At one meeting alone
three men were killed, two being run over by vehicles, and one by a
runaway horse. Assaults were common, and fighting very popular. Mr.
O’Shanassy—who afterwards became Sir John—was attacked whilst taking a
meditative canter round the course, and struck over the head very
viciously by a ruffian armed with a heavy hunting crop. It was proved to
have been a premeditated crime. Not being disabled by his injuries, and
being a man of much determination and courage, O’Shanassy turned upon
his assailant, pursued and captured him, and had the satisfaction of
seeing him receive a sentence of six months’ imprisonment.
The winning post stood alongside the river bank somewhere between the
present mile and seven furlong barriers. It was a handy spot at which
the steamers could tie up to gum trees on the banks, and could disembark
their passengers, but it had the disadvantage of being a considerable
distance from the top of the steep, rising ground which soon became
known as Picnic Hill. It was not, however, until the sport had been in
existence for some twenty years that it was found advisable to change
the winning post to its present site, thus converting the Hill into a
permanent, convenient and commodious stand. By the year 1846 racing had
taken a very firm hold of the light-hearted community, and already a
public idol had been discovered and worshipped, spoken about and written
about, much in the same way as the public and the press magnify our
idols the Carbines, the Poitrels, the Artillerymen, and the Eurythmics
of our own times. This golden image which the folk had set up on the
Flemington Flats was a dark chestnut horse called Petrel. The reports
concerning his paternity and his adventures before he became a racehorse
varied considerably. By some he was considered to be by Rous’ Emigrant,
whilst a sporting writer of the period maintained that he was “by
Operator or Theorem from a Steeltrap mare.” The most authentic story
concerning his origin seems to have been that, in 1841, an overlander
between Sydney and Adelaide arrived at a station near the Grampians,
bringing along with him two well-bred looking mares. Both were heavy in
foal, and it was believed that they had been stolen. The overlander
found employment on the station of a Mr. Riley, and here the foals, both
of them colts, were dropped. One of these was Petrel.
At two years old the colts were sold to the overseer of a Dr. Martin for
thirty-six pounds the pair, and the future champion commenced his
education as a stock horse. Mr. Colin Campbell soon heard that Petrel
had shown wonderful speed after cattle and emus, and you may be pretty
sure that the stockmen had also discovered on their homeward way of an
evening, that “the big chestnut beggar could gallop like fun.” Mr.
Campbell swopped a mare worth twenty pounds for him, and his racing
career then began. He was the undoubted champion of Victoria, and was
then despatched, per sailing ship, to Botany Bay, to “take the
Sydney-siders down.” But the voyage over was long and rough, he had no
time before the races in which to recover himself, and he was very well
beaten. The excitement in Sydney was tremendous, and the description of
the event reminds one somewhat of a latter day happening when the
Victorian, Artilleryman, was unexpectedly defeated by the New South
Wales representative, Millieme, in the St. Leger.
It is pleasant to know that the old champion ultimately fell into the
hands of Mr. James Austin, in whose possession he lived a life of ease,
“roaming the flats by the homestead creek,” until, at the ripe age of
twenty-five, he passed in his checks.
And during the Petrel fever days, one is glad to notice that at length
the winners in the metropolitan areas were beginning to come from horses
which were eligible for, and ultimately were entered in the Stud Books
of Australia, and were now repaying their enterprising owners for their
extensive outlay and boldness. Thus, when Petrel was carrying off the
champion prizes at Flemington, Garryowen, the second living son of our
old friend Nora Creina, was winning Town Plates and Publicans’ Purses,
whilst Paul Jones, a colonial-bred colt, foaled in ’41, by imported
Besborough out of imported Octavia, threw down his Van Diemonian
gauntlet to Petrel, and on one occasion, to the wild delight of the
Tasmanians present, actually finished ahead of him in a heat. But while
these exciting happenings were taking place in the centres of
population, racing was also catching a hold on the dwellers in the wild
bush. Thus you will find, if you read the works of the late Revd. John
Dunmore Lang, that in 1846 this distinguished divine made the overland
journey from Sydney to Port Phillip, during which he kept an extensive
diary of events.
On his arrival at Albury, he relates how he discovered the inhabitants
of the town and neighbourhood, “on the Christian Sabbath Day,” indulging
in the excitement of their annual races. So shocked was the minister
that he broke into the Latin tongue:
“Quadrupedente patrem sonitu quatit ungula campum,”
which, in the words of “Young Lochinvar,” he aptly and freely translates
as:
“There was racing and chasing on Albury Lea.”
“The respectable publican of the place, one Brown, told me that he was,
with great reluctance, compelled to serve out rum in pailfuls to his
customers who were attending the races.” And all over the huge colony of
New South Wales we find at this time, and during the succeeding few
years, that racing was becoming the favourite pastime of the people.
There was a meeting at Maitland in ’46, where Jorrocks beat Emerald, and
the event was considered so important that it is immortalised in the
calendar for 1867 printed in the first Australasian Turf Register. There
was a two day gathering at Yass in ’47, a Geelong Steeplechase in ’45, a
Colac Hurdle in ’46, a Launceston Derby and Town Plate in ’43, a Mount
Gambier Town Plate in ’48, a Brighton Derby and St. Kilda Cup in ’49,
and a meeting even at far-off Portland in ’48. Yes! We are a peculiar, a
very peculiar, people!
Chapter VII.
The Early Records.
Of course, there was no Turf Register in these very far-off days, and
for some time the newspapers of Port Phillip were very few and far
between. Just a couple of months prior to the running of that first race
around Batman’s Hill, John Pascoe Fawkner had published “a rag,” a
veritable “rag,” “The Port Phillip Advertiser.” It was in manuscript,
and its “days were few, and full of woe.” Indeed, it was all but
stillborn. There are no race records contained in its thin leaves. From
January, 1838, until 1846 there was a succession of news sheets, “Port
Phillip Gazettes,” “Patriots,” “Heralds,” “Figaros,” and what not, all
of them weekly and weakly, squabbling, screaming, quarrelsome, puny
infants, finding early deaths. The “Argus” was founded in 1846, and on
June 2nd of that year its first number was printed. The racing news
reported during the early years of its existence was meagre in the
extreme, and was occasionally printed under the heading of “Domestic
Intelligence.” But so mushroom-like was the growth of population in the
later ’forties—and very much more so in the early ’fifties—that not only
had a daily paper become a very flourishing concern, but the want of a
weekly publication, of a purely sporting character, became so urgent
that Bell’s “Life in Victoria” was established somewhere about 1855, and
continued to exist until, in 1866, “The Australasian” came along with
its sails bellying before a favourable breeze, and swept it out of
sight. From 1860 until its disappearance, “Bell” had brought forth a
little annual volume containing a list of all the principal race
meetings of the past year, and “The Australasian” continued the
publication under the title of “The Australasian Turf Register.” This
was a thin little volume bound in red cloth, but nearly double the size
of its diminutive predecessor. It has continued in an unbroken
succession ever since.
The production of 1866–67 ran to two hundred and twenty-three pages. The
stout, good-looking, substantial volume of 1920, with its blue boards
and letters of gold, contains twelve hundred and thirty. And so, in
proportion, has our racing and our horse flesh waxed mightily and
increased in volume. Has the quality of our sport, and the excellence of
our racehorse, grown during the fleeting years to as marked an extent?
We will talk about that ere we wind up the clue of the argument.
But now the gold rush was affecting every portion of inhabited
Australia, and the entire country was in a fever. People were too busy
endeavouring to become rich quick to trouble very much about the
importation of fresh blood stock, so that the list of arrivals between
1850 and 1860 was not nearly so extensive an one as might have been
thought or desired. For 1851 was the “annus mirabilis” of Victoria. A
Golden Age had dawned. On February 12th of that year Hargraves had
washed his first shovelful of dirt near Bathurst, and had found gold in
extremely payable quantities. The discovery had stimulated the early
prospectors of Port Phillip, and the metal was soon being extracted from
the earth by the ton at Clunes, Buninyong, Warrenheip and Ballarat. In
September Her Majesty Queen Victoria had signified her assent to the
Bill which granted separation of Port Phillip from New South Wales, and
the province had now entered upon her career as a separate State. The
only skeleton at the feast was the recollection of that dreadful day at
the commencement of the year, when the world seemed to be on fire, and
the end of all things might possibly be at hand. Black Thursday,
February 6th, was a day ever to be remembered.
But when the first outburst of the gold fever had somewhat subsided,
racing soon began to be more popular than ever before. With quantities
of money and loose nuggets to fling about, with a well-developed and
constantly indulged in itch for gambling, and with a natural sporting
instinct, the diggers soon made things hum in the horse racing line. And
now it was that there grew up the absolute necessity for keeping stud
records. We have already noticed how inefficiently the stud careers of
great mares such as Manto, Cornelia and others had been noted, and how,
at this particular period in the history of the turf, it was more urgent
than ever that a system should be adopted for preserving all information
concerning each brood mare and her progeny, and of maintaining the breed
as pure as it was possible to do under the peculiar conditions
inseparable from a new country. For things were still what we, in our
modern parlance, would call “pretty mixed.” The horse was the main means
of progression, railways were short in their mileage, and their branches
were scattered and few. The stage coach, buggies and horseback were
practically the only means by which the country was traversed, and stock
were of necessity still to be driven immense distances to market. With
horses in profusion, with paddocks extremely large, with population
scattered over a tremendous breadth of lonely country, horse “duffing”
was a very tempting proposition to those people whose notions of “meum
and tuum” were inclined to be careless and slack. To pick up a
good-looking brood mare, in foal or with foal at foot, for nothing, was
a temptation impossible to be resisted by many with such a weakness, as
they travelled on horseback through the wild, outback places, behind
their mobs of cattle and droves of sheep. The bushrangers, those
unfortunate “gentlemen of the road,” too, required a constant supply of
horse flesh, and the better looking, and the better bred, their cattle
were, so much the more advantageous it was for them.
Troubadour, Mr. C. M. Lloyd’s well-known racing stallion, is reported to
have been stolen by Ben Hall on three separate occasions, but was always
recaptured. So many skirmishes had the old horse been in when ridden by
Hall that, on the death of the horse, a post mortem was held, when seven
bullets were discovered in various portions of his frame. Everyone has
read Rolf Boldrewood’s inimitable book “Robbery Under Arms.” The story
of horse stealing and cattle duffings is splendidly told in its pages,
and the description of the stock concealed in “The Hollow” by Starlight
and his gang is well calculated to make the mouths of all thoroughbred
enthusiasts water, and almost to cause the best of us to covet our
neighbour’s horse. Sappho, the greatest and most successful
colonial-born brood mare that has ever been seen, was “lifted,” I have
been informed, on at least three occasions, and Mr. George Lee had many
long, weary rides whilst tracking the footprints of those that led her
captive. Some of the most distinguished matrons of our stud book were
either stolen or strayed mares whose owners never recovered them, and
whose new masters, as a matter of course, dared not acknowledge their
pedigrees, even if they had them. There was “Black Swan, by Yattendon
from Maid of the Lake (bred by Captain Russell, of Ravensworth, but
whose pedigree cannot be ascertained).” Her stock, inasmuch as they can
win at all distances, at weight-for-age, and can stay, are palpably from
no half-bred strain. There was Dinah, bought, it is believed, out of a
travelling mob by the late Mr. James Wilson, of Victoria, and certainly
as clean bred as Eclipse. Her descendants include, in a long list,
Musidora, Newhaven, G’naroo and Briseis. There was Mr. C. Smith’s Gipsy,
said to have been by Rous’ Emigrant, but whose dam was never identified.
There was Lilla, whose granddam was a mare by Toss, “bred by the Rev. W.
Walker, near Bathurst,” and there was Sappho herself, “by Marquis, her
dam a grey mare by Zohrab, granddam a brown mare of unknown pedigree.”
And then, too, there was Old Betty. Breeders would give untold sums of
money to discover, with no possibility of error, the blood lines of
these famous mares. It is to be feared, however, that it is an
impossibility in each of these cases cited here, and every year that
glides past adds to the apparently insurmountable difficulties which lie
in the way. But it was to prevent such occurrences in the future that
the first volumes of the Victorian, the New South Wales and the New
Zealand Stud Books were compiled. Mr. William Levy essayed the task in
Victoria in 1859. In N.S.W. the first production saw daylight at about
the same time, and in New Zealand, breeders followed suit.
Mr. Levy’s volume ran to 40 pages, all told. There were one hundred and
thirteen mares whose produce he recorded, and of these twenty-eight were
owned, or partly owned, by Mr. Hector Norman Simson, of Tatong, near
Benalla.
The second volume of the Victorian Stud Book, also edited by Mr. Levy,
was published in 1865, and was even more meagre in its information than
its predecessor, but volume three, compiled by William Yuille, junior,
in 1871, was a much more ambitious effort, and volume four, the last of
the series, was also edited by him. After this the need of an Australian
Stud Book, apart from a mere provincial work, was so apparent, that Mr.
William C. Yuille, the father of the Editor of the third and fourth
Victorian records, and who had, unfortunately, died in the meantime,
took over the great task. This first volume represents an enormous
amount of work and of research. It is peculiarly interesting to the
student of breeding, and is only surpassed in value by the second volume
of 1882, a huge tome for those days, of over five hundred pages, a work
which was undertaken by Mr. Archibald Yuille, assisted by his friend Mr.
Francis F. Dakin. It was a splendid achievement. Thereafter, volume
after volume was produced at fairly regular intervals, for many years,
by these two enthusiastic experts, and after Mr. Dakin’s sudden death,
in Sydney, by Mr. Archibald Yuille and his brother Albert. In 1913,
however, the tenth volume was “compiled and published under the
direction of the Australian Jockey Club, and the Victorian Racing Club.”
It is a great work. The twelfth volume, published in 1919, runs to over
nine hundred pages, and the information contained therein is complete
and entirely satisfactory. The present Keeper of the Stud Book is Mr.
Leslie Rouse, a member of a very old house which has been intimately
connected with Australian racing and horse breeding, with all its
traditions, ever since the beginning. Nothing has been left undone in
order to place the Australian Stud Book on the same high pedestal of
completeness and accuracy which distinguishes its great prototype, “The
General Stud Book.”
Chapter VIII.
The V.R.C. and other Racing Clubs.
Racing, always a peculiarly popular sport the world over, but more
particularly so in Australia, was fairly on its legs in the new country
by the time that Stud Books and Turf Registers had been established. A
little snowball had been formed, and from this time onwards it continued
to accumulate in bulk, until to-day, the quantity of racing, in
proportion to the population, is simply extraordinary, and the snowball
has grown to be an avalanche.
Between 1850 and 1864 the destinies of the Victorian Turf were guided by
two sporting bodies, the Victoria Jockey Club and the Victoria Turf
Club. Both associations held their races over Flemington, and although
each was managed by a high-class Committee and Stewards, they were ever
at war one with the other, so, naturally, the house divided against
itself came to the usual termination, and neither of them could stand.
In 1864 it was found that neither the Victoria Jockey Club nor the
Victoria Turf Club were sound financially, and that racing was not
progressing under their management as it ought to have been doing. A
meeting of those interested was therefore held, and this conference
resulted in the formation of the Victoria Racing Club, which newly risen
body declared itself willing to take on the liabilities of the others,
provided that they, in their turn, were willing to dissolve. This was
agreed to, and the V.R.C. has, from that moment, governed all Victorian
racing, and ruled it extremely well. Mr. Henry Creswick was its first
chairman. Immediately after its inauguration a Secretary was appointed
at a salary of One hundred and fifty pounds per annum, and Mr. R. C.
Bagot was chosen to fill the position. The Club has been miraculously
lucky, in that, from 1864 until this year of grace, 1921, there has only
once been a change of hand at the wheel. Mr. Bagot worked strenuously,
enthusiastically, and with knowledge, until his death in 1881, when Mr.
Byron Moore succeeded him, and he is still working with all the old fire
which distinguished his efforts of forty years ago. The fact that he
applied for the position at all seems to have been one of those freaks
of fortune, or dispensations of Providence, which sometimes work out for
the greatest good. Mr. Byron Moore was not a racing man. He knew little
about the sport, and cared less. But he had known Mr. Bagot, and was
well aware of his aspirations in connection with the Club. When Mr.
Bagot died, his widow urged upon Mr. Moore the advisability of his
applying for the position, and, more to please her than for any other
reason, he hastily wrote an application, briefly submitting his name as
a candidate, but sending no credentials, and giving the matter no
further thought. Indeed, the circumstance had passed from his mind
until, meeting the Ranger of the Course, the well-known and faithful
Jonathan, in the street one day, that official stopped him and
immediately gave him the information—“Well, they’ve guv it ye.” “Guv
what?” “The Secretaryship.” And Mr. Byron Moore has been installed there
ever since. Here, there, and everywhere, never absent from his post,
always courteous, bland, obliging, yet inflexibly business-like and
punctilious, he has been, and is “the most precise of business men.” And
so the Victorian Racing Club has had, probably, the unique advantage of
having been managed by only a couple of Secretaries during nearly sixty
years.
So soon as Mr. Bagot undertook the management of its affairs, so soon as
the two contending bodies agreed to cease operations, so soon, too, did
the affairs of the Victorian Turf enter into a period of wonderful
prosperity and vigorous growth. Indeed, with the exception of short
intervals, now and again, during which the whole prosperity of the
country, or of the world, has been depressed, the story of the Turf, not
only of Victoria, but of Australia, has been one of continuous growth
and advance, and that upon the most solid lines.
The Melbourne Cup itself, one of the most famous races contested in the
world to-day, is a barometer of the financial welfare and general
prosperity of the community at large.
It was a very small affair for the first few years after it had been
launched upon the sea of time. The race was run under the auspices of
the Victoria Turf Club, the Derby and Oaks under the aegis of the
Victoria Jockey Club.
The stake for the great Cup was of the value of two hundred pounds, and
it was won, for the first couple of years after its inception, in 1861,
by Mr. E. De Mestre’s Archer. This was a fine horse by William Tell
(imported), a bay son of Touchstone from Miss Bowe, by Catton from
Tranby’s dam, by Orville. There seems to be some doubt about Archer’s
dam, but Mr. Wanklyn states that she descended through Bonnie Lass (by
Bachelor (imp.)), to Cutty Sark, whilst the first and second volumes of
the Stud Book give his dam as Maid of the Oaks, by Vagabond from Mr.
Charles Smith’s mare by Zohrab. In 1869 the stake was increased to £300.
In 1876 the value had mounted to £500, a sum which had already been far
surpassed by the Tasmanians as a prize for their championship at
Launceston. This was already worth one thousand. The thousand limit in
the Cup was reached in ’83 for the first time, Martini Henry being the
winner for the Hon. Mr. James White. After this prize-money ascended in
leaps. In ’86 there was £2,000 of added money; it jumped to £2,500 in
the following year; £3,000 in ’88; £5,000 in ’89; and £10,000 in 1890.
It was the summit, the “suprema dies,” the grand climax of all things.
This year compressed all the bests on record imaginable into its
calendar.
There was a record sum of money added to the race, a record field
(thirty-nine starters), a record weight was carried by the winner (ten
stone five), and the time for the race (3 minutes 28¼ seconds) was
another best ever seen up to that time. That has since, however, been
far surpassed, Artilleryman, in 1919, having smashed up a great
collection of good horses in most decisive fashion by very many lengths
in 3.24½. And the winner of 1890 was undoubtedly a record horse—the
brave, consistent, staying, immortal Carbine.
In the three following Cups, Malvolio, Glenloth and Tarcoola each swept
in ten thousand sovereigns for their owners, but in Auraria’s year, and
when Gaulus, Newhaven and The Grafter won, racing affairs had met with
“an air pocket,” and had consequently suffered a heavy “bump.” The added
money fell to three thousand pounds. The depression, however, during the
seasons following the collapse of the land boom, did not last long, and
ere the war drums boomed across a horrified world in 1914, the prize had
once more risen to upwards of seven thousand pounds. Even whilst the
struggle for life and death was progressing, the V.R.C. and the A.J.C.
both strove nobly to maintain racing on the highest possible plane in
every way, and the value of the great Cup never fell much short of five
thousand pounds. And this, too, in face of the fact that the Committee
of the V.R.C. presented to the numerous Patriotic War Funds the
magnificent sum of over one hundred and two thousand pounds.
Since the early days of the V.R.C. other clubs have arisen in great
numbers. For many years, all through the country districts, no township
was too small to hold a race meeting. Even country public houses far
outback could manage to give away sums of money, and gather a crowd of
people for the benefit of boniface under the pretence of a day’s horse
racing. But now, under the wise hands of the ruling body, “sport” of
that nature is severely restricted, and the formation of District
Associations, working under the V.R.C. is doing immense good in
improving the whole thing, and in seeing to it that racing is carried on
in the cleanest and fairest manner possible. There are many excellent
up-country gatherings throughout the State. Warrnambool, with its annual
Steeplechase, is splendid. Wangaratta and Benalla, where they have raced
since before the flood, both provide capital sport. Ballarat, once
second only in importance to metropolitan headquarters, is perhaps not
the force that it used to be in the old days when mining was
flourishing, and was one of the most prosperous industries in the
country. But it is once more on the up-grade, and is well managed.
Bendigo has always maintained a high standard. Camperdown is good, as is
Colac, while Geelong, after suffering a partial eclipse, is also again
climbing the ladder. And in the metropolitan area there are several
clubs that have done, and are doing, a great deal for the sport. The
Victorian Amateur Turf Club is in the foremost rank, and is only second
to the V.R.C. in influence and importance. The Caulfield Cup has been in
existence since 1879, when two hundred sovereigns was the amount of its
prize-money. In 1920 this was represented by £6,500, and a gold cup
valued at £100.
The V.A.T.C. was originally formed in 1876 by a number of enthusiastic
riders and owners, whose opportunities for amateur jockeyship were too
restricted for their vaulting ambitions. The promoters were the Messrs.
Hector, Norman and Arthur Wilson, J. O. Inglis, Herbert and Robert
Power, and others, and so well have their affairs prospered on that
beautiful course at Caulfield that the original object of the Club has
been entirely lost sight of long ago. It is a splendid institution.
Then there is the seaside racecourse at Williamstown, which has had a
long and creditable history. The course is a fine one, and is being
improved yearly and the annual Cup is now worth between two and three
thousand pounds. Moonee Valley is possibly the most popular of all the
suburban turf resorts. Its affairs are splendidly administered by Mr. A.
V. Hiskins and an influential Committee. It is so close to the General
Post Office that anyone now finds it an easy journey to the entrance
gates. The course is a good one, well kept, and the prizes are liberal
throughout the year. The Committee is entirely up to date, and this
Club, like the V.A.T.C. and Williamstown, are not only steadily
increasing their prize-monies, but each and all of them gave with ready
and overflowing hands to the patriotic funds. There are other and
numerous—too numerous—courses within reach of the metropolis. Epsom,
situated close to Mordialloc, is also a club, and its affairs are ably
controlled, but Mentone, Aspendale and Sandown Park are of the nature of
proprietary concerns whose surplus funds revert to the pockets of the
promoters, and no doubt pay ample dividends. But with these, so far as
the actual history and welfare of the Racehorse in Australia is
concerned, we have nothing to do.
Chapter IX.
The Great Men of Old.
And now that we have these accurate records to our hands of all our turf
history since 1865, and with the Stud Book giving us the family tree of
our thoroughbreds, so far as it can be obtained, from the present day
back to the times of King Charles the Second, we can so easily, from
that high perch of knowledge, take a quick, bird’s-eye view of the
happenings of our own brief days in Australia. Shortly before this era
of historical accuracy dawned upon our thoroughbred history, certain
importations of blood stock took place which have left a deeper mark
upon our annals than any other events since the arrival of the mare
Manto.
It was in 1860 that Mr. Hurtle Fisher procured, from England, a stallion
and several brood mares, and formed a breeding establishment at
Maribyrnong. This is an estate composed of flats and rising ground, hill
and dale, on the banks of the Saltwater River, within an easy morning’s
ride from the main streets of the Victorian capital. Here Mr. Fisher
built, high up upon a convenient and commanding eminence, excellent
stabling for his valuable imported stud, and a house for his manager. It
was an ideal spot, beautifully laid out, and so substantial that the
main buildings stand to-day with every appearance of having only been
erected yesterday. The mares which Mr. Fisher imported were from the
bluest blood of the day, carefully chosen, with the soundest judgment,
and regardless of expense. His stallion was one of the best-known horses
in England, a mighty winner, a great stayer. This was Fisherman, a brown
horse, by Heron out of Mainbrace, by Sheet Anchor out of a Bay Middleton
mare. He had won upwards of sixty races, most of them over a distance of
ground, and although, when you trace his blood lines carefully out, you
might be led to believe that they are scarcely those of a stayer, yet he
undoubtedly did possess that quality in a marked degree, and so, too,
did the stock which he left behind him.
The names of the mares which accompanied Fisherman on his long voyage
conjure up to every turfite a vision of romance, recall the time when
our best turf traditions were in the making, and bring back to the
memory hundreds of races lost and won. Gildermire, Marchioness, Juliet,
her daughter Chrysolite (foaled after landing), Rose de Florence,
Coquette, Cerva, Nightlight, Gaslight, Omen and Sweetheart formed the
kernel of the stud. The lastnamed mare, by the way, was dropped in
Victoria, her dam, Melesina, having been imported by Mr. Rawdon Green,
who sold her to Mr. Fisher. She was but a short time in the possession
of the latter, but it was whilst the mare was at Maribyrnong that she
produced Mermaid to Fisherman, and Mermaid was the dam of Melody, the
dam of Melodious, the mother of the immortal Wallace. Unfortunately,
times then became bad for Mr. Hurtle and his brother, Mr. C. B. Fisher.
Many people were speculating heavily in land during the ’sixties, and,
as is usual in all booms, the few who were lucky became rich very
quickly, whilst the great majority whom fortune did not favour went to
the wall.
The entire Maribyrnong Stud came to the hammer on April 10th, 1866, the
sale realising nearly £28,000. Prices were considered high, but were
such lots with the same reputation put up to auction to-day, say, by the
Messrs. Tattersall at Newmarket, England, probably a couple of them
alone would bring in that sum. As it was, the two-year-old Fishhook fell
for three thousand six hundred guineas, Seagull for nineteen hundred,
and Lady Heron for fourteen hundred. But prior to the great sale the
name of Fisher had, in conjunction with one or two others, dominated the
turf.
And we find during the five decades or so that have elapsed since then,
that but a few owners, a few breeds of horses, stand in the limelight
during each period, and leave their influence for good or ill for all
time.
Contemporary with the Fishers, however, there was quite an abundance of
sportsmen whose names, even after the lapse of all those years, seem to
be as familiar to us as are those of the magnates of their day in the
Old Country, the Merrys, Graftons, Albemarles, Falmouths, Hastings,
Westminsters, Portlands, Bowes and Peels. Listen to them as they are
told, and see if they do not stir a chord within you, awakening afresh
dear and stirring memories of the olden time, of those days gone by in
which we fondly believe that there were many giants.
Andrew Town, John Lee and his brothers, C. Baldwin, John Tait (“Honest
John”), the Rouse family, T. Ivory, E. De Mestre, P. Dowling, Hector
Norman Simson, James Wilson, William Pearson, W. C. Yuille, H. J.
Bowler, Rawdon Greene, F. Tozer, and George Watson. What teams the
Fishers had, as well as old John Tait!
From Maribyrnong’s massive gateway there used to emerge each morning to
their work, a string containing Angler, Fishhook, Rose of Denmark, The
Sign, Lady Heron, Kerosene, Smuggler, Sea Gull, Bude Light, Sour Grapes,
Ragpicker, The Fly, and for a brief day only, the beautiful Maribyrnong.
This colt, who afterwards took his sire’s place, fractured his near
foreleg in the Derby, his only contest. His life was spared, however,
and he made an enduring name at the stud.
John Tait was a worthy rival of the Fishers. We see him, in ’66, winning
with the mighty Barb, then a three-year-old. Mr. John Daly, until of
late the handicapper to the A.J.C., a man of the soundest judgment, and
with a prolonged experience, asserts with confidence that this black Sir
Hercules colt was the superior even of our more modern Champion of
Champions, Carbine. Volunteer, a brown horse by New Warrior, was a big
winner for Mr. Tait, and ran a dead heat with Tarragon in the three-mile
championship. They ran it off, and Tarragon won. Fireworks, a very great
horse, and one with the curious distinction of being the Victorian Derby
winner of 1867, as well as of the same race in 1868, was another of Mr.
Tait’s winners whose name lives for ever. Honest John did not keep his
horses to look at. Fireworks won the Derby on November 1st, and ran
second to Mr. Fisher’s two-year-old Fenella on November 2nd—beaten a
head. On November 30th he was third to Mr. De Mestre’s Tim Whiffler in
the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes, 1½ miles, at the Complimentary Meeting.
Later in the day he came out again and won the Galatea Stakes, two
miles, beating Glencoe and a fine field of horses. Tim Whiffler ran, but
smashed into a post, and was pulled up. On New Year’s Day Fireworks
again won the Derby, and was saddled up for the very next race, the
Midsummer Stakes, one mile and three-quarters. His starting price was
even money, and he won easily by two lengths from ten opponents. In
February Fireworks crossed the Straits and won the Launceston Champion
Cup, pulling double, from Tim Whiffler, Strop, The Barb and two others.
Next day he walked in for the Tasmanian Leger, and in March did the same
in the V.R.C. race of that name at Flemington. At Randwick Glencoe beat
him in the A.J.C. St. Leger, but both horses were in the one ownership,
and Mr. Tait declared to win with Glencoe. At the same meeting, however,
this great son of Kelpie took the All-Aged Stakes, one mile, the Autumn
Stakes, and the Randwick Handicap, each a mile and a quarter. Races
certainly were not run out from pillar to post in the ’sixties as they
are to-day, and it would be not only impolitic, but impossible, to race
a three-year-old in 1922 as John Tait used his Fireworks. Nevertheless,
the three-year-old career of the colt must for all time be considered a
very marvellous one. In the Cup of ’69 The Barb was allotted the
handsome weight of eleven stone seven, his stable mate (Glencoe) was
eleven stone, Mr. Fisher’s Ragpicker was set to carry seven seven,
whilst the minimum of the handicap was his filly, The Fly, with five
stone seven. The handicappers of the day were Captain Standish, Mr.
William Leonard and Mr. Hurtle Fisher himself. This could not occur
to-day. If it were possible, and the handicapper’s horse came home a
winner, the vast crowd in its indignation would throw down everything
and would not leave one stone standing upon another. But the
circumstance remains an everlasting memorial to the unimpeachable
integrity of the gentlemen who officiated in an honorary capacity in
those times.
Of the three, Mr. William Leonard is still with us, and still continues
to watch a race with the enthusiasm of youth. But this ancient history
is altogether too absorbing. Were our pen to have its head, it would
most assuredly bolt with us, and we would career round the course until
sundown, and therefore we must pick up our reins and proceed more
steadily upon our way. We were arguing that the different decades were
dominated by groups of sportsmen, certain breeds of horses, and we have
not yet definitely left the starting barrier of ’66.
From 1866 until well into the ’seventies, the same group of sportsmen
were still ruling the roost, the same breeds of horses were carrying on
their respective lines. The stock of Fisherman, through Maribyrnong, of
Sir Hercules, through Yattendon, and of Kelpie, through Fireworks, were
even yet the mainstay of the breed. But fresh names, both of men and
steeds, were, of course, creeping in. Old Mr. James Wilson, with his
Dinah and Musidora lot, came, held sway for many years, and is succeeded
by his son, young James. The Chirnsides, too, stepped forward, and did
an immense deal for the turf when they brought out three shiploads of
blue-blooded mares and young ones, straight from the breaking-up sale of
old Sir Tatton Sykes’ stud at Sledmere. Many of the mares are landmarks
in the modern stud book, but the purchases of Mr. Tom Chirnside might
have even been more successful had they been effected at another time.
Old Sir Tatton had his own ideas on breeding, and he indulged more in
the rearing of the thoroughbred horse itself than in the racehorse pure
and simple. The comments of the Press of the day, made upon the arrival
of the ships bearing their precious burdens, inferred that the mares
landed were very good-looking indeed, but that most of them were more
like weight-carrying hunters than racers. Unconsciously, the critic was
paying them the highest compliment which was possible. The blue jacket
and black cap of the house of Chirnside are still carried to victory
every now and again by the horses owned, and, for the most part, bred by
Mr. Andrew. The colours are a symbol of everything that is fair and
square. The period extending between 1875 and the early ’nineties is
brilliantly illuminated by the name of the Hon. James White.
No one in Australia has ever carried on his racing business with the
same amount of success. He was a keen student of breeding. He gave his
stud his personal supervision. He was served by trainers of the greatest
ability and integrity, and his head jockey was second to none. Mr. White
was almost invincible in the great two-year-old and classic races of his
day, and many of the great handicaps also fell to his string. You have
only to read the long roll of names in order to have the glories of the
blue and white banner of Kirkham brought vividly to your mind. Chester,
Martini Henry, Nordenfeldt, Trident, Ensign, Dreadnought, Palmyra,
Segenhoe, Iolanthe, Acme, Sapphire, Uralla, Cranbrook, Bargo, Volley,
Spice, Titan, Carlyon, Morpeth, Matchlock, Abercorn, Volley, Victor
Hugo, Rudolph, Singapore and Democrat. After his death, which came all
too soon, so long as his own blood remained unsullied by other hands,
the stock which he left behind him continued to win great events. But
Fennelly, his first trainer, died before his time; Tom Hales, his great
rider, did not long survive his master; but Tom Payten, who succeeded
Fennelly, only went West during the last twelve months.
Mr. White stuck to the old Sir Hercules blood and Fisherman as long as
he lived, although he was wise enough also to come in on the flood when
the strain of Musket first began to make its appearance; and he was such
an exceedingly acute judge that he always took advantage of any other
lines that he believed would suit his individual mares. Chester was a
Yattendon (Sir Hercules). Mr. White bred from him Dreadnought, Abercorn,
Cranbrook, Carlyon, Uralla, Titan, Acme, Victor Hugo and Spice. From
Fisherman (Maribyrnong) came Palmyra, Segenhoe, Bargo, Iolanthe, and
Trident was from the same horse through Robinson Crusoe and Angler.
Ensign (Derby) was by Grandmaster, a son of Gladiateur; Democrat was a
Gemma di Vergy, Sapphire a Drummer, and the remainder of White’s famous
winners were all from Musket or his sons, and included Martini Henry,
Nordenfeldt, Volley, Matchlock, Rudolph, Singapore, whilst Morpeth was
his single well-known winner by Goldsbrough.
Chapter X.
The Great Armada and the Contre Coup.
When the Hon. James White was at the zenith of his racing fortunes, he
conceived the noble ambition to bring the English Derby to Australia,
and accordingly bred from several of his best mares to English time. It
was a great adventure. La Princess, a mare by Cathedral from Princess of
Wales, by Stockwell, produced for him a chestnut colt to Chester,
appropriately named Kirkham. Chester himself was from a Stockwell mare,
and the cross was therefore a strong one. From La Princess he also bred
Martindale, by Martini Henry, in the following year. On the same blood
lines he bred the chestnut colt Narellan, by Chester from Princess Maud,
by Adventurer out of Princess of Wales, by Stockwell, as well as a full
brother to Dreadnought, by Chester out of Trafalgar, by Blair Athol from
a sister to Musket, which was christened Wentworth; and the last, a full
sister to Singapore, by Martini Henry out of Malacca, by King of the
Forest from Catinka, by Paul Jones, named Mons Meg. This little string
was duly despatched to the Old Country and placed under the care of the
greatest trainer in England, old Mathew Dawson. But the invading
expedition was not a success. The colts seemed to lose their action on
the voyage; or it might have been that virtue had gone out of La
Princess and Princess Maud after their several successive matings with
Chester, and it had not yet come home to Mr. White that Martini Henry
was doomed to be a comparative failure at the stud. Possibly the line of
Whisker, from which Chester sprang, and which had practically died out
in England, was simply not good enough to hold its own with the
descendants of Whalebone, Whisker’s full brother, which it was destined
to meet. It is hard to say. But Mons Meg was the most successful of the
mob, and that was not saying very much. She won the Gold Vase at Ascot,
and certainly seemed to stay. But she failed at the stud, and although
Kirkham sired a winner of the Grand National Steeplechase, it was the
best that any of the colts could do, and the great Armada deserved a
better fate.
During James White’s career there were no stars of heaven which
approached him in magnitude, although Sir Thomas Elder with his Gang
Forward and Neckersgat blood, E. K. Cox with his Yattendons, Andrew Town
with the Maribyrnongs, and Mr. Frank Reynolds with the Goldsbroughs, did
much for the Australian horse. And in good truth the star of the
lastnamed family never seems to set, although its racing fortunes may
rise and fall with the tide.
And now, when the great constellation was near the setting, others
commenced to rise. There was Mr. Donald Wallace, a generous and
successful owner, and one whose name has been rendered altogether
deathless through the peerless Carbine. He did not, however, breed the
great horse himself, but bought him for what was considered a very large
sum, three thousand guineas. Before Mr. Wallace died, unfortunately at a
comparatively early age, Mr. W. R. Wilson appeared on the scene. He
bought the St. Albans Estate, in the neighbourhood of Geelong, collected
a stud of the very highest class of brood mares, and, by the aid of the
Musket blood, principally through Trenton, and the St. Simon strain,
through Bill of Portland, he experienced a succession of successful
years, during which he stood at the head of the list of winning owners.
It was in his reign that the first importations of the Galopin-St. Simon
stock found their way into Australia, the effect of which has
revolutionised the whole of the horse-breeding industry of our great
island continent. Indeed, from Mr. W. R. Wilson’s time the aspect of
everything has changed. We have become so intensely democratic in our
notions that we do not seem to be able to suffer a king to live, not
even in our pastimes. The prize-money has become much more evenly
distributed, which, perhaps, is all the better for the prosperity of the
turf, and we do not seem to be able to breed racehorses without
importing a constant stream of sires from Europe. And for the greater
part these importations have been scions of the Eclipse-Blacklock house
through St. Simon and his great sire, Galopin. It was with the closing
years of the nineteenth century that the last of the great dominating
owners disappeared from the scene, and the days of the turf democracy
commenced. Since the new century began there have been many good owners,
many fine men, good sportsmen, but none who have held their place year
in, year out, in the old-fashioned way. Mr. L. K. S. Mackinnon, the
present Chairman of the V.R.C., has owned in his time many horses, and
some good ones, amongst them Woorak, a great sprinter. Mr. E. E. D.
Clarke, with his Welkins, is also constantly on the long roll. No one in
Australia races in quite the same princely style as does Mr. Clarke. He
breeds his own stock, employs the best of trainers, is faithfully served
by Robert Lewis as his first jockey, and he races for the sport alone.
Mr. Agar Wynne is seldom absent from the yearly roll call, and Mr. S. A.
Rawdon never seems disheartened by cycles of bad years. Mr. A. T.
Creswick races lavishly, and, winning or losing, retains an
imperturbable countenance. Mr. Hawker, from South Australia, sticks
nobly to the great game, and Mr. N. Falkiner, with his magnificent stud
farm, and his high-class stallions and carefully selected mares, looks
like emulating the deeds of those of old time. And then there is a long
list of professionals and semiprofessionals whose names appear with a
fair amount of regularity. But times have altered, and manners and
peoples have changed with them since the decades sacred to the Taits and
the Fishers, and the horse, and his rider, too, are not the same. The
old blood which we cherished some sixty years ago has disappeared, and
we wonder if it is for the better.
Sir Hercules, Yattendon, Chester, The Barb, Kelpie, Fireworks, Tim
Whiffler, Fisherman, Angler, Maribyrnong, Kingston, The Marquis,
Newminster, of all those heroes of old not a trace, on the male side of
the house, is left behind. With the opening century commenced the
invasion of English sires, and in the same fashion as the Norway rat of
old ate up and exterminated his brown English cousin, so has the
imported blood from England exterminated our old-time Australian horse.
To-day, in the list of winning sires, the first sixteen are imported
horses, and out of the first hundred, seventy-eight were foaled in the
British Isles. Of the two and twenty that were dropped in Australia,
many came from English parents, and each one at least owns to an English
grandsire.
In the entire long list there are but a couple of the descendants of
Chester that claim any winners at all, and these, sons of Carlyon, are
lower than the two hundredth place. But that we are still capable of
rearing dominant and pre-potent blood sires in our climate, and
nourished on Australian pasture, is evident from the fact that, within
recent years, Malster, Bobadil and Wallace have been powerful factors in
the production of our winners, and this gallant trio, one or other of
them, have headed the poll, and that many times. But they are dropping
out, those three, and ere another generation has passed away,
practically every winning sire will be an importation.
Even the very foundation stones of our studs have been turned topsy
turvy and thrown away, since the days of Macarthur, Icely, the Fishers
and Tait. In their eras the blood of Herod was in the forefront of the
battle, although, as time went on, Birdcatcher, and from him Stockwell,
encroached upon his domain, and finally settled the house of Eclipse on
his unshakeable throne. The advent of Musket brought Touchstone to the
front, and still further strengthened the Eclipse blood. But the
greatest revolution of all was accomplished when Bill of Portland, a son
of St. Simon, of the tribe of Blacklock, of the house of Eclipse, landed
in Australia. So tremendous was the success of the sons and daughters of
the brown horse, more especially when mated with Musket mares, that no
newly imported sire seemed to have a chance of success unless he were
imbued with that same St. Simon strain. The effect is still in the
strongest evidence to-day.
If you scan the latest list of winning sires to hand, that for 1920 to
1921, you will find the following results: The first hundred and three
places are occupied by sires of the following lines of descent: The
direct descendants, in tail male, of St. Simon and Galopin number
thirty-five; whilst three trace to Speculum, son of Vedette. Fourteen
are Stockwells, through the medium of Bend Or, and eight through other
branches. Birdcatcher claims other winning stallions, apart from the
Stockwells, through Isonomy, the great son of Sterling, and for the most
part by virtue of Isonomy’s chestnut son, Gallinule.
Touchstone boasts of twelve Musket sires to his credit, twelve Hamptons,
and but a single Hermit. To-day there is not a single representative of
the house of Herod in the first hundred on the roll. But Matchem, by the
aid of that grand horse, Barcaldine, is represented by six living sires.
This brief summary tells us exactly how the barometer is behaving. In
Australia Eclipse is paramount, and that for the most part through the
influence of Blacklock. Musket, who did such wonders for our breed forty
years ago, is sick, almost to Doomsday with Eclipse. Hermit, as a male
influence, is dead. Barcaldine is moribund, and it is perfectly evident
that before another twenty years have passed, on the male side of the
house, at least, it will be Eclipse first and the rest nowhere. Within
the last ten years there have been, in the Old Country, symptoms of a
revival of the blood of Herod through Roi Herode, and his speedy grey
son, The Tetrarch. For the moment, the courses are flooded with them,
and every field is flashing with greys. It seemed, for a lustrum, that
Herod and Tartar were once more destined to become a vital force, but
the zenith was reached ere many days. Even now this Herod star, or
comet, which appeared in the heavens and rushed onwards as though
determined to carry everything in front of it, has been observed to
change its direction, and it is rapidly speeding away from the sun on
its outward course. We in Australia have followed the fashion, and
Herod, with Menin, Chrysolaus and Sarchedon, will enjoy popularity and a
considerable measure of success, but the march of events here will
certainly follow those in the old world, and the grey blood will, in a
little time, weaken and fade away.
Eclipse must eventually reign absolute. Yet these importations of other
families are immensely valuable. We must have out crosses for our
perpetual blood of Eclipse, and the Barcaldines, the Roi Herodes, and
The Tetrarchs are inestimable for such a purpose. And the greater their
success in the early days of their stud life here, the better for the
ultimate good of our thoroughbred horse.
Chapter XI.
How to Breed an Australian Horse.
It is a well-known fact all the world over that every country must,
perforce, keep on renewing its blood stock supply from the British
Isles, but we in Australia have, to quote a modern expressive piece of
slang, “gone over the odds” altogether. We are breeding, as we have seen
in the previous chapter, scarcely any sires at all. This, somehow seems
to be wrong. Australia contains magnificent country, and portions of it
are blessed with a climate which is ideal for the purpose of breeding
and rearing horseflesh. The conditions which we possess here, and which
I designate as ideal are the following: We have still land procurable at
not too extravagant a price. We can obtain it in comparatively large
areas. The soil is suitable, in many localities, for the purpose. The
climate is excellent. With these advantages at our doors, there are
three methods of raising racehorses. The first is, whilst using very
large areas of country, to leave everything to Nature. Reverse Cato’s
maxim, “Laudito ingentia rura. Exiguum colito” (“Praise up big areas.
Use small ones”). Whilst pursuing this method, the horse owner must make
up his mind that he is unlikely to win two-year-old races, and therefore
he must have no intention of breeding horses for the annual yearling
sales. What he rears must be for his own use, and he must be exceedingly
patient. I do not know anyone who follows the business on these lines,
but the man who could afford to wait, and was willing to wait, would
probably find himself, in a few years, the owner of several
weight-for-age, sound-limbed, sound-jointed, clear-winded racers.
The second plan is to have a run of only a limited acreage, and to force
the youngsters from the moment they are dropped.
And the third method is a combination of the two. To follow ideal lines,
I think the following points are essential to insure the greatest amount
of success which it is possible for sinful man to attain:—
Firstly: A sufficient area of suitable land. The locality is immaterial
provided that there is an abundance of feed in favourable seasons, and
plenty of limestone in the soil. I should have no enclosure, apart from
yards, under a hundred acres, and the fencing, which is an expensive
item these days, must be of post and rails. The contour of the ground
should vary, and the soil must not be too rich. Hill and dale, upland
and meadow, river flats, an occasional swamp, are each of them desirable
commodities in the way of land, to be made use of in due season. The
feet of the youngsters are fashioned by the country they run on. One of
the most knowledgeable of all Australian trainers, a breeder himself,
Mr. Joe Burton, it was who first impressed this fact upon my mind. Some
readers may remember what a number of Gozo horses suffered from bad
feet. “They are not Gozo feet,” Mr. Burton used to tell me; “they are
Tucka Tucka feet.” I believe he was perfectly right.
Horses require frequent change. After a while they may be doing badly in
a paddock showing a rare sward of grass, but will suddenly make gigantic
strides in growth and welfare when shifted to a worse pasture. They do
not appreciate rough, coarse, over-grown grasses. Therefore, bullocks
must be used to keep the exuberance of a bountiful nature in rigid
check. Their pasturage must be kept clean from the soiling of their own
droppings. Chain and brush harrows break this up well, and scatter it
over the soil, but unrotted horse manure puts very little back to the
earth that has been taken out, and to seek the pitch of perfection the
droppings should all be raked together and carted away to a receptacle
where it can rot and be used for the garden or the cultivated fields.
Sheep and horses are like oil and water. They will not mix. You may run
your mobs with sheep even amidst abundance, and yet they will be poverty
stricken, covered with lice and ticks, unwholesome, and never “growthy.”
So much shortly, then, for the land.
Secondly, Shelter: In the Old Country, where housing must be resorted to
for a very great portion of the year, this is really not so important as
in Australia. “The cold winds of winter blow mournfully here,” as the
song says, and these are searching beyond belief in Australia. Every
paddock must have efficient shelters. Plantations, close-growing hedges,
clumps of native pines, groups of box or gum trees, are essentials for
the well-being of all horses. The hedges and pines make excellent wind
breaks, but shade from the sun in summer is equally a necessity. I like
open sheds, thickly thatched, no corrugated iron, please, fairly high in
the roof, and far removed from trees. Horses cannot stand the noise of
wind-swung boughs on roofing. They, as a rule, believe in ghosts. The
flies are a terrible infliction in the spring and early summer. I should
like to house my young ones, during the worst months, in dark, but
sweet, stables throughout the long, scorching summer days, and turn them
out in the paddocks during the grateful coolness of the nights.
Thirdly, Artificial Feeding: In the average seasons mares carrying their
foals require nothing in the way of artificial food, when once the
winter has passed away. The grass supplies them with an abundance of
good milk, and their offspring are the better for their natural
sustenance, unaffected by overstimulating oats and chaff. Besides, some
matrons have a tendency to wax over gross, and when this occurs, it is
astonishing to see how little milk they manage to manufacture for their
foal. During the spring and early summer, and whilst the grass seeds are
still present in abundance, I believe that artificial food is thrown
away. But each mare and foal should be watched as a cat watches a mouse.
Neither must be suffered to endure the slightest check for a single
day—no, not for one hour. The careful, experienced horse master can tell
at a glance as soon as one of his charges is showing the smallest
symptom of “going back,” and he must begin feeding instantly. If he has
not postponed too long, it is surprising how little it takes in the way
of oats and chaff and bran to keep your mares and foals in the best
order imaginable. A few handfuls of good, sweet, oaten chaff, a couple
of pints of coarse bran, always moistened, a pint or two of well-crushed
oats, will be found more than a sufficiency until well into the autumn.
But see that every mare and foal receives what you have apportioned
them. I fall out with many of my friends in this item of stud
management. Most people feed their mares together, perhaps in a number
of different mangers, but yet not separated one from the other. I
maintain that this is wrong. You cannot tell what each receives, and
their appetite varies to a wonderful degree. I say that you should yard
your mares and foals, and stall each of them within the yard, with their
own separate manger, until the mob have finished their meal. Twice a day
is quite enough, but feed as early in the morning as possible, and not
too late in the afternoon.
In the winter the oats and chaff are increased, perhaps to five pints of
oats for each mare and foal, a kerosene tinful of chaff, and three or
four pints of bran. That is on an average, but we know that some will
take more, and a few less. In the really cold weather, a couple of
double handfuls of boiled barley, night and morning, is not only very
pleasant, but it is a capital supplier of “caloric,” and the appetite is
sharpened by the addition of a handful of brown sugar. In the cold,
frosty nights, or still more so in the wet, windy ones of winter, mares
and foals need something extra in the way of heat producers. The mares,
if past the first blush of their youth, should be rugged. I have heard
some stud masters decry boiled barley as anathema. I would agree with
them if they fed their stock upon such a food, and used nothing else.
But as an adjunct to their habitual oats and chaff and bran, it is
magnificent. You cannot have too much change, and anything is wholesome
for them, in well-regulated quantities, which horses will readily eat.
We are careless of details in Australia, and only a few studs are worked
by the owner in person. And it is the personal attention to minutiæ
which is the main factor in winning success. There is no industry in the
world in which loving care does so much good, in which carelessness and
indifference so quickly spell ruin.
You may have a hundred stud grooms ere you drop onto the individual who
has knowledge, honesty, industry and enthusiasm combined. Therefore,
there are only a very few stud farms which are managed as they should
be. And one of the most flagrant of faults in management is this: Let us
imagine that you have decided upon sending your best couple of mares to
a certain horse, away from home. Theoretically his blood suits that
which flows in a purple stream through the veins of your mares. Both
mares are in foal, and you truck them, and, perhaps, accompany them
yourself, to the desired haven and harem some two hundred miles away.
They are in rare condition. You hear by letter that they are safely over
their foaling, and before the new year they are returned home. They
arrive in miserable condition. The season has not been a very good one.
They have not been fed. They have fallen away to shadows. Being good
mothers, they have given of their substance to their foals until they
have nothing more to give. Their ribs are sticking through their skin.
Their coat is dry and rusty, and emits a disagreeable smell. The foal is
in no better case. He looks wretched. Mare and foal, and the embryo in
utero, have received such a check that they will never make up the
ground they have lost. It is a handicap on their backs for the rest of
their lives. So you have practically lost two seasons with your two best
mares, and have paid a couple of hundred guineas for the experience. I
have a grievance against very many stallion masters over this bone which
I am endeavouring to pick with them, and I bring it forward here in an
earnest endeavour to draw the attention of owners to the matter. Many of
them are unaware of the facts of the case, and the sooner they learn
them the better. In this ideal country of ours we ought to be able to
breed the best racehorses in the whole wide world, and we should
certainly be able to rear our own sires, with the assistance of
occasional infusions of English blood. Search the columns of the weekly
sporting press and scan the advertisements of “Sires of the Season.” In
one paper I see close on eighty blood stallions advertised. With the
exception of about half a dozen these are all imported. In another
publication there are seventy, and the same proportion of country breeds
stands to the imported stuff. And yet, what strains we have owned in the
days that have gone by! Sound, stout, masculine, running strains. But
they have run out, and they are vanished away. And it must be confessed
with the deepest regret that a great number of the army of blood sires
which we have been importing for the last twenty years are not sound,
are not stout, are the reverse of masculine, although they do possess
some of the greatest running blood in all the earth. My own deliberate
opinion is that, for a decade, at least, we should drop this extravagant
importation, put our own house in better order, and show the world once
more what we can do in the way of producing our own sound, stout, fleet
and staying, high-couraged but sensible Australian horse.
Chapter XII.
Great Australian Horses.
The Barb v. Carbine.
For we did produce, once upon a time, animals fit to take their places
in the ranks against the greatest that the world could bring. Although
the Hon. James White failed in his patriotic invasion, many individual
racers reached the shores of Great Britain and showed the racing world
what we are really capable of.
To begin with, there was Merman. This horse was bred by Mr. W. R. Wilson
when his St. Albans Stud was in the zenith of its fortunes. He was a
chestnut colt, foaled in 1892, by Grand Flaneur, who, great horse as he
himself was, was not an unqualified success at the stud, from Seaweed,
by Coltness out of Surf (imported). He showed some fair form in
Australia, winning a couple of two-year-old handicaps in his first
season out of half a dozen starts; the July Handicap, at a mile, in nine
attempts as a three-year-old, and the Armadale Handicap, one mile, the
Rosstown Plate, 5½ furlongs, the Yan Yean Stakes, a mile, and the
Williamstown Cup, one mile and three furlongs, out of seven efforts, as
a four-year-old. That erudite judge, Mr. William Allison, then purchased
him on behalf of Mrs. Langtry, and in England he proved himself a stayer
of the very first water by winning the Ascot Gold Cup, 2¼ miles, the
Cesarewitch, 2¼ miles, the Goodwood Cup and the Goodwood Stakes at two
and a half miles each. This was the highest form imaginable, and was an
excellent advertisement for the Australian horse.
Newhaven, our Cup and Derby winner, won the City and Suburban Handicap
at Epsom, a race which the fiddle-headed old gelding, The Grafter, also
appropriated, while Maluma, the sister to Malvolio, won races. Aurum, a
son of Trenton, was, without doubt, the best representative we ever sent
to the Old Country, but, unfortunately, he went wrong and never had a
chance. He was the greatest three-year-old I ever saw, and at three
years old ran third to The Grafter and Gaulus in the Melbourne Cup, two
miles, at the beginning of November. This was such a good performance
that I must append the weights, so that you can thoroughly appreciate
the magnitude of the effort:—
Gaulus, 6 years 7.8 (1)
The Grafter, 4 years 7.0 (2)
Aurum, 3 years 8.6 (3)
Had they been meeting at weight-for-age, their respective imposts would
have been:—
Gaulus, ch. h., 6 yrs. 9.6.
The Grafter, b. g., 4 yrs. 8.11.
Aurum, br. c., 3 yrs. 7.6.
It will thus be seen that this three-year-old was asked to give The
Grafter, a horse capable of winning a City and Suburban, no less than
thirty-nine pounds, calculated on the weight-for-age basis, and Gaulus
forty pounds. It was no less than astounding.
A New Zealand colt, Noctuiform, perhaps almost as good a colt in his
three-year-old days as Aurum, also travelled to the Old Country, but
went all to pieces, and was a complete failure. That was the fortune of
war, but the Dominion avenged herself when Mr. S. H. Gollan took a
steeplechaser, Moifaa, across the wide seas to Liverpool, and put down
all England, aye, and Ireland, too, over that unique and difficult
course. Yes, I assure you we can breed the best in the world here, if we
would but take the greatest pains. That is where we fail, and fail
badly. English stud management can give us a couple of stone and a
handsome beating.
We often hear men arguing on the subject of “Which was the best horse
ever bred in Australasia?”
The subject is an interesting, if a somewhat profitless one for
discussion. It is impossible to decide the point, for the horses of old
had perforce to contend with conditions which their more pampered
brethren of to-day are never called upon to meet. But I should say that
the champion laurels hover between the brows of Carbine and The Barb.
The time occupied by each in running the Cup, two miles, can scarcely be
compared. The old-timer won, as a three-year-old, carrying six stone
eleven, in three minutes and forty-three seconds. Carbine, a
five-year-old, with ten five up, finished in three minutes twenty-eight
and a quarter seconds. The pace in The Barb’s year was probably not
fully on until approaching the Abattoirs, when the winner and Exile came
away from the field and, locked together, they fought out every inch of
the last hundred yards. In Carbine’s year they hopped off with a full
head of steam on, and the last five furlongs were covered at the
tremendous speed of one minute and two seconds. But the going in The
Barb’s race, no doubt, could not be compared with what it is in our day,
although we must remember that, after all, there was only an interval of
twenty-four years between the two eras. It will be interesting to
briefly run over the careers of the rivals.
As a two-year-old The Barb only competed twice. In April Fishhook and
Budelight, two Fisherman colts belonging to Mr. H. Fisher, beat him in
The Australian Jockey Club’s Two Years’ Stakes. The Barb ran green. A
week afterwards Fishhook attempted to give the black colt a stone, at
six furlongs, in The Nursery, but was beaten easily by two lengths.
Then followed the Australian Derby in September. The Barb won with the
greatest ease by two lengths, Bylong, a chestnut Sir Hercules colt
belonging to Mr. John Lee, running second, and Fishhook third. On
September sixth, The Barb, still entitled to run in “A Maiden at entry”
event, was beaten by a Pitsford horse, Bulgimbar, in the Spring
Metropolitan Maiden Stakes, after a fine race, by half a length. Truly
the ways of our ancestors were not our ways. Next day at weight-for-age,
but carrying his seven-pound Derby penalty, he smothered Fishhook very
easily by three lengths at a mile, run in 1.50. Dead slow! Then came the
great Melbourne Cup on November 1st, 1886. The Barb won by a short head.
Time, 3.43. All-Aged Stakes. One mile. Special weights. Sour Grapes (Mr.
C. B. Fisher’s) br. f., 2 years, first. The Barb second. The latter was
left at the post. Won by 2 lengths. Time, 1.50.
Twelfth Champion Race. 1,000 sovereigns. Weight-for-age. Three miles.
The Barb first, Mr. Tait’s Volunteer second. Cowra, Sea Gull and
Fishhook also ran, but Fishhook bolted. Won very easily. Time, 5 min. 38
sec. “Quickest on record in Australia.”
The Homebush Maiden Plate. One mile and a half. For Maidens at time of
entry. (The race was run on April 22nd, and so The Barb’s claim to
maidenhood would not hold good to-day.) Mr. E. Lee’s Phoebe was the only
other starter. “Won in a trot. Time, 3 min. 9¾ sec. The Barb ran in his
shoes.”
The Australian St. Leger. At Randwick, May 4th.
Mr. C. B. Fisher’s Fishhook 1
Mr. T. Ivory’s Blair Athol 2
Mr. J. Lee’s Bylong 3
Mr. J. Tait’s The Barb, Old England and Sir John also ran. “Fishhook and
The Barb went off with the lead, and raced at a tremendous pace for a
mile, when The Barb was beaten.” What the explanation of this debacle
might have been, I cannot say, but I am told by one who lived at that
time that Fishhook simply “burst him up.”
During the next season The Barb’s career was an uninterrupted triumphal
procession. The Metropolitan, the Craven Plate, the Randwick Plate, the
Royal Park Stakes at Flemington, the Port Phillip Stakes, the Sydney
Cup, and the Queen’s Plate at Randwick, all came his way without much
effort. The Royal Park Stakes was a walk-over, and in the Randwick Plate
he had only Warwick, a stable companion, to canter along with him. But
in the other events he beat Tim Whiffler, Fireworks (not, however, the
Fireworks of his three-year-old days), Coquette, Gulnare, Glencoe and
Gasworks. He was invincible, and there, at the height of his fortunes,
his racing career terminated.
Now let us sum up Carbine as quickly as possible. As a two-year-old he
appeared on the course five times, and on each occasion won his race
against the best that New Zealand could produce of the same age, and in
the Challenge Stakes he also beat Russley, a six-year-old, and
Silvermark, a three-year-old.
After arriving in Australia, he was beaten—the most palpable fluke—in
the Derby at Flemington by Mr. White’s Ensign. Hales on Ensign won the
race; Derrit on Carbine lost it. The latter rider struck his mount
(Carbine) with his whip on a tender spot, and paralysed him for the
moment.
The Flying Stakes (seven furlongs), the Foal Stakes (a mile and a
quarter), beating Melos and Wycombe, fell to him at the same Spring
Meeting at Flemington. Then followed a couple of defeats. Carbine, now
the property of Mr. Donald Wallace, ran third in the Newmarket, carrying
eight stone twelve, to Sedition, a six-year-old mare with seven three on
her back, and Lochiel, an aged horse, with nine four. Mick O’Brien
always maintained that he should have won this race upon Carbine. It was
well known that O’Brien was a partner in another of the runners
(Tradition), and he was fancied. Carbine’s jockey was determined that he
would beat his own horse at all costs—otherwise, what would the mob
say?—and kept the big bay well shepherded. When Tradition was palpably
unable to come along, O’Brien clapped on full sail, and came too late.
“I should be punished, flogged,” he confessed, after weighing in. In the
Australian Cup, Lochiel, giving in actual weight a pound, got home from
the three-year-old by three parts of a neck. At weight-for-age Carbine
would have received eighteen pounds. The colt now won the Champion
Stakes, three miles, in a very slow run race, from Abercorn, Melos,
Volley, Lonsdale and Cyclops. Next day he secured, very easily indeed,
the All-Aged Stakes at a mile, and, on the same day, the Loch Plate, two
miles, by half a head from Lochiel and Carlyon, Carbine carrying a
fourteen pound penalty.
In Sydney, at the Autumn Meeting, in glorious weather, Abercorn beat the
champion in the Autumn Stakes, a mile and a half, and The Australian
Peer, Lochiel and Cranbrook were behind the pair. Next day, in the
Sydney Cup, two miles, Carbine, nine stone, won by a head from Melos,
eight stone two, with Abercorn third, nine four, two lengths away, and
Lochiel, nine two, eighth. “At the half-mile post Lady Lyon somewhat
interfered with Carbine, causing him to drop back last. Time, 3 min. 31
sec.”
Next day Carbine won the All-Aged (a mile) from Rudolph, Russley,
Lochiel and Melos, and later in the afternoon beat Lochiel in the
Cumberland Stakes, two miles, with Abercorn third. Carbine won by half a
head, as you will see if you turn up the Turf Register of the day. What
that useful work does not tell you, however, is this: Five furlongs from
home the race looked a gift for Carbine, and all the books were laying
“ten to one Lochiel.” At this moment Carbine nearly fell, and dropped
astern a prodigious long way. Old Mr. Sam Cook, the owner of The
Admiral, hearing the fielders still calling “ten to one Lochiel,” dashed
in and took all the hundreds to ten he could gather. Running back to the
Lawn again he came in sight of the winning post just in time to see
Carbine put in the most paralysing run perhaps ever seen, and just catch
the leader on the post. One who was down the running tells how, sweeping
round the bend, Carbine was literally “ventre a terre,” his belly almost
touching the grass. The last half was run under 48 seconds. It was a
falsely run race, the two miles taking them five minutes and three
seconds. On the last day of the meeting, Mr. Wallace’s colt again beat
Abercorn—half a length—Melos, Lochiel, Volley and Bluenose, in the
Australian Jockey Club Plate, three miles.
And so ended his three-year-old career. The next season opened for him
in the Spring with the Caulfield Stakes. Mr. James White’s
three-year-old Dreadnought beat him two lengths over the mile and a
furlong, and Mr. White with Abercorn, and Mr. Gannon, by the aid of
Melos, stood in Carbine’s way in the Melbourne Stakes. But only a short
head and half a neck separated the three. Ah! there was racing in the
days of these mighty giants. In the Melbourne Cup, Carbine was set to
carry ten stone. Bravo, a six-year-old son of Grand Flaneur, who had
been much fancied, went lame a few days before the race, was eased in
his work, and went back in the betting to pretty hopeless odds.
Recovering, however, and most probably all the better for the let-up, he
won fairly easily from Carbine, with the consistent Melos third,
carrying eight twelve.
When Carbine was saddled up for the Canterbury Plate on the last day of
the meeting, he had one of his fore feet quartered, and consequently he
was unable to show his best form, and for once in a way he was beaten
out of a place by Abercorn, Sinecure and Melos. His revenge came in the
autumn. In the Essendon Stakes he beat Singapore, Melos, Bravo and
Chintz, although Melos and Dreadnought finished ahead of him in a slow
run Championship. However, on the fourth day of the meeting he made
ample amends by taking the All-Aged Stakes, at a mile, from five
two-year-olds, and the Loch Plate, over two miles, from Singapore and
Fishwife. “Three to one on Carbine.” Then came the Autumn Randwick
Meeting. Here, in the Autumn Stakes, Melos once more ran second to the
great horse, with Dreadnought third. Chintz, Antaeus and Federation also
ran. The Sydney Cup, two miles, came on the second day, and Carbine won
easily. He carried nine stone nine, and Melos, nine five, was out of a
place. He ended his four-year-old efforts with the All-Aged Stakes, the
Cumberland Stakes—both on the same day—and the A.J.C. Plate, three
miles, in the last race beating Melos and Dreadnought. The time occupied
in running the distance was six minutes and seven seconds, which, of
course, was terribly slow. Carbine’s last season was almost, though
unfortunately not quite, an unblemished blaze of glory. Briefly, here is
the list of his triumphs: The Spring Stakes, Randwick, beating Melos and
seven others; the Craven Plate, with Megaphone and Cuirassier behind
him. The time for the mile and a quarter was 2 min. 7 sec., a record at
that period. The Melbourne Stakes from a large field, including Melos,
who must have been heartily sick of the sight of his enemy’s tail. The
aforementioned Melbourne Cup—the record Cup; the Essendon Stakes; the
Champion Stakes, beating on this occasion the risen sun amongst the
three-year-olds, The Admiral; the All-Aged Stakes; the Autumn Stakes,
with only Highborn in opposition at weight-for-age. In the great
Melbourne race you must remember that Highborn had carried six stone
eight to the champion’s ten five. On the second day of this Randwick
meeting, Highborn came out and won the Sydney Cup, carrying nine stone
three. This is perhaps the most convincing proof that Carbine was very
close akin to the super equine. But on the third day of the gathering
Carbine made his unlucky “lapsus pedis.” In the All-Aged Stakes, in
slippery going, that very great miler, Marvel, beat him easily by four
lengths, at his favourite distance. Carbine was extremely disgusted. His
faithful and splendidly knowledgeable trainer, Walter Hickenbotham, had
sent him out that day without shoes, and he did not seem able to act.
When the clerk of the course rode up, as is the fashion in Australia, to
escort Marvel into the enclosure, Carbine “went for him” with open
mouth. Revenge is sweet indeed. Nor was it long delayed. In the second
last race of the same afternoon the pair again met at two miles, when,
suitably shod, and with seven to four betted on him, Carbine came home
seven lengths to the good. There had been considerable excitement and
applause when the black horse downed the great gun at the mile, but when
old Carbine fairly vindicated himself in such smashing style, a generous
and sporting public went wild with enthusiasm. Hats, umbrellas, even
field glasses, were thrown into the air, and the shouts were deafening.
Emotion like this, when money is not the incentive, is good. And—last
scene of all which closed this strange, eventful history—in the A.J.C.
Plate, on the fourth day, at three miles, and with the bookmakers asking
ten to one, the great horse cantered home from Correze and Greygown. The
curtain had fallen. The racecourse saw the familiar figure no more.
Which champion, then, shall be dubbed “The Champion of Champions?” Men,
and good judges, who have seen The Barb, tell us that, as a horse, he
was magnificent. Lengthy, but beautifully ribbed up, immense loins,
great powerful, muscular quarters, perfect shoulders, the best of legs,
and altogether a noble-looking animal. Carbine was scarcely that. He
possessed grand staying points, of course. “A loin and a back that would
carry a house, and quarters to lift you slap over the town.” His barrel
was all that it ought to be, deep, but not cumbersome. His shoulders
were excellent, his rein long. But, in proportion to the rest of his
frame, he was light in the gaskin, not great in the forearm, small—7¾
inches—and inclined to be round and long in his canon bones. Neither a
“pretty” nor a perfect animal. Both horses possessed the temperament
that heroes are made of. Courage, coolness, sagacity were theirs.
Carbine ran his own race. He seized his own opportunities, and took an
opening on his own initiative, when he saw it, through which he might
thread his way in a big field. And he recognised the winning post as
well as he knew his manger. He was determined to win, and he was
perfectly well aware when a supreme effort was necessary. One might
almost say, too, that he had the saving gift of humour. As he emerged
from the enclosure in order to take his breather before a race, he
almost invariably indulged in a little pantomime of his own, partly for
his own edification, and partly for the amusement of his friends, the
crowd. When he stepped on to the course from the enclosure, he would
“gammon” that he saw something up the running which attracted his
attention, and he would stand with his ears at full cock, gazing as at
an apparition. No effort on the part of his jockey could induce him to
walk forwards. Then Walter Hickenbotham appeared from the wings, as it
were, and endeavoured to “shoo” him on. No result. Now Walter would flap
his handkerchief at him, and the old fellow might walk a few paces, and
then take fresh stock of the imaginary object in the distance. Another
full stop. Then came the moment when Walter resorted to his ace of
trumps. This was an umbrella, kept evidently for the purpose, which was
opened and shut rapidly, as near as was consistent with safety to the
horse’s heels. This usually produced the desired effect, and Carbine
would then proceed far enough up the running to enable his jockey to
invite him to turn round and sweep down the course in his preliminary.
It was a curious and somewhat entertaining performance, but what the
horse thought about it all it is difficult to say. But now, to sum up
and deliver a verdict on the question of the merits of Carbine and The
Barb. It is possible that The Barb was the better horse, and he was,
most probably, the better looking of the two. Yet I fancy I know full
well what the verdict of posterity will be. When a statue to Carbine has
been erected in Olympia future generations will read in large letters on
its plinth, “C.O.M.,” and archæologists of a later age will interpret
this to mean: “Carbine, Optimus, Maximus” (“Carbine, Best and
Greatest”).
Chapter XIII.
Other Great Horses.
There have been numerous other great horses in our country, some of them
standing on a high pedestal, but none of them on quite such a lofty one
as that supporting Carbine or The Barb. Some may worship the memory of
one, some that of another. It is a case of “laudabunt alii” (each man to
his own choice). But we should like to recall a few of those
celebrities, some of them dead and gone, a few still in the land of the
living. Chester and First King were good, possibly even great horses. As
two-year-olds they never met, but both were champions, First King
winning all his three engagements, and Chester four out of five. The
latter was beaten a head in his initiatory effort by Sir Hercules
Robinson’s Viscount—an evident fluke. As three-year-olds there was a
battle royal between the two. The Derby, Chester won easily by half a
length. In the Mares’ Produce, a mile and a quarter Mr. White’s colt
repeated the dose. But in the Championship, over three miles, First King
won by four lengths, and he beat the New South Welshman, but only by a
short head, in the Leger. Chester had no engagement in the Australian
Cup, which First King won, and in the Town Plate, two miles, Chester had
no difficulty in putting the King down by two lengths. It is possible
that Mr. Wilson’s colt was a little stale after the Australian Cup. They
never crossed swords again, and although Chester won seven out of his
eleven engagements as a four-year-old, I question if he was ever so good
again as he was at three. Horses like Warlock, Melita and Cap-a-pie beat
him at weight-for-age, which, had he been at his best, could never have
occurred. First King did not appear as a four-year-old, but at five
years he was only beaten once, and that was by the Derby winner, the
beautiful, shapely, grey, Snowden colt, Suwarrow, in the Canterbury
Plate, two miles and a quarter. But in his winning efforts he had no
really great horses to conquer, although one or two of his opponents
were good, Richmond—past his zenith—Wellington and Swiveller being the
best of them. On paper, the honours are pretty evenly divided between
Chester and First King, and I daresay old-time racing men could argue
with some gusto after dinner in favour of their particular fancy, and
might finally have to rise from the table unconvinced, or, if convinced
against their will—well, holding the same opinion still.
Grand Flaneur was the next public idol. He was never beaten, and how
good he was it is difficult to say. This great colt only ran once in his
first season, when he won the Normanby Stakes at the Flemington New Year
Day Meeting. Palmyra and Cinnamon were in the field, the former being
favourite at even money. At three years Grand Flaneur commenced with the
A.J.C. Derby, and then went through an unbroken sequence of victories in
the Mares’ Produce, the Victoria Derby, the Melbourne Cup, the V.R.C.
Mares’ Produce, the Champion, the Leger and the Town Plate.
Grand Flaneur may have been lucky in racing during a rather lean year,
but over and over again he cantered home from the Angler colt Progress,
who, when the big fellow was not present, invariably smothered the
opposition in the most convincing manner possible, and there is no doubt
whatsoever that Mr. W. A. Long’s colt was really and truly “great.” He
ran no more after his three-year-old career terminated.
Malua was better than simply a “good horse.” One that could win, in his
four-year-old season, a Newmarket Handicap, six furlongs, the Oakleigh
Plate, five and a half furlongs, and the Adelaide Cup, a mile and five,
was something of a genius. And as a five-year-old he graduated in the
weight-for-age class, taking the Spring Stakes, a mile and a half, the
Melbourne Stakes, a mile and a quarter, and the Melbourne Cup, two
miles, carrying nine stone nine, his rival, Commotion, being half a
length off second, with his nine twelve up. As a six-year-old, with nine
nine, the Australian Cup, two and a quarter miles, fell to Malua, and
then, as an eight-year-old stallion, he won the Grand National Hurdle
Race easily, carrying his owner, Mr. J. O. Inglis, who was a very fine
horseman. It must be confessed that Malua was wonderfully favourably
handicapped for a winner of his great class, as his weight was only
eleven stone seven. Twelve seven would have been a more reasonable
impost. Malua may not have been quite up to the pitch of a “great”
horse, but he was terribly near it, and his brilliant and determined run
over the last two furlongs may have been electrifying enough to have
defeated even the best. And in estimating his merit, we must take into
account his unusual versatility. Of course, Abercorn was a “great”
horse. His was that great light which caused the greater light of
Carbine to burn with such dazzling brilliancy. The great, slapping,
lengthy chestnut won for Mr. White twenty races, all of them against the
highest class of horse, out of a total of thirty-four starts. It was a
case of Greek meeting Greek when Abercorn, Australian Peer, Carbine and
Melos threw down their gauntlets.
Australian Peer scored many points, but undoubtedly Abercorn won the
rubber. A great racehorse, he was promising at the stud, and gave us a
stayer in Cobbity, another lovely mover and good winner in Coil, and a
Derby horse in Cocos. All the three, by the way, were out of the one
mare, Copra. Abercorn was bought to go to Ireland, and there he did very
little good. Had he remained behind in Australia, and continued to
produce horses of like merit with the three mentioned, there might have
been a different tale to tell. As it was, with him the blood of Whisker
seemed to peter out.
Wallace was in the “great” class, and was certainly a very great sire.
His two-year-old career was not so promising in public as it was in
private, for, although backed well upon many occasions, he only secured
a single bracket out of eight attempts. As a three-year-old he commenced
with a second in the Spring Stakes to Hova, and then went from strength
to strength, taking the Guineas, the Derby, and the C. B. Fisher Plate.
In the Leger something happened which fairly made me groan with anguish,
as I sat there watching a good horse being beaten by a comparative
commoner. Mr. H. Oxenham had two representatives, Cabin Boy and
Waterfall, in the race. The latter was a pretty good horse, and Gough,
on Wallace, galloped along beside him, the only competitor whom he
thought was likely to offer any dangerous opposition whatever. Delaney,
Cabin Boy’s rider, meanwhile, in the guise of making the running for his
companion, shot away, secured a tremendous lead, and Wallace could never
quite get up. Next day Idolator, a six-year-old, with seven three on his
back, just got home from Wallace, in the Australian Cup, carrying eight
ten. It seemed to me that Wallace winced in the last few strides as
though he had been struck with the whip on a painful spot, but I never
heard until lately whether this was the case or not. Mr. Phillip
Russell, the owner of Idolater, says “No.” The verdict was half a head.
Next day Mr. James Wilson, Junr.’s beautiful Trenton mare, Quiver, ran a
dead heat with Wallace in the three-mile championship, and they
completed the distance in the then record time of 5 min. 23¼ sec. It has
only once been beaten since, by three-quarters of a second, when Radnor
won, and it will never be equalled again, as the race has since been
abolished. In the autumn, at Randwick, Wallace won the Leger, the Sydney
Cup, with eight twelve, the Cumberland Stakes, but, probably stale, lost
the three-mile A.J.C. Plate to a couple of moderates like The Harvester
and Fort. This practically closed the son of Carbine’s racing career, as
he only once more faced the barrier, in the following spring. At the
stud he has earned imperishable renown. There is, unfortunately, just a
shadow of doubt as to whether or not he is going to be a proven sire of
sires. So far we have seen no son of his who appears to be destined to
carry on the line in tail male. But with Wallace Isinglass, Patrobas,
Wolowa and Trafalgar, there is certainly a distinct hope. As the sire of
great brood mares there is not the slightest anxiety as to his future
fame, for that is established already.
Newhaven followed fast on Wallace’s footsteps, for he won the V.R.C.
Derby the very year after the Carbine colt. As a two-year-old he took,
amongst other races, the Maribyrnong Plate and the Ascot Vale Stakes,
carrying the full penalty. His three-year-old performances quite
entitled him to take his place among the “greats,” and although,
perhaps, a horse of moods, or more likely an animal easily affected by
what might have been a trifle to some of his peers built in a coarser
mould, he was really awfully good. One can never forget how, after
having won the Derby in smashing style, he came out in the Cup, and with
the substantial burden of seven thirteen on his three-year-old back,
seven pounds over weight-for-age, he took the lead before passing the
judge’s box the first time round, never relinquished his advantage, and
finally strode home half a dozen lengths to the good. Some of us, whilst
taking a walk round the course on the evening before the great race,
were talking “Cup” all the time. Mr. W. E. Dakin, a keen judge of racing
and of a horse, pulled up at the five furlong post from home, and with a
wave of his stick, oracularly decided that “here Newhaven will begin to
come back to them.” I had the privilege of sitting beside Mr. Dakin
during the race, and, just at the point which he had indicated, the
chestnut colt seemed to take a fresh lease of life and shot out with an
even more substantial lead than before. I could not refrain from nudging
my friend’s knee and saying: “How about Newhaven coming back to them
now?”
After a very successful three-year-old career, his victories including
the Championship, the Loch Plate, the A.J.C. St. Leger and the A.J.C.
Plate, Mr.—afterwards Sir William—Cooper took him to England. He was a
very free, loose galloper, with a curious amount of knee action, a style
which caused one to be rather doubtful of his staying powers until he
had unmistakably refuted all suspicions by his deeds. Newhaven was by
Newminster from Oceana, by St. Albans (son of Blair Athol), her dam,
Idalia, by Tim Whiffler (imp.) from Musidora, by The Premier—Dinah, by
Gratis from an unknown mare. Hers is one of those pedigrees which one
would give worlds to fathom to the very depths.
Maltster, great as his success afterwards was at the stud, can scarcely
be catalogued amongst the great. He was good, and had he had the
opportunity, might possibly have been promoted to this, the seventh
heaven, but, as it was, his working days were over by the autumn of his
three-year-old career, and he had the fortune to come in a rather lean
year, when no giants as of old were stalking upon the earth.
Poseidon, a failure at the stud, was, on the racecourse, great. He
commenced his career so modestly that no one would have suspected that a
bright sun had arisen in the morning skies. He won a Nursery at the
A.J.C. January Meeting, and was allotted six stone eight in the
Melbourne Cup.
Early in the following spring he was still, apparently, without any
ambition towards higher things. He commenced by winning a welter at the
Sydney Tatt.’s Club gathering in September, and followed it up with a
victory in the Spring Handicap at Hawkesbury. Then, with odds of seven
to one against him, he was proclaimed the A.J.C. Derby winner, beating
Collarit, Antonious, Iolaire and a couple more. With his penalty he was
beaten next day by Solution in the Metropolitan. Then came triumphs in
the Eclipse Stakes at Caulfield, the Caulfield Cup, with a
fourteen-pound penalty, the Victoria Derby, the Melbourne Cup, the St.
Helier Stakes at Caulfield in February, the St. Leger at Flemington, and
the Loch Plate, two miles, beating Dividend. Then he was checked in this
triumphal progress. Dividend took down his number in the Champion, and
again in the Cumberland Stakes at Randwick. Meanwhile, however, Poseidon
had won what was practically a bloodless victory in the A.J.C. St.
Leger.
At four years Poseidon still retained his form, and was successful seven
times, the Spring Stakes, the Eclipse, the Caulfield Cup, with nine
stone three up, the Melbourne Stakes, the Rawson Stakes, the Cumberland
Stakes, and the A.J.C. Plate falling to his lot. Mountain King, however,
who might have been a great horse but for wind troubles, beat him in the
Rawson Stakes in spring, the Craven and the C. B. Fisher Plate. Poseidon
was unplaced (eighth) in the Melbourne Cup that year, carrying ten stone
three, including a penalty, and he did but little more. Had Alawa
depended upon his three-year-old record, he might have been included in
the Roll of Honour, but his star had reached its zenith by his
three-year-old autumn, and those greater suns, Comedy King and
Trafalgar, obscured his lesser light until it finally sank beneath the
horizon. There was a rich vintage just at this period of our history:
Trafalgar, Alawa, Comedy King, Prince Foote. It was when Comedy King was
a four-year-old and Trafalgar a five-year-old that the real fun began.
The latter was a chestnut horse by Wallace from Grand Canary, by
Splendor from a Lapidist mare, and to see him walking out for his
afternoon exercise, or lagging along in the saddling paddock, you would
never, as a casual spectator, have taken him for anything but a rather
lazy, spiritless, washy old gelding. He was sleepy, indifferent to his
surroundings, careless of the calls of love, or of what the next hour
might bring in the shape of a tussle with some worthy foe.
Comedy King, a rich brown, with fire in his eye, and in his every
movement, with a skin like satin, showing every vein as he paced along,
was the very antithesis of his great rival. He had been imported by Mr.
Sol. Green, at his mother’s side, and he was by King Edward’s horse
Persimmon, out of Tragedy Queen, a Gallinule mare.
Prince Foote was a great three-year-old. But his nine victories at that
age left their effects upon him, and he only started three times as a
four-year-old, winning the Chelmsford and running second in the A.J.C.
Spring Stakes to Comedy King, beating Trafalgar, Pendil, etc. The
Chelmsford came early in the spring, and here, with the exception of
Maltine, he had not much to beat. As a three-year-old, however, he won
the Chelmsford again, against a large field, including that great miler,
Malt King; the A.J.C. Derby, from Patronatus and Danilo; the V.R.C.
Derby, the Melbourne Cup, carrying two pounds over weight-for-age; the
V.R.C. Leger; the Champion Stakes from Pendil; the A.J.C. Leger; the
A.J.C. Plate, from Pendil and Trafalgar; and the Cumberland Stakes, two
miles, from the same couple. Yes, he was a “great” three-year-old.
Between Trafalgar and Comedy King it was a case of “pull devil, pull
baker,” so long as they were running at a distance not beyond a mile and
a half. After that Trafalgar was the master. For, although Comedy King
beat the chestnut in the Cup, the latter was giving weight, and I do not
think that many people, with the exception of Comedy King’s backers,
were altogether satisfied that Trafalgar had had a clear run. The black
horse, at three years, won the Futurity at Caulfield, with a twenty-one
pound allowance; as a four-year-old he took the Cup, the St. George’s
Stakes, the Essendon Stakes, the All-Aged Stakes, and the Autumn Stakes.
And at five years the Eclipse again fell to him, after which he retired.
But Trafalgar, his arch enemy, secured twenty-four high-class races, and
raced on until he was seven years old. He won at distances varying
between nine furlongs and three miles, but the farther he went the
better he liked it, and, strangely enough, he appeared to be gaining in
speed as he grew older. And he never left an oat in his manger, and
would clean up everything that was offered him, even when undergoing a
course of physic, while his legs were of iron. I would not have liked to
go into his box by myself, nor without his boy at his head. He was a
sour old dog, and did not like to be disturbed in his castle. I have
seen him “round” on his trainer and eject him without much ceremony from
his box when in an ill humour. But I have no doubt that after he went
out of training, and had liberty, and not too much strapping, he became
the mildest mannered horse that ever won a race or cut a rival’s throat.
I fear, however, that he is not a success at the stud, although a sure
foal-getter. Comedy King, on the other hand, sires innumerable
gallopers, from hurdle jumpers up to the winners of the greatest prizes
to be gained on the turf to-day. And I think you would have anticipated
the destiny of the pair had you seen them often in their daily lives.
Of the horses of the last lustrum it is difficult to speak, and, indeed,
before history has had time to give her verdict, it might be injudicious
to open one’s mouth. But I can safely say this: I never saw a
performance in my life which equalled that of Artilleryman in the
Melbourne Cup of 1919. He had been a somewhat uncertain performer in his
two-year-old days. As a three-year-old he had run Richmond Main, a very
good colt, a dead heat in the A.J.C. Derby, and had been well beaten by
the same horse in the V.R.C. classic event, a few weeks after. But there
were extenuating circumstances, I admit, in the latter race. In the Cup,
three days later, running next the rails, and in a fair, but not a too
flattering position as the field streamed to the bend, Lewis, his rider,
perceiving a clear space ahead of him, shot his colt through, and in a
very few seconds the contest was all over. Artilleryman, with his
weight-for-age on his back, simply squandered the field. The official
verdict was six lengths. The photographers made it at least a dozen. The
eyesight of the excited spectators pronounced the gap between the winner
and Richmond Main, the second horse, at anything varying between a
hundred yards and a quarter of a mile. From a coign of vantage,
unhampered by the crowd, and in a semi-official capacity, I judged the
brown horse to be over ten lengths to the good as he passed the winning
post. This great colt won his autumn engagements at Flemington, although
to the professional eye there was something not quite all right about
his physical state at that time. Nevertheless, he travelled on to
Sydney, where he was badly beaten in all his engagements. It then
transpired that all was not well with him. A swelling had made its
appearance both on the outside and on the inside of his near thigh, and
his near hock was enlarged. Unfortunately, the trouble went on from bad
to worse, and in a few months this great son of Comedy King succumbed,
dying, strange to say, within a few hours of Mr. Alec Murphy, who was a
partner in the horse with his friend Sir Samuel Hordern.
The verdict, as I write, has not yet been pronounced upon the risen sun
of to-day, Eurythmic. That he is a very good horse indeed, there can be
little doubt. That he is a really great one is not yet quite certain.
The best of judges point out that Eurythmic has been tremendously lucky;
that he has never met anything which can be called great, with the
exception of Poitrel, who undoubtedly was a very excellent stayer
indeed. At a mile, and, perhaps, at a mile and a half, Eurythmic was
superior to game little Poitrel, but we only once saw them meet over a
distance of ground, and that was in the Melbourne Cup. Here, giving ten
pounds, Poitrel won cleverly, with Eurythmic a good fourth. At
weight-for-age, Poitrel would have been giving his rival only six
pounds. So that it certainly looks as though the Poitrels “had it on the
voices.” But there is just a lingering feeling in the mind that
Eurythmic had not yet quite come to his own on that fine spring day when
the Cup was decided, and his subsequent form showed very distinct
improvement. We shall see. But the name of Poitrel is assuredly one of
those “that glow from yonder brass.”
Chapter XIV.
Queens of the Turf.
Of course, there have been infinitely fewer great mares on the turf than
there have been famous and great horses. And this is peculiarly
noticeable in Australia, for what reason I am unable to say. Thus, since
the St. Leger was first instituted in this country until to-day, a mare
has only won the race six times. In England, on the other hand, during
the same span, a mare has been hailed the winner on fourteen occasions.
Perhaps it is for this reason that, when a mare does stamp herself as
the best of the year, and perhaps of her generation, she catches the
affection of the public even more firmly than does some great horse hero
of the course. It may be, too, that there is more sympathy felt by
everyone for the weaker vessel, and that naturally, for the crowd, who
are composed more of men than of women, it is easier to love anything
female as opposed to male. Whatever may be the cause, there it is,
anyhow. If you let your mind run back during the last sixty years or so
to the racing in the Old Country, the love manifested by the mob for
Regalia, Achievement, Caller Ou, Formosa, Hannah, Apology, La Fleche,
Sceptre and Pretty Polly was far more firm and enthusiastic than for all
the Ormondes, Isonomys, Donovans, Robert the Devils and Persimmons, no
matter what their achievements have been. And when it has come to a
contest between a colt and a filly in a classic race, the hearts of the
people have always seemed to go out to the mare. One can never forget
that year, perhaps the most sensational in the history of the turf, when
Hermit won the Derby. Whilst this great colt was making romance and
story, there was a beautiful mare, Achievement, who was gripping the
hearts of everyone interested in the sport of horse racing. She had not
had a career of uninterrupted success. And this fact, in a mare, in no
way alienates the affection of the people. On the contrary, sympathy
flows out to the defeated filly. During the autumn, in the Doncaster St.
Leger, she and the Derby winner were destined to meet. I cannot recall a
year in which such universal interest was taken in a race. My own
household were on tip-toe, and we awaited the result with bated breaths.
We were all for “the mare.” There was no rapid dissemination of news in
those days such as we “suffer under” to-day. Indeed, we were lucky, or
thought ourselves lucky, if we happened to hear a result before the
delivery of the morning papers at about ten o’clock next day. We were
all at tea on the evening of the great event. It was one of those quiet,
warm, brooding days of early autumn, when sounds travel to a great
distance. Suddenly we heard the crunching of feet far off, marching up
the carriage drive and, we all—“just a wheen callants,” you know—cocked
our ears. Was it the news? The footsteps halted at the open front door,
and the voice of a neighbour called out loudly, “The mare won by three
lengths.” And then, what a cheer burst from us! I should like to hear
the same again, in some modern household to-day. But this is but “an old
song that sung itself to me, sweet in a boy’s day dream,” and we will
pass to a consideration of the few Queens of the Turf in Australia since
the beginning of things. We need not revert to the Bessy Bedlams of the
early ’forties of the last century, nor the Alice Hawthorns of before
the flood. Worthy mares, no doubt, and reverenced by their worshippers,
but probably slow gallopers compared to the fliers of to-day.
Only six mares have won the Championship, and one of these took the race
twice. This was Ladybird, who was a New Zealander, and who was
victorious when that race was contested over in the Dominion. She was
successful in 1863, as a five-year-old, and in 1865. She was not a
“Queen.” Not another mare left her name on the champion roll until
Quiver, in 1896, when that fine four-year-old dead heated with Wallace.
Quiver was a very lengthy bay mare by Trenton from Tremulous, by
Maribyrnong out of Agitation (imp.) by Orest. As a two-year-old she did
not greatly distinguish herself, winning, out of three attempts, a
Nursery at Flemington. At three years she also earned but one bracket,
but, starting a hot odds-on favourite for the Oaks, she turned round
when the barrier flew up, and took no part in the race. That was the
first year of the starting gate, and the Derby, won by The Harvester,
was the earliest classic race in which the invention was made use of.
Horses were unused to the ropes in those days, and I can see now the
look of rather sulky surprise upon the mare’s countenance at what she,
no doubt, took for an abominable thing, dangled in the air beside her
nose. The field, without her, went off at a slow canter, and had Moore,
the jockey, set Quiver going, and followed the others, he would have had
no difficulty in catching them in the first half-mile, and it is certain
that Quiver would have won. As it was, the whole thing was a novelty,
and Moore seemed to lose his head, and to fall into a dream. But there
was a great outcry, and the “flatites” reckoned that they had been taken
down. Of course, there was nothing in it.
It was as a four-year-old, however, that Quiver earned her title. She
commenced with the Spring Stakes at Randwick, and she followed this up
with the Randwick Plate over those three long, tiring miles, beating
Portsea, amongst others. Tattersall’s Club Cup, two miles, with nine
stone two up, came next, and then the Essendon Stakes at Flemington,
when she put down Hova, Havoc, Preston and Auraria. And the crown was
finally put upon her head when the famous dead heat took place for the
Championship with Wallace. The mare was sold and went to India, shortly
afterwards, and there she gained further laurels.
I am not just absolutely clear in my mind that Quiver ought to be
included in the list of great Queens, but she was the first actually to
win an open Championship, for Ladybird only met New Zealanders and does
not count, and the finish with Wallace proclaimed the Trenton mare to be
a stayer, and a game one to boot. This was a period in our story when
good mares flourished. For Lady Trenton, the winner of the Sydney Cup,
was a contemporary of Quiver, although she cannot be included amongst
the Queens. She was a graceful, beautiful mover, a thorough Trenton, but
a handicap mare only. Her pedigree is interesting, in that her dam was
the famous Black Swan, by Yattendon from Maid of the Lake, “whose
pedigree,” says the Stud Book, “cannot be ascertained.” As Lady Trenton
was foaled as lately as 1889, it is a little curious that her grand
dam’s pedigree should be wrapped in mystery.
Sir Rupert Clarke’s La Carabine was the Champion winner in 1901 and
1902. She is pronounced unhesitatingly “a Queen.” Her first season did
not appear to hold out much hope of mighty deeds in the future; at
least, to those who were not acquainted with her domestic history. She
was a chestnut, foaled in 1894, by Carbine out of imported Oratava, by
Barcaldine, from Tullia, by Petrarch, her dam Chevisaunce, by Stockwell
out of Paradigm, by Paragone from Ellen Horne, the maternal ancestress
of Bend Or. Her breeder was Mr. O’Shanassy, but it was in the nomination
of Mr. Herbert Power that she was launched upon her career as a
two-year-old. She was an exceedingly mean-looking creature during her
first season.
Being much enamoured of her pedigree, I undertook the long journey to
Melbourne from the Murray in order that I might see her perform. I was
standing in the saddling enclosure looking out for the filly, when there
passed me a mean, ragged-looking, little thing, with a mournful cast of
countenance, and she knuckled over on both her hind fetlocks at each
step. “What on earth is that miserable little brute?” I inquired from a
knowledgeable friend at my side. “Oh! that’s a two-year-old in Jimmy
Wilson’s stable. La Carabine they call her.” This was a great shock, and
her running that season did not bewray the great possibilities that lay
beneath her rather washy chestnut hide. She was successful in a Nursery
at Randwick in the autumn, carrying seven stone seven, but beating
nothing of any great account, and she was absolutely unsuccessful as a
three-year-old. At four years she managed to dead heat at Flemington
with Dreamland, who, however, beat her in the run off, at a mile and a
half. But for this faint silver lining to her cloud, everything was
still in darkness. But I knew that she could beat Key, one of the
greyhounds of the turf, at anything beyond half a mile, and that she
could stay. Therefore, Hope was not yet altogether dead.
Ere the next season had dawned, however, La Carabine had passed into the
hands of Mr. W. R. Wilson, of St. Albans, whose manager, Mr. Leslie
McDonald, was certainly second to none as a trainer and stud master, if,
indeed, he was not facile princeps of all his contemporaries, or of all
those who had gone before him. And it may be that he will retain his
invincibility in his own line for all time. The only man whom I can ever
think of as being his “marrow” is Mr. J. E. Brewer. Under Mr. McDonald’s
fostering care the little mare won the Stand Handicap at the Flemington
October Meeting, and, after an interval of non-success, she was returned
as winner of the Australian Cup, run over two miles and a quarter. She
had now discovered her metier, for in Sydney, during April, the Cup fell
to her at two miles, she carrying eight stone two. Two days after she
beat Merriwee, weight-for-age, at three miles in the A.J.C. Plate, and
travelling on to Adelaide, she smashed the opposition in the Alderman
Cup, a mile and three-quarters, carrying the substantial impost of nine
seven. Now a six-year-old, and in the ownership of Sir Rupert Clarke,
after failing in the Melbourne Cup with nine seven, she gained a bracket
in the V.R.C. Handicap, carrying the same weight as in the Cup, and in
the autumn, the Essendon Stakes, and the Champion Stakes fell to her. In
Sydney the Cumberland Stakes (2 miles), and the A.J.C. Plate (3 miles)
were hers, and she completed her triumphs with a couple of victories in
Adelaide, the last of which was the S.A.J.C. Handicap, carrying ten
stone six. She ran but four times as a seven-year-old, and her one
achievement was once more winning the Championship, on this occasion
beating another reigning Queen, the peerless Wakeful. She was retired to
the stud in the following spring. It is seldom indeed that one sees a
great race mare vindicate herself in the paddock as well as upon the
racecourse, and La Carabine has been no exception to the rule. It is
true that her mates were chosen somewhat unfortunately, but it is
doubtful whether a mare who was what may be termed “trained to rags”
could ever have produced anything approaching herself in racing merit.
Her quality may yet be kept alive by one of her daughters, for her
pedigree is unsurpassable. And now we have arrived at the undoubted,
undisputed Queen of the Turf. You can call her the Empress of mares, a
worthy consort to occupy the throne alongside of Carbine himself. This
is Wakeful.
A bay filly, she was dropped in 1896 at St. Albans, and her breeder was
Mr. W. R. Wilson, whose racing career was then at its zenith. She was by
Trenton, the sire of Quiver, from Insomnia, by Robinson Crusoe, her dam
Nightmare, by Panic from Evening Star (imp.), the dam also of that fine
stayer Commotion. The nomenclature, you will observe, is distinctly
good, being suggestive of at least one of the parents all through, and
yet each name is simple, and there is no straining after effect.
As a two-year-old, Wakeful, who was a great thriver, and who laid on
condition very rapidly, was given a “rough up” across the common at St.
Albans, with several others of the same age as herself. Revenue, a
subsequent winner of the Melbourne Cup, was one of them, but the little
mare ran right away from them all. It was noticeable, and was the cause
of some mirth in the stable, that Wakeful’s rider on that occasion had
never been guilty before of winning a race either in public or in
private, and I believe he has never since equalled his performance of
that morning. This is manifest proof of the tremendous superiority of
the mare. Unfortunately, or fortunately, whichever way you like to take
it, Wakeful went lame after the gallop, somewhere in her quarters, and
it was deemed advisable to turn her out. A great difficulty, however
presented itself to her owner, in that she was such a contented,
good-constitutioned little thing that she would grow as fat as butter
upon the “smell of an oiled rag.” And meanwhile Mr. W. R. Wilson passed
out Westwards, and the stud being disposed of, the bay fell into the
possession of Mr. Leslie McDonald. Mr. McDonald made no attempt to get
her fit until she had passed her fourth birthday, and then she made her
debut in the Doona Trial Stakes at Caulfield, in September. Quite
unexpectedly, and with no money invested upon her, she ran second, and a
week or two later, she was unplaced in the Paddock Handicap at
Flemington. She was now most judiciously laid by until the Autumn, when,
in a field of twenty-one sprinters, and first favourite, at fours to
one, she finished four lengths ahead of anything in the Oakleigh Plate,
five furlongs and a half. At Flemington, three weeks subsequent to this
triumph, and carrying a ten-pound penalty, with only five to two betted
against her, she won the Newmarket from a field of eighteen—six
furlongs. From this time onwards her light burned with a steady
luminosity to the very end. In all, she took part in thirty-five races,
of which she actually won twenty-two, was second in nine, third in
three, and was unplaced on but two occasions. She was not placed, as we
have noticed, on her second appearance in public, in the Paddock
Handicap, and she was fifth in the Melbourne Cup, which was won by her
stable companion, Revenue, a good five-year-old gelding who was unsound,
and had been resuscitated, and carried but seven stone ten. Wakeful, a
five-year-old mare at the time, had eight stone ten. We need not
tabulate the wins of this truly marvellous mare, but here is a list of
her principal victories:—The Oakleigh Plate (5½ furs.), The Newmarket
Handicap (6 furs.), The Doncaster Handicap (1 mile), The Caulfield
Stakes (9 furs.), The Melbourne Stakes (1¼ miles), The St. George’s
Stakes (1 mile), The Essendon Stakes (1½ miles), The All-Aged Stakes (1
mile), The Autumn Stakes, Randwick (1½ miles), The Sydney Cup—carrying 9
st. 7 lbs.—(2 miles), The All-Aged Stakes (1 mile), The A.J.C. Plate (3
miles), The Spring Stakes, Randwick (1½ miles), The Craven Plate (1¼
miles), The Randwick Plate (2 miles), The Caulfield Stakes (9 furs.),
The Eclipse Stakes (1 mile 3 furs.), The Melbourne Stakes (1¼ miles),
The C. B. Fisher Plate (1½ miles), The St. Helier Stakes (1 mile), The
Essendon Stakes (1½ miles), The Champion (3 miles). The merit of any
victory depends, of course, not upon the race won, but on the quality of
the field in opposition, but you cannot find Wakeful wanting in this
respect. She beat, and habitually beat, all the best performers of her
day, and over their own distances, were they five furlongs and a half or
three miles, Hymettus, La Carabine—who, however, did once put her down
at three miles—Ibex, a mighty sprinter, Bonnie Chiel, Great Scot,
Brakpan, Abundance, Air Motor, The Victory, Footbolt, Sojourner, Lord
Cardigan, and all the crowd of handicap horses which she so often met at
enormous disadvantages in weight. And some of her defeats were scarcely
less full of merit than her wins. The Melbourne Cup is a good example of
this. Here Lord Cardigan, a really high-class three-year-old, and the
winner of the Sydney Cup with eight stone seven up in the following
autumn, only just got home from Wakeful. The three-year-old was
handicapped at six stone eight, the mare at ten stone. In the spring,
the colt’s weight-for-age would have been seven six, and the mare’s
weight-for-age and sex, nine one. She was actually giving him
twenty-five pounds more than her weight-for-age demanded, and she was
horribly ridden. All through her racing Wakeful suffered from this extra
handicap. Dunn, who usually rode her, was an indifferent horseman, but
Mr. McDonald preferred to trust to his unimpeachable honesty rather than
risk a more brilliant rider of whose integrity he was not absolutely
sure. Owners who have been in a like dilemma will sympathise with him.
Wakeful has not been a bright success at the stud, but she cannot be set
down as a failure altogether. She is the dam of Night Watch, a Melbourne
Cup winner—under a light impost, it is true, but you must be good to win
a Cup even with the minimum to carry. Another son, Baverstock, has sired
a good colt in David, and was a winner himself. She also threw a very
speedy horse in Blairgour, and this year, after missing for some three
or four seasons, she is due to foal as I write. As her years now number
twenty-six, it is unlikely that the produce will be a champion, but in a
good season, and with the care which will be lavished upon her and her
offspring, we can, at least hope.
Auraria, yet another Trenton mare, from Aura, by Richmond out of Instep,
by Lord Clifden from Sandal; Carlita, by Charlemagne II. from Couronne,
by Gipsy Grand—a New Zealand family—and Briseis, by Tim Whiffler out of
Musidora, winner of Derby, Oaks and Cup, might almost claim Queenship.
But none can come near Wakeful, and leaving her in undisturbed
possession of her throne, we will pass on to other things.
Chapter XV.
The Influence of Australian Racing.
Racing is a conservative pastime. Necessarily this is so, for, as
everyone knows, it is the “Sport of Kings.” But when this huge
continent, this “giant Ocean Isle,” was first thrown open for
colonisation, the most independent, the most adventurous, the most
audacious, and those most full of initiative, left their homes for the
yet unknown lands across the seas, and their characters came with them.
And the colonists’ manner of life tended to foster the proclivities
which Nature had implanted in their hearts. The wide, open spaces; the
long distances between town and town, neighbour and neighbour; the free,
healthy, open air, stimulating to body and soul; necessity, and the
desire to help oneself—all these factors moulded our Australian
character, and forced us not to be satisfied with the things which were
good enough for our forefathers, but to develop, improve, and sometimes
to strike out on new lines altogether. Therefore in all our work, and
perhaps more so in our play, when something obviously required change,
we did it without hesitation, and we are continuing to do so to this
day.
And that is how we have introduced some reforms into our horse racing
which, after having been tested here, and found good, have penetrated
into the older countries, and have ultimately been adopted there. “The
Gate” is one of these changes which has revolutionised the whole art of
starting. It used to be a pretty, yea, verily, a wonderful sight, to
watch old Mr. George Watson despatching a big Cup field. Mr. Watson was
a genius, and he was possibly the most efficient starter that ever held
a flag. But, in spite of him, delays occurred nearly every day, horses
went mad with the fret and turmoil of it all, and false starts were
horribly frequent. It was neither good for man nor beast. Then someone
thought of a barrier, behind which the field had to stand. Previous to
this, there had sometimes been an imaginary obstacle in the shape of a
white chalk line painted across the course, but if horses did not ignore
this, they often jumped it as they galloped past the different starting
places during the course of a race, and that was no good. The Romans,
however, had started their chariot races during the Empire from behind
barriers, and the knowledge of this may have given the hint to Mr.
Poulain, who, I think, first brought into notice a workable machine
which would fly out of the way on the official starter pulling a lever.
After numerous private trials, Poulain’s machine was adopted for the
first time, I believe, on The Harvester’s Derby day. It was a
magnificent success, and I remember being so impressed with the idea
that I at once dashed off home to the country, and induced the Racing
Club, of which I had the honour to be the Honorary Secretary, to adopt
the affair. There had been a few fiascos on the Metropolitan courses,
and one or two races had to be run twice over in consequence.
Sternchaser’s Winter Handicap at Caulfield was one of the cases which
comes back to the mind most vividly. The “Register” remarks that “This
race was run twice. On the first occasion the barrier went up of its own
accord, and all the horses, with the exception of Sternchaser, ran the
full course (a mile). The stewards declared the event no race, and the
horses returned at once to the starting post.” Sternchaser, a New
Zealand colt, the property of Mr. Spencer Gollan, by Nordenfeldt out of
Crinoline, had no difficulty in winning the run off.
We had several misadventures in the country when we first took up the
notion, and of course there was an outcry from the public, and from
owners, jockeys, and trainers. In the Old Country the barrier met with
strenuous opposition for a long time, and literally, gallons of
printer’s ink must have been used in condemning or upholding the
“machine.”
But it all came right in the end, and anyone advocating a return to the
days of the flag would now be “locked up” right away. Long delays at the
post, and false starts, are no longer seen, and every field of horses is
sent on its momentous journey within a minute, or at the outside, a
couple of minutes of the advertised time of starting. Of course a great
deal of this punctuality and good starting is due to the splendid
officials whom our leading clubs employ. For a starter must have a
particular temperament in order that he may be perfectly fitted for the
job. The present V.R.C. official, Mr. Rupert Green, is very nearly an
ideal starter. He knows the game thoroughly, he is almost uncannily
quick at seizing the first opportunity, and in that lies the mainspring
of his splendid efficiency. If you fail to take your first opportunity,
you are lost, at this business. He has the complete confidence of the
boys, and these, as a general rule, are masters of their mounts.
Everyone, of course, must have a bad start occasionally, but the
majority of these are due to the horses themselves. Some are naturally
slower than others in finding their feet, and do what you please, a
certain number of them, out of hundreds, will misbehave themselves in
some way or another after the ropes have flown up. But in the course of
several years, during which I have witnessed many hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of starts, I cannot recall more than, at the outside, half a
dozen where there has been anything to complain of so far as the human
element of the transaction was concerned. The late Mr. Godfrey Watson
was regarded as the Prince of Starters, in the same way as his father,
Mr. George Watson, was acknowledged to be the King. But I have not seen
anything in these two which is not at least emulated by our official of
the present day. Nor indeed is Mr. Norman Wood, who officiates at most
of the down-the-line meetings, and at innumerable country gatherings in
Victoria, out of the running. And I have no doubt that there are other
admirable officers over on the other side, whom it has not been my
fortune to witness handling the big fields that assemble behind the
barriers at the many suburban and outside meetings near Sydney. At any
rate, “The Gate” has completely altered the whole aspect of the racing,
and especially of the sprint racing of to-day.
The numbered saddle-cloth is another strictly Australian innovation. It
is such an obvious improvement on the old state of affairs that one
wonders how the Jockey Club in England has never adopted the idea. The
use of the cloths is meant only for the convenience of the general
public, be it understood, and not for the use of the judge or other
official. To these, of course, the different colours are so familiar,
that I do not suppose they ever notice that the numbers are there. But I
confess that, for myself, I occasionally find them extremely handy.
Where there is a large field, and two or three, perhaps, of the jackets
are new to me, I often refer to the numbered cloth, which, with powerful
glasses you can read from almost any point on our largest course, and I
acknowledge the convenience.
When I was last at Newmarket, in England, I saw a device which we might
do well to copy. At the July Meeting at Newmarket, the horses, instead
of being in stalls or in boxes awaiting their race, parade round paths
cut through the Plantation. It is very delightful, on a hot summer’s
day, to sit on a comfortable garden seat, and take stock of the
high-bred animals strolling round through the chequered light and shade,
whilst the spectators, many of them also highly bred, from His Majesty
the King downwards, watch them in luxury and ease. Each boy in charge of
a horse has, bound on his right arm, a brass badge showing the number of
the race on the card in which his horse is entered, and his number on
the card. It is an ingenious and simple “dodge,” and not one of a costly
nature, which we might well make use of in Australia. Of course, whilst
standing in their stalls, the names of the competitors in this country
are blazoned on one of the posts, but whilst parading round the
enclosure it would be a very useful adjunct to our arrangements, which
we so earnestly desire to see made perfect.
Another Australian innovation is the “Bruce Lowe Figure System.” This,
too, has been the motive force of endless ink slinging. But, like the
starting gate, it has come to stay. It is extremely simple. For a great
number of years in the history of the Turf, breeders, with the exception
of a few genuine enthusiasts, paid little attention to the family lines
of their mares. They were aware that their stallion was an Eclipse
horse, and was by so and so from so and so, but the dam, although a good
one, did not trouble them much, on her dam’s side, so long as she was
clean bred. I remember a discussion which took place long ago,
instigated, I think, by the “Sportsman,” on “How to Breed a Good
Racehorse.” I believe, but am not quite sure whether I am right, that it
was the late General Peel who promulgated the appallingly simple
doctrine to “put a winner of the Oaks to the winner of the Leger, and
there you are, don’t you know.” But of later years, and before Mr. Bruce
Lowe had published his “system,” men were beginning to waken up to the
supreme importance of the dam, and her family, and the revised edition
of the first volume of the “General Stud Book” was an incentive to the
seekers after truth to persevere in their studies. Bruce Lowe was struck
with the fact that descendants of certain of the old “Royal” and other
mares—the “tap-roots,” as he called them—in tail female, of our “Stud
Book,” were infinitely more successful than the descendants of other
tap-root mares. Mr. Bruce Lowe, and his friend, Mr. Frank Reynolds, had
noticed the same peculiarity in their Shorthorn herds of cattle, namely,
that the produce of certain cows from some particular old original
matron of the herd, continued to be superior to the produce of others.
And this animal they called No. 1. Mr. Lowe then went into an exhaustive
analysis of the winning families of the British thoroughbred racer, and
he took, as a standard of excellence, the winning of the great classic
three-year-old events which have been in existence for so many years,
and a record of which is easily found and referred to. After tabulating
these, and running them all out to the original tap-root mare, he
discovered that more Derbies, Legers, and Oaks had been won by the
descendants, in tail female, of Tregonwell’s Natural Barb mare, than by
the offspring, in direct female line, of any other original mare in the
“General Stud Book.” The same standard placed Burton’s Barb mare second,
and Dam of the Two True Blues third. There are some fifty of these mares
contained in the sacred pages of Volume I., and Bruce Lowe identified
them by the figure denoting the place they held in his standard of
Derby, Leger, and Oaks wins. Thirty-eight of them are responsible for
classic winners, and after No. 38, the remainder have been given a
figure in an arbitrary manner purely, until Miss Euston is reached, who
is No. 50. It is a little peculiar that the last of these mares to
figure as the ancestress of a classic winner is Thwaite’s Dun mare, No.
38, to whom traces Pot–8–Os (a son of Eclipse), whose own son was Waxy,
sire of Whalebone, to whom, in tail male, run all the famous horses of
to-day, which come from the Birdcatcher and Touchstone tribes, and they
are legion. These are two of the great pillars of the temple of Eclipse,
the third and, perhaps, central support, being Blacklock.
That then, is the main object of Bruce Lowe’s “Figure System”—to
identify each of the fifty original mares in a simple and handy manner.
And this has been done. Mr. Lowe claimed that his system would
“revolutionise our methods of mating the thoroughbred horse.” I think
that it has done so. Few people care to publish, or peruse, a tabulated
pedigree nowadays without the figures being appended to each horse in
the table. And I can scarcely think it possible that every racing man of
to-day does not see, in his mind’s eye, the name of each horse of whose
pedigree he is thinking, without also visualising its appended number.
When you mention St. Simon, for instance, you immediately know that his
family number is 11, and that therefore, on the dam’s side, he runs to
the Sedbury Royal mare. Stockwell’s name at once calls up No. 3, and you
understand in a moment that his tap-root is Dam of the Two True Blues.
And so on, throughout all the names in any given pedigree. At a glance
you know to what family you are in-breeding, and, therefore, how to
outcross, if you so desire. Mr. Lowe had numerous side issues to his
system, and with these you may, or you may not, agree. He propounded the
theory that horses received certain qualities direct from the female
side of their house, as, for instance, that prepotency which goes far to
ensure that a horse will develop into a sire. That may or may not be
true. Personally, I am sure, so far as one can be certain of anything,
that it is. He put a hall-mark upon such horses by printing their family
figure in thick type. Thus, in a tabulated pedigree, you will always
notice the numbers 3, 8, 11, 12, and 14 printed after that particular
style, and then in a moment you understand that these, according to
Lowe, possessed “sire characteristics.” He believed in the theory of
“Saturation,” at least to some extent, and wrote about it in his book.
But that is beyond our scope in this volume, and we shall not discuss it
here. He also wrote, instructively, upon how to breed “Great Stake
Horses,” and “How Great Fillies are mostly Bred,” the “Breeding of
Sprinters,” and an excellent chapter on “Phenomenal Racehorses,” and you
will find much to make you think if you peruse these. Mr. Bruce Lowe’s
influence has been very great in the Thoroughbred Turf world, and he has
been much assisted by the erudition and enthusiasm of his Editor, Mr.
William Allison, of the English “Sportsman,” and the owner and manager
of the Cobham Stud. For, unfortunately, Mr. Lowe was in very bad health
when his book was approaching completion, and he travelled to London in
order to supervise its publication. Here, all too soon, and before the
proofs had reached his hands, he died. From his literary style you would
scarcely call up to your imagination a picture of what the man actually
was like. For Mr. Lowe certainly wrote somewhat dogmatically, as indeed
anyone with pronounced views upon a subject next his heart must perforce
do. It may be, too, that his editor has assisted in strengthening such
an impression. For Mr. Allison has a happy knack of raising discussion
on some equine subject, and then, after controversy, he proceeds to
“make his enemies his footstool.” But here, from the hand of Mr. R. H.
Dangar, Lowe’s close friend, is a little picture on the converse side of
that which we draw for ourselves from his writings. Mr. Dangar, of
Neotsfield, writes:—
“I do not know much of Bruce Lowe’s earlier history, but understand he
commenced making out his figures in his spare time when inspector of
Government lands out back in Queensland. Later, he and Frank Reynolds
worked together, or perhaps it would be more correct to say compared
notes, as I think they worked independently, and discussed the
question together afterwards.
“In appearance he was very tall and thin, with brownish grey hair, a
very gentle nature, with a quiet voice, and altogether, as I knew him,
a most lovable man. He had indifferent health for some years latterly
in his life, and eventually died in London, whither he had gone to
finish his book and get it published. He had a small connection as a
stud stock agent in Sydney, and we, amongst others, used to send him
our yearlings, and it was a treat to hear him reel off yards of stuff
for T. S. Clibborn to repeat from the box. Lowe had no voice for
selling, and he told me once he did not think he could get up and
harangue the crowd—so he got Mr. Clibborn to sell for him, and used to
prompt him as if he were reading out of a book, with never a note to
help him—and catalogues in those days were not the elaborate
productions of to-day. As to his character—well, I cannot believe he
knew how to do a dirty action, and I would simply not believe anyone
who might say anything against him.”
So you have here an authentic sketch of this quiet, upright, gentle man,
whom you may have misjudged somewhat from his writings, and from the
acrimonious discussions which his antagonists and his disciples have
raised over his grave, from time to time. For myself, I somehow have
always looked upon him as an example of that “Justum et tenacem
propositi virum” whom nothing could turn aside from the goal which he
saw before him, and which he desired to reach. One who, no matter what
occurred, you were quite certain that—to once more quote the lines of
the long dead Roman poet—
“Si fractus illabitur orbis
Impavidum ferient ruinae.”
“If the shattered world falls, the wreck may crush him, but still
undismayed.” “The gentlest are always the bravest; the bravest are
always the best.”
Chapter XVI.
The Gist of it all.
And now we draw to the close this thesis on the racehorse in Australia.
We have been, after all, but wandering upon the outskirts of a very vast
subject, and were we proposing to indite a work for the use of
experts—breeders, owners, trainers, even, let us add, punters—our thesis
would swell into a large volume, our large volume into an encyclopaedia,
and our encyclopaedia into a library. And the gist of it all? Is the
entire business, with all its branches and ramifications, with all the
employment offered by it to thousands of people, with all the land now
in use for breeding, with all those beautiful parks reserved for racing
purposes, in and near the great cities, is it all designed simply to
furnish an Australian holiday? I do assure you that there is involved
something a very great deal deeper than that. It is the horse, the whole
future and welfare of the horse, that is the great stake for which we
are playing, most of us unconsciously. The day of the noble animal is
not over, and its future spells infinitely more than the mere fact of
whether he can run a mile in a minute and 36 seconds, or whether he can
cover three miles in 5.23. During the Boer War, such a short time since,
but which seems to our children, perhaps, to have been waged centuries
ago, we expended an enormous amount of horse life in a country where
soldiers had perforce to be carried on horseback, and where all the
supplies for an army were dragged upon wheels, and when motor power had
not yet come into its own. And in the last great death grapple, with all
the petrol which was exploded, with all the motor traction used, with
all the amount of transport, and of scouting by air, we still required a
larger horse supply than ever before. We cannot see so clearly into the
future as did the poet Tennyson, when he wrote Locksley Hall. That
wonderful seer, you may remember, wrote his poem in the early ’forties
of the last century, and he predicted, as plainly as words could tell,
the advent of the flying machine, for use both in commerce and in war,
and “all the wonders that would be.” It is not given to many to possess
the true prophetic vision, but it is a simple task to foretell that war
has not yet ceased upon the earth, and that we have not even begun to
make reaping hooks of our spears, or spades and ploughs and harrows of
our guns. It is the improvement of our horse, for general utility
purposes, and for war, that is really the motive which ought to promote
this racing of ours, but which poor Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in a fatuous
moment, has lately dubbed “the curse of the country.”
If the supply of horseflesh is to be maintained, if we are not prepared
to let the breed die out altogether, then horse racing is the only
method whereby the standard can be preserved at a proper and efficient
level. Shows, agricultural and otherwise, are powerless in their
endeavour to accomplish this end. Magnificent looking creatures bred for
the ring, only too surely and quickly prove themselves to be abject
failures when tested on the course or in the field. Vitality, stamina,
courage, soundness, are the qualities which we desire to perpetuate in
our breeds. The show ring does not test a single one of these. The
winning post must be our only guide.
Is it doing its duty in the matter? This might be a matter for endless
debate, but it is safe to say that it is not doing that duty nearly so
well as it might. For in our play we are so apt to forget that, after
all, it is not only sport that we are following, but that perhaps the
safety of our Australian nation lies in the qualities of endurance and
of speed in those beautiful creatures which we are looking upon as our
playthings of to-day. One’s mind invariably flies, whilst thinking over
these matters, to a future and a possible “War of Defence.” Britain, let
us imagine, is hampered with a Continental foe. America is on her back,
and fighting for her life upon the seas. And we are lying here in the
sunshine, a beautiful woman without means of defence, without oil for
our motors, without ammunition for our guns, without horses for our men.
With ammunition, and with half a million of splendid horses, and even
more splendid men, we might do wonders, even without oil, until help
could arrive. Without horses and ammunition we would be immediately
destroyed. And we are not taking the trouble to breed chargers and
transport horses for the purposes of war. Indian buyers, private
dealers, your own eyesight, will tell you that we are not producing the
quantity, nor the quality which we were so proud of fifty, forty, aye,
even thirty years ago. We have become careless. Our young men do not
desire the glorious companionship which their fathers enjoyed, that
loving friendship between horse and man. They fizz through their
stations now in a motor car, or possibly they even fly through the air
to the back of the run, and are home for luncheon. Their sires and their
grand-sires on these distant excursions camped out for nights, their
saddle for a pillow, their horses, in hobbles, not far distant from
their side. My young gentleman of to-day could do it all if he tried,
but he does not care to ride, and hunting is a bore. But what will his
son be? It is the old, old story. Read your Gibbon, study your Grote.
“All Empires tumble, Rome and Greece,
Their swords are rust, their altars cold.”
You know the old and sacred saying, “At sunset, when the sky is red, you
know that the weather will be fine,” and also, “When the fig tree
putteth forth her leaves, ye know that summer is nigh.” And Rome and
Greece fell because they would not take the trouble to see that the sky
was red, or that the fig tree was putting forth her leaves. And we are
travelling on exactly the same road. Not many people care to read about
the “Buried Cities of Crete.” The story carries a tremendous lesson. The
ancient Cretans, whose women wore high-heeled shoes, and hobble skirts,
and other abominations of civilisation, were so strong in their sea
power that they neglected the means of defence on land. Ruins, buried
deep beneath the soil, tell us the sad story to-day. A foreign power,
despised perhaps, but now grown strong, sprang at their throats so
suddenly that it took the Islanders completely by surprise. The
blackened walls, the charred rafters, thirty feet below ground, preach
their sermon to those who care to read. Neither does one ever forget
what took place at the great conference at Vienna between the Powers
when Napoleon had at length been chained and was languishing in his
little island kingdom and prison of Elba. There had been much
discussion, bitter wrangling, but matters were at length approaching a
more or less satisfactory conclusion. Then, unheralded, there burst into
that august assembly a messenger, “bloody with spurring, fiery with hot
haste.” “Napoleon has escaped and has landed in France.” A moment’s
silence, and the ambassadors with one accord fell a-laughing. After all
their grave debates, with the waste of so many millions of words, the
whole edifice of their deliberations was thrown to the ground by one
sweep of the hand. So may it be to-morrow. A League of Nations may meet
and deliberate. The representatives, perhaps, will disagree. Ere they
can turn round, one Power, which is, may be, the best prepared, declares
war. Necessity, when nations are in dire distress, choking for air and
starving for their daily bread, knows no law. Will we never learn our
lesson not to put our trust in Princes, no, nor in the children of men?
Therefore, let us foster our horses by every means in our power, and
place our dependence rather upon them. And let us remember that the race
course, the hunting-field, and the polo grounds are the nurseries and
gymnasiums of the breeds both of horse and man. The thoroughbred is the
keystone of the arch, the cornerstone of the building.
And yet one knows so well that prophecy is all in vain, that our rulers
only smile and imagine a vain thing, and that no seer has any honour in
his own country, until the words are proven to be true, and then it is
all too late. Bitter was the fate of Cassandra, that ancient prophetess
of Troy, whom no man could believe, and bitter still the lot of anyone
who tries once more to read the writing on the wall, and give it voice.
“Then like a raven on the wind of night
The wild Cassandra flitted far and near,
Still crying, ‘Gather, gather for the fight,
And brace the helmet on and grasp the spear,
For lo, the legions of the night are here!’
So shriek’d the dreadful prophetess divine;
But all men mock’d and were of merry cheer;
Safe as the Gods they deem’d them, o’er their wine.”
But, with the tremendous importance of the end in view, the improvement
of the thoroughbred horse, is our sport sufficiently fulfilling that
end? That is a question which is indeed a hard one to determine, and one
great camp may give its voices to the “Ayes,” and one may roar in unison
for “No.”
There is one thing, and perhaps only one thing, quite certain. Our horse
has increased in size. The fifteen-hands-two of the great winners of a
hundred years ago have swollen in their average dimensions somewhere in
the neighbourhood of sixteen-two. This may not, however, indicate
allround improvement. A good big one, we know, is better than a good
little one on the course, but I question if the rule holds good, either
in the battle or the hunting-field. Ormonde beat The Bard because he
outstrode him down the Epsom hill, but The Bard might have carried his
master, with his twelve stone ten, had he had the opportunity, more
safely and more speedily to the end of a forty minutes run, than his
great conqueror on the race course over the mile and a half of Epsom
Downs.
And we have gained in speed. There can be little doubt of that. If the
inexorable test of the “Winning Post” has not compelled us to breed from
our best, and if, in the course of the flying centuries, the result has
not been a march upwards, then Heaven help us and our methods. But do
you think that stamina and soundness have improved along with our size
and our speed? That, too, is hard to tell. And yet it is probable that
it is so. Races now are real tests of the stayer. In the days of
Fisherman, and Voltigeur, The Flying Dutchman, Plenipotentiary, Bay
Middleton, and before their time, races were not run in a manner to
prove stamina. More frequently there was much loitering on the way in
the two, three, and four mile bouts between the steeds of our ancestors.
To-day we run the two miles all the way from pillar to post, and
Archer’s three minutes and fifty-two seconds for the Melbourne Cup has
dwindled to the three twenty-four and a half claimed by Artilleryman.
Twenty-seven seconds difference means at least two furlongs, and that
takes catching. Well, admitting that we have marched forwards in the
matter of both speed and stamina, surely there is much more unsoundness
to-day than there was one hundred years ago, or even fifty years since.
At the first blush one would say “Yes.” But on second thoughts one does
not feel quite so sure. Herod was “a bleeder,” and bleeding has been not
uncommon in his descendants. It is one hundred and sixty-four years ago
since Herod was foaled. We rear regiments of racers now, where our
forebears bred squadrons. And yet “bleeding” is not so very rife after
all. But we hear more about it, with an active press focussing its
microscope on every individual racer in the land. And roaring, you ask?
Well, Pocahontas roared, and Prince Charlie made a fearful noise, and
Belladrum was indistinguishable from a fog-horn, and Ormonde did more
than whistle, but in Australia, at least, this is a defect, an actual
unsoundness, which we do not so very often see—or hear. But we are
breeding bad knees, bad feet, and round joints, and with the extra
weight of the enlarged frames, ligaments and muscles cannot bear the
strain. Yet this was always so. Bay Middleton had a mysterious foot and
leg, Whalebone’s near fore-foot was contracted, and all were
“pumiced”—whatever that might mean. He was “the most double-jointed
horse I ever saw in my life,” was the verdict of that celebrity’s groom.
Whitelock was “a naggish horse with a big, coarse head and plumb
forelegs.” Flat, thin-soled feet were the “bane of lazy Lanercost,”
Rataplan “always went proppy on his long fore pasterns,” and “Dundee’s
suspensory ligament went so badly in the Derby that after that race his
fetlock nearly touched the ground.” Partisan had a “clubby foot.”
Touchstone had “very fleshy legs,” and his “near fore ankle was never
very good.” And so on we could go, from the Adam of horses to our own
most rapid, modern times, which these grandchildren of ours will shortly
call “the old times.” But I cannot say if the “Sport” is improving; I
fancy not. I was talking to Walter Hickenbotham the other day, the doyen
of the profession of trainers, or at least one running in double harness
in that capacity with old Harry Rayner, of Randwick. Walter was
recalling the “old days” of his youth. Meetings were fewer then, and
railways were a comparative rarity where his paths led him. Mr. C. M.
Lloyd was his “boss.” Riding a mare and leading Swiveller, Walter would
leave the station on one of those beautiful, bright, health-giving
mornings of the late summer or early autumn, with just a touch of frost
in the clear air. The boy, with the buggy and the gear, the feed, and
all the other necessaries, had gone on before. From station to station,
’twixt sunrise and sundown, the little cavalcade would press steadily
on. Mr. Lloyd, no doubt, would follow in a few days with his tandem or
the four-in-hand. And so from meeting to meeting they would go. Round
Wagga, Hay, Bathurst, Deniliquin, Gundagai, Goulburn, a great circuit,
would they wander, taking with them the romance and glamour of the Turf
in their train. You can imagine the stir and enthusiasm at the stations
as they came. Nothing was too good for them, either for man or beast.
Everyone welcomed them, and the old greybeards, in the evenings, beneath
the big gum tree, while the boxes were being done out, and the horses
meanwhile were held in the shade, would talk horse, and nothing but
horse, by the yard. Some might even remember having seen Rous’ Emigrant
or Manto, and another might have come from Yorkshire, and had known all
about Sledmere and Sir Tatton Sykes. And the racing was more for the fun
of the thing then, and the owners betted more like gentlemen between
themselves. And ere the country circuit was completed, horse and man had
travelled almost a thousand miles, and had won many a Cup, and much fine
gold. And then, calling in at the station to drop their burdens, they
would be off to the Metropolis to take down the numbers of the swells
which trained there, ere settling down for the short, dark winter days
at home. Good days those, jolly days, grand days! And is it not so good
now? No? Alas! I fear that it is not in the sport, not in the horses,
not in the world at large, that we find changes for the worse. All
things are developing, evolving, marching upwards. It is in us, the
individual men, to whom we must look to find “the weary change.” And yet
even we must take comfort.
“Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved heaven and earth; that which we are we are.”
PAINTINGS OF RACEHORSES
BY MARTIN STAINFORTH
The figures in brackets are the Bruce Lowe family numbers of each horse.
(†) signifies no family number.
[Illustration:
PLATE 2.
MUSKET (3) imp. Brown Horse, 1867, by Toxophilite—half sister to Gen.
Peel’s dam. Winner of the Ascot Stakes, and 9 of his 11 last races.
Imported to New Zealand in 1878. Sire of Carbine, Trenton,
Hotchkiss, Nordenfeldt, Maxim, Martini-Henri, etc. Died 1885. From a
painting of the horse, at the age of 18 years, in the possession of
the artist.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 3.
CARBINE (2). Bay Horse, 1885, by Musket (imp.)—Mersey (imp.). Winner
of £29,626. Sire in Australia of Wallace, La Carabine, etc. Exported
to England in 1895, where he sired Spearmint, Greatorex, Fowling
Piece, etc. Died 1914 at Welbeck, England. From a painting of the
horse, at the age of 6 years, in the possession of Mr. F. G. White.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 4.
TRENTON (18). Brown Horse, 1881, by Musket (imp.)—Frailty. Winner of
good races in N.Z. and Australia, and sire of Wakeful, Aurum,
Revenue, Auraria, etc. Exported to England in 1895, where he sired
Torpoint, etc. Died 1905. From a painting of the horse, at the age
of 14 years, presented to the A.J.C. by Sir William Cooper.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 5.
CROSS BATTERY (7). Brn. Mare, 1902, by Stepniak—Firecross. Dam of
Artilleryman (Melb. Cup), and ALEXANDRA (13) imp., Bay Mare, 1904.
Dam of Kingsburgh (Melb. Cup), by Persimmon—Ambleside. With foals at
foot by All Black (imp. sire of Desert Gold, etc.). The property of
Mr. Norman Falkiner, Noorilim, Victoria. From a painting of the
mares, at the ages of 18 and 16 years respectively, in the
possession of Mr. Falkiner.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 6.
THE FINISH FOR THE V.R.C. FLYING STAKES, 1902, 7 furlongs, Flemington,
Victoria. Ibex, ridden by Jas. Barden, steals the race from the
great Wakeful. From a painting in the possession of Jas. Barden.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 7.
MALTSTER (21). Brown Horse, 1897, by Bill of Portland (imp.)—Barley
(imp.). Winner of the A.J.C. and V.R.C. Derbies, etc. Premier sire
of Australia on five different occasions, among his progeny being
Alawa, Malt King, Desert Rose, Popinjay, Maltine, etc. From a
painting of the horse, at the age of 23 years, in the possession of
the artist.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 8.
WALLACE (3). Ches. Horse, 1892, by Carbine—Melodious. Winner of
£6,116, including V.R.C. Derby, Sydney Cup, etc. Sire of winners of
over £250,000, including Trafalgar, Aurous, Emir, Mountain King,
etc. Died in 1917. From a painting of the horse, at the age of 12
years, in the possession of the artist.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 9.
LANIUS (7) imp. Brown Horse, 1911, by Llangibby—Mesange. Winner in
England of the Rous Memorial Stakes, Jockey Club Stakes, and
£11,406. Imported to Australia in 1917 and won A.J.C. Plate,
Cumberland Stakes, etc., before retiring to the stud in 1919. The
property of Dr. Syme, Victoria. From a painting of the horse, at the
age of 8 years, in the possession of Mr. Ken Austin.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 10.
LINACRE (8 imp.). Bay Horse, 1904, by Wolf’s Crag—Lismaine. Winner
Champion Breeders’ Foal Stakes, Atlantic Stakes, etc. One of the
leading sires of Australia; his progeny include Dame Acre, Mistico,
Tangalooma, Panacre, Lordacre, etc. The property of Messrs. A. W.
and A. E. Thompson, Widden Stud, N.S.W. From a painting of the
horse, at the age of 17 years, in the possession of the artist.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 11.
YIPPINGALE (1) imp. Bay Mare, 1909, half sister to Traquair (imp.), by
William the Third—Chelandry. With foal at foot by Comedy King
(imp.). The property of Mr. Norman Falkiner, Noorilim, Victoria.
From a painting of the mare, at the age of 11 years, in the
possession of Mr. Falkiner.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 12.
TRAFALGAR (4*). Ches. Horse, 1905, by Wallace—Grand Canary. Winner of
£22,111, and a high-class stayer. Now at the stud in N.S.W. Sire of
Visibility, Heart of Oak, Annexit, etc. Owned by the Executors of
the late Walter Mitchell, N.S.W. From a painting of the horse, at
the age of 7 years, in the possession of Dr. Stewart McKay.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 13.
BRATTLE (1). Brown Mare, 1910, by Maltster—Astron. Winner V.A.T.C.
Oakleigh Plate, etc. Owned by Mr. W. Booth, N.S.W. From a painting
of the mare, at the age of 4 years, in the possession of Dr. Stewart
McKay.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 14.
POITREL (3). Ches. Horse, 1914, by St. Alwyne (imp.)—Poinard. Winner
of £26,919, including Melbourne Cup carrying 10 st., and all the
principal long-distance weight-for-age races of Australia. A very
high-class stayer. Retired to his owners’ (Messrs. W. and F. A.
Moses) stud in 1921. From a painting of the horse, at the age of 6
years, in the possession of the artist.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 15.
GLOAMING (26). Bay Gelding, 1915, by The Welkin (imp.)—Light (imp.).
Winner of 43 races out of 46 starts to date of publication, and
£28,443. One of the most brilliant horses bred in Australia. Owned
by Mr. G. D. Greenwood, N.Z. From a painting of the horse, at the
age of 6 years, in the possession of the artist.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 16.
ARTILLERYMAN (7). Brown Horse, 1916, by Comedy King (imp.)—Cross
Battery. Winner V.R.C. Melbourne Cup, dead-heated A.J.C. Derby, etc.
Died in 1920. From a painting of the horse, at the age of 4 years,
presented to the A.J.C. by Sir Samuel Hordern.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 17.
TRIPTYCH. Cross Battery, with Artilleryman as a foal at foot in 1916.
Comedy King (imp.) the sire of Artilleryman. Artilleryman, winner of
the V.R.C. Melbourne Cup, 1919. From a painting in the possession of
Sir Samuel Hordern.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 18.
CETIGNE (29). Bay Horse, 1912, by Grafton (imp.)—Pretty Nell. Winner
of £27,216, and second on the list of winning Australian racehorses.
Retired to the stud in 1921. Owned by Mr. T. A. Stirton, Dunlop
Stud, N.S.W. From a painting of the horse, at the age of 7 years.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 19.
KENNAQUHAIR (2). Ches. Horse, 1914, by Kenilworth (imp. Fr.)—Calluna.
Winner of £17,126, and a very fine individual and stayer. Retired to
the Mungie Bundie Stud in 1922. From a painting of the horse, at the
age of 6 years, in the possession of Mr. W. M. Borthwick.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 20.
COMEDY KING (7) imp. Black Horse, 1907, by Persimmon—Tragedy Queen.
Winner of the Melbourne Cup, V.R.C. All-Aged Stakes, etc., and
£12,945. One of the most successful stallions in Australia, having
sired Artilleryman, Biplane, Fiscom, Folly Queen, etc. The property
of Mr. Norman Falkiner, Noorilim Stud, Victoria. From a painting of
the horse, at the age of 13 years, in the possession of Mr. Ken.
Austin.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 21.
WOORAK (31). Ches. Horse, 1911, by Traquair (imp.)—Madam. Winner of
£17,000, and the most brilliant horse of his time. Retired to the
stud in 1917 and a very successful stallion. Sire of Soorak, Salrak,
Yanda, etc. Raced by Mr. L. K. S. Mackinnon, Victoria. From a
painting of the horse, at the age of 5 years, in the possession of
Dr. Stewart McKay.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 22.
PANACRE (†). Brn. Horse, 1912, by Linacre (imp.)—Panara. Winner of the
A.J.C. Epsom Hcap., etc. Retired to his owner’s (Mr. J. C. Wood)
stud in 1921. From a painting of the horse, at the age of 5 years,
in the possession of Mr. J. Campbell Wood.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 23.
EURYTHMIC (5). Ches. Horse, 1916, by Eudorus (imp.)—Bob Cherry. The
largest stake winner of Australia, having won £33,066, including the
Sydney Cup with 9 st. 8 lbs. Owned by Mr. E. Lee Steere, W.A. From a
painting of the horse, at the age of 5 years, in the possession of
the artist.
]
[Illustration:
PLATE 24.
THE FINISH FOR THE A.J.C. CRAVEN PLATE, 1918, 1¼ miles, Randwick,
N.S.W. Reading from the rails: Cetigne (A. Wood) first, Desert Gold
(fourth), Wolaroi (second), Estland (third). From a painting in the
possession of Mr. W. A. Crowle.
]
MARTIN STAINFORTH: AN APPRECIATION
By W. J. STEWART McKAY.
Next to a fine picture of a lovely woman there is nothing perhaps which
more strongly appeals to the æsthetic sense than a picture of a splendid
thoroughbred horse. This accounts, probably, for the vogue for pictures
of racehorses by Herring and artists of lesser note, which existed in
England during the last century.
These pictures, however, when scrutinised with the critical eye of
to-day, are found to be full of inaccuracies and exaggerations. For
example, many of us are more or less familiar with the style of picture
frequently displayed in old English inns, and, more rarely, in our own
country. The horse is almost invariably depicted as standing in a stable
with a small feed-box in one corner, his muscles bulging out and his
contour greatly accentuated by the aid of unaccountable lights and
shades. Every animal was shown with a ridiculously small head, tapering
legs and tiny feet. Again, the horse may be shown in action, galloping,
his ears well back, legs stretched out to their fullest extent, and the
animal a foot or more clear of the ground, while in the background a few
spectators in top hats appear watching “The Devil doing his gallop.”
Still another phase in these sporting pictures was the introduction of
the owner and trainer as in Hobbs’ painting of “Eclipse,” and Herring’s
picture of “The Flying Dutchman,” or a number of horses racing in the
familiar stretched-out attitude, the jockeys sitting bolt upright with
arms fully extended. In the background are seen the winning post and a
long line of excited spectators.
The greater skill of present-day artists, coupled with the advent of the
cinematograph (which has provided them with the means of studying the
horse in motion), has been responsible for some wonderfully accurate and
lifelike portrayals of the more prominent of our equine celebrities. It
may be said with little fear of contradiction, that among latter day
artists, few, if any, have been more successful in horse portraiture
than Martin Stainforth. His pictures usually represent a horse as
possessed of irreproachable manners, standing quite still, and of
exemplary docility. But when he leaves this favourite pose and gives us
the racehorse in action his art achieves supreme heights.
An Englishman by birth, Stainforth came to this country in 1909 and now
claims to have served a sufficient period of probation to entitle him to
be an Australian by adoption. A year or so of station life with his
cousin in North Queensland inspired him with such enthusiasm for the
outdoor life and our genial climate that a return to London was out of
the question, so he decided to come to Sydney, there to indulge a
long-cherished ambition to paint Australia’s thoroughbreds for which he
had conceived so warm an admiration.
I am the fortunate possessor of Stainforth’s picture of “Artilleryman”
finishing in his memorable Melbourne Cup. The horse is shown going at
top speed, quite off the ground, with his legs well under him. The
drawing is absolutely correct, and shows that there is at least one
phase of the gallop which is graceful and sightly. But his finest
interpretation of the moving horse is to be seen in his great picture of
the most exciting finish in a classic race ever seen at Randwick. It was
a memorable meeting of four champions in the Craven Plate of 1918, when
the faithful Cetigne, ridden by Albert Wood, forced his way through a
chance opening at the last moment and snatched victory from the
brilliant Wolaroi, the hardy Estland, and the consistent Desert Gold.
The canvas brings the scene back to all of us who witnessed the event so
vividly that we live those few intense seconds over again; we do not see
the impossible horses depicted by Herring; we see four horses, lifelike
in the fidelity of their pictured action, and each horse an entity in
itself. In a fast and close finish the eye cannot distinguish minute
details of the struggling horses, and the painter, cognisant of this,
does not attempt that detail which he would portray if he were painting
a stationary and specially posed horse. His chief object is to convey
the impression of rapid movement. That is the essential, and he has
achieved this with such consummate art that the picture is a classic
among racing paintings. In Australia the horse is a national asset, and
in the Craven Plate picture Stainforth has endeavoured to depict for
posterity the most outstanding and memorable classic event in the annals
of our turf history. By his signal success he has earned the thanks of
all lovers of a good horse.
Stainforth’s art, however, is not confined to the painting of horses
alone. As an exponent of that now almost forgotten art, wood engraving,
he has proved himself a master. Both Lord Leighton and Sir John Millais,
as Presidents of the Royal Academy, selected some of his work for the
Exhibitions at Paris, Berlin and Brussels as the best examples of the
English engraver’s art. He also exhibited at the Royal Academy on many
occasions and has achieved considerable success as an illustrator for
the principal English magazines. But his best work as an engraver is to
be found, perhaps, in the illustrations to Grant Allen’s “Evolution of
Art.” Much of Stainforth’s present-day skill as a painter of horses is
no doubt due to the patience and attention to detail with which he
became imbued as an exponent of the engraver’s art.
One has only to study his “Head of Trafalgar” to realise that he holds a
high place among the great painters of animals. This work is a
wonderfully lifelike and faithful reproduction of the erstwhile turf
idol. The head is framed in bold relief by the shadow of the empty box,
a look of expectancy is in the eyes, and our attention is irresistibly
drawn to the well-shaped ears and the long, white blaze that so many of
us have watched with anxious hearts as the game old battler was
commencing his characteristic finishing run to victory. Note how
beautifully the cheek fades away to a neck, whose glossy sheen covers
smooth rolls of muscles. Surely his nostrils move, and the old horse
breathes again! If Landseer had painted no picture but his “Fighting
Dogs Getting Wind,” a work which he executed when quite a young man,
that effort alone would have raised him to the first rank of animal
painters. And without hesitation I claim that Stainforth’s “Head of
Trafalgar” is one of the finest studies of the horse in existence, and,
as an experienced student of sporting pictures, I declare that his
“Craven Plate” is the greatest racing picture ever painted.
Recently I stood before his “Poitrel,” that great horse whose
achievements almost equalled the mighty Carbine. He stands on a trimmed
plot of grass with a wall at the rear, his shapely, ruddy chestnut form
in such clear relief that we realise at a glance how this strong fellow
won a Melbourne Cup with ten stone on his back. He stands poised in his
virile beauty of pliant muscles and shining coat, a splendid specimen of
the thoroughbred—truly a picture that will bring delight to future
generations of horse-lovers. Such a picture should belong to the Nation.
[Illustration:
DUKE FOOTE (1). Bay Horse, 1907, by Sir Foote (imp.)—Ortelle (imp.).
Winner of £14,069, and a high-class horse. Now at his owner’s (Mr.
John Brown) Will’s Gully Stud, N.S.W. From a painting of the horse,
at the age of 5 years, in the possession of Dr. Stewart McKay.
]
[Illustration:
DESERT GOLD (2). Bay Mare, 1912, by All Black (imp.)—Aurarius. Winner
of £23,133, and one of the best mares bred in Australasia. Now at
her owner’s (Mr. T. H. Lowry) stud in New Zealand. From a sketch of
the mare, at the age of 5 years, in the possession of the artist.
]
[Illustration:
MALT KING (5). Ches. Horse, 1906, by Maltster—Patrona. A very
brilliant horse, winning £12,663, including All-Aged Stakes, Sires
Produce Stakes, Metropolitan Hcap., etc. Retired to his owners’
(Messrs. J. E. and C. H. Brien) stud in 1913, and his progeny
include Maltgilla, Green Malt, Hawker, Pannikin, etc. From a
painting of the horse, at the age of 5 years, presented to the
A.J.C. by Mr. J. E. Brien.
]
[Illustration:
BIPLANE (3). Brown Horse, 1914, by Comedy King (imp.)—Air Motor.
Winner of £13,596, including A.J.C. and V.R.C. Derbies, Craven
Plate, etc. Retired to the stud in 1922. Raced by Mr. G. D.
Greenwood (N.Z.) and now owned by Mr. T. A. Stirton, Dunlop Stud,
Merriwa. From a sketch of the horse, at the age of 3 years, in the
possession of Mrs. H. Gordon.
]
[Illustration:
THE WELKIN (19). Brown Horse, 1904, by Flying Fox—Woodbury. Imported
in 1910. A brilliant sprinter and a phenomenal stud success. Premier
sire of Australia for 1921–22. Among his progeny are Gloaming,
Furious, Thrice, Rosina, Isa, Three, etc. Standing at the Melton
Stud, Victoria, the property of Mr. E. E. D. Clarke. From a sketch
of the horse at the age of 16 years in the possession of the artist.
]
[Illustration:
CAGOU (13). Brown Horse, 1909, by Ayr Laddie (imp.)—Tartar. Winner of
£15,514, including A.J.C. Metropolitan Handicap (twice). Owned by
Mrs. O. C. Flemmich, and now at the stud in Queensland. From a
painting of the horse at the age of 7 years, now in the possession
of Mrs. Flemmich.
]
[Illustration:
GREENSTEAD (4*). Brown Horse, 1914, by The Welkin (imp.)—Tuning Fork.
Winner of £12,450, including A.J.C. Epsom Hcap., etc. Now at the
stud in N.S.W. From a painting of the horse, at the age of 6 years,
in the possession of Mrs. F. Body.
]
[Illustration:
BEAUFORD (18). Brown Gelding, 1916, by Beau Soult—Blueford. Winner in
1922 of 8 races and £11,390 up to the date of publication. One of
the most brilliant horses of recent years. Raced by his breeder, Mr.
W. H. Mackay, Sydney. From a painting of the horse, at the age of 6
years, in the possession of the artist.
]
[Illustration:
MARTIN STAINFORTH sketching the famous Poitrel. The artist when
preparing for a painting, inspects the horse and makes written notes
and slight sketches.
]
[Illustration:
A couple of pages reproduced actual size from Martin Stainforth’s
note-book. He makes detailed notes of outstanding features and
carefully preserves the general character of the horse.
]
[Illustration:
At his studio he makes a memory sketch of the horse as it impressed
him. On a second visit he corrects various parts and paints these
separately until the character is secured.
]
[Illustration:
With his note-book, his rough sketch and careful studies of various
parts, the artist proceeds to paint the finished picture, using the
rough sketch as his main guide.
]
[Illustration:
By this method the artist obtains freshness, virility and truth that
could not be secured if a complete painting were attempted from an
animal in training.
]
[Illustration:
“Ready,” a sketch by Martin Stainforth in the National Art Gallery of
N.S.W. In the original of this sketch Martin Stainforth has
displayed excellent technique, and shows his facility for painting
animals in a lifelike manner.
]
[Illustration:
In his paintings of dogs the same extreme care is shown to preserve
the character of the animal. Pal, the bull dog sketched above, is
owned by Mrs. Herbert Marks.
]
[Illustration:
In this picture Martin Stainforth has successfully overcome the
problem of painting an eight-year-old setter as it would have
appeared at the age of three. The dog, Mallwyd Albert, is owned by
Dr. Herbert Marks.
]
There have been a few men in Australia who could both draw and paint the
horse. One of them was Douglas Fry. I knew him well, and had every
opportunity of examining his work. As a draughtsman he was fine. His
pencil studies of horses showed expert facility, yet when he employed
colour as his medium, though he produced an artistic study, the animal
often lacked that lifelike quality so essential to a successful
portrait. Stainforth may not be able to do with the pencil what Fry
could, and I am sure he doesn’t know the horse as Fry did, yet he far
out-distances his late rival, not only in his facility for technical
expression and in his gift for infusing life, but because he has the
power to delicately handle his subject without robbing it of its
strength and character.
Aylyng Arnold, who from 1906 to 1910 was a special correspondent for the
“London Sporting Life,” happened to be visiting Australia in 1915 and
saw some of our artist’s work in Melbourne. He did not know Stainforth,
but he went back to his hotel and wrote him a letter in which the
following words occur: “I can confidently say I have seen as many
portraits of horses as falls to the lot of any one man, but never have I
seen anything approaching yours.”
It is surprising to find how few notable Australian horse-owners have a
sufficient affection for their animals to desire their portraiture in
paint.
I once asked Stainforth to give me some idea of his methods. He replied
that he first examines the horse carefully, making small pencil sketches
with remarks on characteristic features, and then, with the impressions
fresh in his mind, makes a small sketch in colour from 8 to 12 inches in
size, giving as far as possible the pose, proportions and colour,
without any attempt at fine detail. This study is then compared with the
horse, and any alterations that are necessary are made, and further
notes are made all round the study. In some cases he makes several
sketches, each one getting nearer the perfect representation. The head
is the part that requires the greatest care, and many studies of this
alone may have to be made before he is satisfied with the results.
Having decided the size of the canvas, he next decides on the pose which
will best suggest the character of the subject and the direction from
which the light will fall to show to best advantage such salient
features as the head, shoulders or quarters. An appropriate background
has also to be chosen.
When we come to sum up the merits of Martin Stainforth as a painter of
horses, the first point which must be conceded in his favour is his
power for conveying a faithful delineation of the particular animal that
he is dealing with. He possesses a gift for detecting a horse’s chief
characteristics and is thus enabled to interpret anything in the
animal’s conformation that is vital in helping to make the completed
work an accurate portrait, in addition to its being an agreeable work of
art. As regards his medium, he is equally at home in either water-colour
or oils, but he tells me that oils give him much more scope for his
large pictures, while water-colour is more suitable for his small
studies. His technique has reached such a pitch that he can paint a
horse’s coat with such fine detail and beauty of texture that it
resembles the work of a painter of miniatures.
Stainforth’s love for the horse helps him to strike the ideal pose for
each particular animal, and this is most happily shown in his studies of
the brilliant Woorak, who was noted for his exuberant spirits and
playful, contented nature. Perhaps there is nothing more difficult to
achieve in painting a horse than the successful suggestion of his
muscular body by means of delicate light and shade. The ordinary painter
of the horse generally represents exaggerated muscles, but in
Stainforth’s horses, though we do not actually see muscles brought into
relief, we are nevertheless made aware of their presence under the
glossy skin with its vivid sheen.
The reproductions of Stainforth’s pictures included in this volume will
serve in a great measure to prove to the public generally his calibre as
a painter of the horse. Those of us, however, who have had the pleasure
of studying his work in the originals, have every confidence in allowing
posterity to judge of his merits. Certain it is, that at no distant date
his pictures will be acclaimed and much sought after as classic examples
of equine portraiture.
THE SECRET OF STAYING POWER
By Dr. W. J. STEWART McKAY
The ambition of every man that breeds racehorses is to produce a good
stayer. That this is a difficult matter is made evident by the large
number of horses entered for the Derby and St. Leger and the few that
run.
Therefore the question is naturally asked: Why cannot all horses run a
distance? The answer is that all horses can run a distance; it’s the
_time they take_ that is the important point.
In dealing with the questions relating to “staying,” we must take into
consideration _distance_, _time_, and _weight_. We must try and find out
the difference between the horses that can sprint six furlongs in 1.12
and the horses that can go two miles in 3.24, and ask how they differ
from the horses that can go 80 miles from sunrise to sunset.
If a number of racing men and breeders of racehorses were to gather
round a ring, and five horses—say, Soultline, Prince Foote, Woorak,
Desert Gold and Poitrel—were brought into the ring, would it be
possible, if the onlookers did not know the horses or their
pedigree—would it be possible, I ask—to pick out the real stayers? Could
a good judge tell that Woorak could just get a mile, and that Prince
Foote, who was about the same size and build, could stay all day? Could
a good judge say that Soultline could not stay a mile? and tell that
Desert Gold, the champion of her day, was no champion once she was asked
to go much more than a mile and a half? I doubt very much whether any
judge could place these horses in the true order of their staying powers
by merely inspecting them. The late Andrew Town, who may be regarded as
one who knew everything that was to be known about the points of a
horse, once said to me that had he seen Carbine with a rough coat in a
country sale-yard that he would not have rushed to buy him.
If judges were able to tell the future of racehorses by their
conformation, then yearlings that are sold at 1,500 guineas would not be
such consistent failures. Let us never forget that the father of English
racehorses, the immortal Eclipse, was sold as a yearling for less than a
hundred guineas; yet he was the ancestor of Sceptre, who was sold for
10,000 guineas as a yearling, and the ancestor of Flying Fox, who
fetched 39,375 guineas at public auction.
What, let us ask, is the secret of Staying Power?
We may say at the outset that all the horses that we have mentioned
above had the requisite bone and muscle. Soultline and Woorak could
each have carried a sixteen-stone man without turning a hair, and the
same could have been said of Desert Gold. While, then, we must grant
that a given horse must have the proper development of bone and
muscle, this development must be of a particular pattern. This, of
course, is obvious; a Clydesdale has far more muscle and bone than any
racehorse, but the type of muscle is of no use for speed, though
suitable for endurance, and we shall see later on that endurance is a
very different thing to staying power. Mere size is not the secret,
since some of the finest-looking horses ever seen at Randwick have
been non-stayers—Machine Gun, Malt King and Tangalooma, for instance.
But it is because size so largely influences one’s mind that high
prices are given for well-grown colts in the hope that they will prove
“Derby colts.” If we study the history of the evolution of the
racehorse we shall find some justification for this idea, for the
present-day horse is a bigger animal than he was in former days. While
the average racehorse nowadays, among the best horses, would be over
16 hands, we find, if we go back to 1745, that 15.2 (the height of
Sampson) was considered almost gigantic. Captain Hayes thought that
English horses had increased an average of an inch in height between
1867 and 1897, and that the average horse was six inches taller than
he was 200 years ago. Certain it is that pony horses don’t win the
Derby nowadays.
But, as I have said above, the size of the horse is not the essential
point; with size there must go a particular type of heart, if a horse is
going to stay. Anyone who saw Beragoon as a yearling might easily have
mistaken him for a two-year-old, and a year later he looked like a
three-year-old, and he was as good as he looked, for he won the Derby
here and in Victoria, yet he could not stay in the true sense of the
word.
While large size is the rule among stayers, yet small horses may
occasionally be good stayers and have the required pace. That marvellous
horse Prince Foote was very stoutly built, but he was not taller than
Woorak—this his trainer, Frank McGrath, assures me—yet he won
everything, including Derbys, Legers, and a Melbourne Cup. He had the
proper staying heart and he transmitted it to Prince Charles and enabled
him to win a recent Sydney Cup. Yet in the same stable was Furious with
a Welkin heart; the one with the non-staying heart was, a little before
the day, almost favourite, the other went out at 33 to 1, and won.
Wakeful, the finest mare over all distances ever seen on the Australian
turf, was on the small size, yet she won the Sydney Cup with 9.7 in the
saddle.
We may at once admit that there may often be a very considerable
difference between the conformation of the stayer and the sprinter, yet
the real difference lies hidden from the sight of the judge, for the
difference is in the _particular kind of heart that the animal has
inherited_.
If my contention as regards the heart be accepted, we then have a simple
explanation of the common rule that staying sires produce staying stock.
Carbine, for instance, was the prince of stayers, and his son, Wallace,
gave us Trafalgar and innumerable other stayers. Positano was a stayer,
and he gave us four Melbourne Cup winners. Maltster, on the other hand,
was an indifferent stayer, and while he was one of the most successful
sires in the whole world, he gave us only one stayer, Alawa. Some of his
sons and daughters could just get a mile and a half—Malt King and
Maltine were both Metropolitan winners, but they could go no further.
Thus it is brought home to us that though a sire may be the father of
hundreds of brilliant milers, it is reserved for a few horses to beget
stayers of two miles or more. Nothing could show this better than a
study of the progeny of Grafton and Linacre. These sires have been the
fathers of hundreds of horses that have won races up to a mile, and yet
we look in vain for long-distance horses from either. True it is that
Peru won an Australian Cup, and that Lingle and Erasmus both ran second
in the Melbourne Cup, but three swallows don’t make a spring.
Let us then recognise this fact, that just as a man may transmit his
nose, his eyes or his ears to his sons and daughters, just so may a
horse transmit his bone, his muscle, his colour and his _heart_ to his
sons and daughters. So now we come to the secret: It matters not whether
a horse is black or brown or chestnut—the essential thing the animal has
to possess in order that he may stay is a _staying heart_.
Now, the first objection that will be put forward to this proposition is
that every now and then a true stayer arises from a non-staying sire—I
admit this is true. I have already mentioned that Alawa was a son of
Maltster; Lingle a son of Linacre, Peru from Grafton, while Eurythmic,
the most wonderful horse at present racing, who won a Sydney Cup
carrying 9.8 on his back, with a run that will for ever make him famous,
had for a sire Eudorus, a brilliant horse for a mile, especially when
that mile was in the mud!
The answer to these objections is that, just as a genius _sometimes_
comes from a back-lane; just as a poet is born in a hovel; just as some
great orator comes from a peasant stock; so with a sprinter for a sire
we get sometimes a stayer. This would have been explained by Darwin by
his theory of Atavism—throwing back to a former ancestor for hidden
powers—and this is a reasonable explanation. Thus we may reasonably say
that David, through his granddam Wakeful, did inherit some of her
ancestor Musket’s power to stay. But this leads up to another
explanation that can be put forth with plenty of examples to back it
up—i.e., that the horse may get his staying powers from his _mother_:
that is, that he has inherited his dam’s heart, not his sire’s.
Eurythmic must be regarded as an excellent example of this, for, as we
have just mentioned, Eudorus was but a good miler, and his other sons do
not show staying powers in spite of the fact that Eusebius won a Derby
and a V.R.C. St. Leger, both, however, in shocking time! But when we
come to examine the pedigree of Bob Cherry, the dam of Eurythmic, we
find that staying is spelt in every line of her pedigree, being by
Bodadil from Ardea by Wallace.
Now that I have enunciated my theory, let me suggest why it is that some
horses begin their career in brilliant fashion, and look from their
first performances as though they would stay, and yet go off and never
come back. My opinion is that some of these horses have poor hearts and
are made too much use of during their two-year-old period; while some
horses during their early three-year-old career are asked to do more
than their hearts are fit to do, as a consequence their _hearts become
dilated_. They fail time after time, and are consequently called rogues;
in reality, they may be quite honest animals, but their strained hearts
cannot respond when called upon—Bigaroon, I think, is an example.
I regard the failure of Eurythmic, when matched against Beauford, as an
instance of the dilated heart. Eurythmic was asked to carry the record
weight of 10.7 in the Futurity Stakes. He won, and critics said that it
was merely a welter race, and that he had nothing to beat. When he came
to Sydney to run against Beauford, almost every trainer gave their
opinion that Eurythmic would win. What happened? He pulled up absolutely
in distress, and a few days later was beaten by David and Furious over
two miles. The real explanation is that no matter what may be said to
the contrary, Eurythmic did not have a true staying heart, having
inherited it from his mother; that it probably became strained in the
Futurity and probably dilated, and that while he may win at a mile or a
little more, I think it unlikely that he will ever win at two miles
again.[1]
Footnote 1:
This was written in April, 1922.
Let me make my meaning about the dilated heart quite clear. First of
all, one must understand that the heart is a pump; that its walls are
composed of muscle—though not of the same kind of muscle that the flesh
of the arms and legs is made of. Then the valves of this wonderful pump
are made of very strong tissue almost as strong as fine canvas.
Considering the amount of work that the heart is called upon to do,
getting no entire rest either night or day, the wonder is that it can
keep on for sixty or seventy years in man, and twenty or more in the
horse, in such a very efficient manner.
Now, if a man who has been working in an office gets “run down” from
overwork, and takes it into his head to go off for a holiday, and part
of that holiday is devoted to climbing mountains, he will often come
back to his office in a worse condition than when he started. What has
happened? He has tried to make his heart muscle do work which it is not
prepared to do. He has strained his heart. In other words, this
wonderful pump has done its best to cope with the extra work that it was
called upon to do, and while it may have succeeded, the effort has
affected it, and the result of the extra work performed is that the
heart has become _dilated_, and, for the time being, it is not able to
do the ordinary work that it is called upon to perform. Provided such a
heart is rested and nursed it may come back, but if the possessor of
such a heart tries to drive it, and does not rest it, then that heart
will fail to do ordinary work, and will most certainly fail if asked to
perform extra work.
What happens to the untrained office-man happens over and over again on
the racecourse to horses that are asked to win races when they are not
“ready”—that is, when they are only half-trained; and while they may
succeed they often dilate their unprepared hearts in their honest
efforts to succeed. The most recent example of this is Salrak, injured
by his Newcastle race.
Again, when a horse is “ready” and his muscles are fit and he is quite
able to run a mile and carry a decent weight, he is asked to run a mile
and a half; he makes a mighty effort, and from that day on he never does
himself justice in a race, for his effort strained his heart; and not
being allowed to rest, his heart remains dilated till the end of his
days.
Let me illustrate these general remarks by a few concrete instances.
Woorak was a most brilliant two-year-old; his bones were short and
strong, his hindquarters were perfect, while his muscles were so
exquisite that had he been cast in bronze he would have been a joy for
ever. He ran in the Chelmsford stakes as a three-year-old, and won,
beating his great rival Mountain Knight. Then came the Derby a few weeks
later. Everyone who had seen Woorak race recognised the fact that he
must be given his head, and that to check him would be fatal. He was a
very pronounced favourite, and one of the most experienced trainers said
to me: “If you don’t back Woorak don’t bet on the race.” But I
remembered that Woorak’s sire had been only a brilliant sprinter in
England, so I backed Mountain Knight at six to one simply because his
sire, Mountain King, had a Wallace-Carbine heart and could run a mile
and a half, and even further, at a brilliant pace. The Derby was run and
Woorak put up the effort of his career, but was beaten in the last
hundred yards by a very narrow margin. Now we come to the after-history.
Five days later Woorak was brought out to run in the Craven Plate, ten
furlongs, and he won in record time; some of the field being at the
half-distance when he was walking in. From that day onwards Woorak never
won at a distance again. These two races dilated his heart, and a mile
was the length of his tether. Watching him do his training gallops at
Randwick during the winter of 1916, I became convinced that as he had to
carry less than weight-for-age in the Epsom that he would be able to run
the mile right out. I backed him well and truly, and was rewarded by
seeing him win the Epsom by six lengths in a common canter. Now this
form so impressed the public that a few days later they simply rushed to
back him in the Craven Plate, he having only four opponents. He was at
odds-on, and ran in front to the half-distance, then his dilated heart
failed suddenly and he was easily beaten by St. Carwyne and Reputation.
Let me take another example. Wallace Isinglass was a fine upstanding
three-year-old with plenty of bone and plenty of muscle, and had a
proper Derby-Wallace-Carbine inherited heart. He ran in the Rosehill
Guineas a few weeks before the Derby of 1916, the distance being
increased from seven furlongs to a mile and a furlong, and he was made
an odds-on favourite. By some means he got into a bad position, and when
he entered the straight he seemed to have no chance of beating Cetigne.
Then he made a wonderful effort; it was the effort of a horse with a
stout heart, and he put every ounce of reserve he had into the final
run, and inch by inch he gained on the brilliant, honest Cetigne, and
won by a nose! Never was a braver effort ever seen on a racecourse, and
I felt that he had to thank his Wallace heart—not to mention what his
dam (Glass Queen) may have added—for his victory.
This victory made him an odds-on favourite for the Derby, and Bobby
Lewis, thinking that he had a real Wallace stayer to handle, determined
to “make the running” and knock Cetigne out; but he failed for two
reasons. In the first place, he hurried his mount most unwisely for the
first half-mile, forgetting what Fred Archer had laid down as a rule,
that if you hurry a stayer enough for the first half-mile you will kill
him dead; and, in the second place, Bobby not being a pathologist did
not know anything about dilated hearts, so he evidently took it for
granted that his mount’s heart was of the true Wallace brand. But he
found to his dismay that he had made so much use of his horse that he
died in his hands in the last fifty yards and Cetigne won. The effort
certainly did not do Cetigne’s non-staying heart any good, for he never
ran a decent race over a distance afterwards, though he lived to win the
most dramatic race ever seen at Randwick when he won the Craven Plate in
record time in 1918. Now, though Cetigne had a non-staying heart—Grafton
being no sire of stayers—yet he must have had a very sound heart to win
a Newmarket six furlongs with 9 stone in 1.13½, a Villiers mile in 1.38¼
with 9.4 in the saddle, and lower Woorak’s Craven Plate record of 2.5¼
to 2.4½; and yet he could not run a mile and a half with success in good
company.
Let me say that a heart that is dilated may recover if the animal is
properly rested. Wallace Isinglass being bred to have a staying heart on
his sire’s side as well as on his dam’s side, was judiciously nursed by
his rich owner, and, as a result, as a four-year-old and a five-year-old
he did well over a distance, and lived to defeat Desert Gold at two
miles in Melbourne, and to run Lanius and Westcourt to a neck over the
Cumberland Stakes two miles.
Let us see if we can learn anything of use from the above remarks. The
chief lesson that is to be learnt is: _That you can’t make a stayer out
of a horse that has not inherited a staying heart, train him as you
will_. The old ideal that if you wanted a horse to run two miles you had
to train him over that distance was absurd. You must, of course, get the
animal’s muscles in a fit condition, and that can be done by slow, long
work, and by running him at a fast pace from time to time over a mile or
so; but you can’t make his heart carry him two miles _at the requisite
pace_ if he does not inherit the proper kind of heart, _no matter how
you train him_! It is quite true that a horse in some cases stays better
the older he gets, because his heart improves; still the fact remains
that the true stayer is _born_, not made.
After all in staying it is the _pace_ that tells; in other words, a
great stayer must have the power to run at a great pace all the way and
to have something out of the common to finish with; and unless the horse
has an inherited staying heart it is quite impossible for him to finish
well. When we think of the run that Poitrel with 9.9 on his back made
when Kennaquhair won the Sydney Cup in 3.22¾; when we think of the run
he made in the Spring Stakes when he beat Desert Gold in 2.31 one year,
and Gloaming in the same race the following year; when we think how he
finished in his Melbourne Cup, carrying ten stone, then we realise what
a true staying heart is capable of doing when called upon.
It has often been observed that great stayers are wont to hang behind in
the early stages of a long-distance race. No one, for instance, ever saw
anything of old Tartan until the distance was reached, then he would
come along like a bolt from the blue and smother his opponents, as he
did with 9.6 in the Australian Cup. This is quite characteristic of the
stayer. If you hurry him too much in the early stages of a long race you
will defeat him. The reason is that his heart must not be asked to do
too much too quickly. You must let him gradually get his heart beating
in a slow, methodical way, and then all goes well, and when the time
comes everything is as it should be; his lungs being unimpeded in their
work co-operate with the heart. If, however, you hurry the stayer too
much in the first part of the race the circulation becomes upset—that
is, the circulation in the lungs causes an engorgement that interferes
with the breathing of the horse, and with the smooth working of his
heart.
Some stayers have a particular kind of heart which enables them to
sprint, and, at the same time, it allows them to begin quickly in a
distance race, to get into a good position early, and to keep their
places. Poseidon was such a horse. He was a perfect stayer, could sprint
like a pure sprinter, and was so clever in a big field that he could
take up any position he liked in any race no matter the distance.
Mooltan, another horse with a Positano heart, could run a mile (second
in the Epsom), win a Metropolitan, and run second in a Melbourne Cup. No
better example of this type of horse could be found now than Sasanoff—a
perfect sprinter and a perfect stayer. Wakeful was another.
Again, there are some horses who can run in front of the field for a
distance and keep up the pace. They, in fact, run a waiting race in
front. These horses, however, are often not _true_ stayers. Desert Gold,
Biplane and Gloaming could each do this for a mile and a half; for two
miles Prince Bardolph did it in the Sydney Cup with success, and tried
to do the same thing in the Australian Cup, but when he had gone two
miles and a furlong a horse with a Carbine heart—Defence—caught and beat
him easily. Posinatus won his Melbourne Cup in this way from start to
finish, and I fancy Newhaven did the same thing, while Harvest King,
with a Comedy King staying heart, won the last Australian Cup and led
throughout.
Now a word on _Endurance_: this is not the same thing as staying. The
difference between the two is a matter of pace. For instance, some
horses in East India can sprint quite well for three furlongs, but
cannot go fast for any distance, yet they are capable of going 80 miles
in a cart from sunrise to sunset. This brings home to us that staying
power—that is, the ability to go two miles at a very rapid pace—requires
a different type of heart to the endurance heart. We may admit that this
latter must be a good type of heart, but it is a different type to the
staying heart. The endurance heart is well illustrated when we come to
deal with jumping horses. We all know of horses that could only get a
mile on the flat—say, for instance, Lord Nagar, who won the Villiers—yet
when these horses become hurdlers we see them putting up records and
winning over two miles in quite brilliant fashion. The explanation is
that it is only a matter of _pace_. A cab horse can run two miles, but
his pace is nothing. A hurdler can run two miles, but the time he takes
would leave him a furlong or two behind in a weight-for-age race.
Therefore when we say a horse can _stay_, we imply the possession of a
heart that can stand the enormous strain of running two miles, or more,
in time that will not much exceed three minutes twenty-six seconds,
carrying a good weight.
And now that I have mentioned weight, let us ask: What effect has weight
on a horse in regard to staying?
If we walk and carry a weight we can go a certain distance and not feel
fatigued, but if we attempt to run with the same weight we soon find out
the difference. In walking we always have one foot on the ground; in
running we are entirely off the ground at times. In walking we put
little strain on the heart, for the foot that is always on the ground
helps us; while in running we have to lift the whole weight of the body
from the ground, and so we call on the heart to do much more work. If
then, we have to carry a weight and run, we have not only to lift the
body from the ground but also the weight. Naturally, the heart is called
upon to do more work and becomes exhausted in proportion to the amount
of weight carried, the distance it is carried, and the time consumed.
The heart muscle, as a matter of fact, in great exertion has to work at
eight times its normal rate, and so it becomes tired, and the effect of
fatigue is simply to reduce the output of the heart.
Weight acts on the heart in the same way that distance does—that is,
weight tires the heart after a certain amount of energy has been
expended, and distance exhausts the heart in galloping on account of the
amount of work required from the heart; a horse may trot fifty miles who
cannot gallop two; the reason being that in the trot his body is not
entirely off the ground, in the gallop it is. It is the pace that tells.
There are many horses capable of carrying a huge weight at a great pace
for a short distance, and yet they cannot carry a light weight for a
long distance. Thus Woorak, as he got on in years, could carry
weight-for-age for a mile, but we saw 9.12 send him into second place in
the Doncaster; yet he ran away with the Oakleigh Plate, 5½ furlongs,
with ten stone five in the saddle. What a heart the immortal Carbine
must have had when he carried this very same weight to victory in his
celebrated Melbourne Cup! Is it any wonder that Wallace and Trafalgar
inherited great staying hearts?
THE AUSTRALIAN JOCKEY CLUB
AND RANDWICK
By KEN AUSTIN
There is a faded document hanging in the Secretary’s room at the
Australian Jockey Club offices. It may be regarded as the coping-stone
of what is now the most important Racing Club in Australia. This
document reads as follows:—
“S. C. Burt, Esquire,—
“In consideration of your commencing the foundation of a Racecourse at
Randwick, I hereby undertake to become liable to the extent of £50 for
the purpose of paying the expense thereof.
“The revenues to be derived from the annual subscriptions and the sale
of gates, booths, stands, etc., when completed, to be a security to me
for whatever I may be called upon to pay under this guarantee.
“Sydney, Thirtieth June, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
“(Sgd.) GEO. ROWLEY.”
“Pay to the order of W. McQuade, Esq., Treasurer, A.J.C.
“(Sgd.) S. C. BURT.”
R. JONES,
S. C. BROWN,
CHAS. MARTYN,
ROWLAND HASSALL,
W. G. HENFREY,
JNO. ROBERTSON,
DAVID BELL,
HENRY PRINCE,
J. H. ATKINSON,
W. M. ARNOLD,
J. F. PERRY,
A. LODER,
GEO. ROWLEY,
ALEX. MACKELLAR,
ALFRED CHEEKE.
There is not much data concerning the early days of Randwick, but the
wonderful strides the Club has made since 1880 may be gauged by
comparing the Club’s racing expenditure, which was £734/10/- for that
year and £152,559 for the year ending August, 1922.
The late T. S. Clibbon, who took over the duties of Secretary in 1873,
made the most of his then somewhat slender opportunities. He was
succeeded by the present Secretary, Mr. C. W. Cropper, in 1910, who made
his name in Western Australia. Under his regime Randwick has never
looked back, but has flourished like the proverbial bay tree of old. C.
W. Cropper is the ideal Racing Secretary, a man who is held in the
highest esteem by all who come in contact with him, and whose heart and
personality are embodied in the course. Of the men who have controlled
the destinies of the Club as Committeemen from time to time, no one has
done more for Randwick and racing generally than the present Chief
Justice of Australia, The Right Hon. Sir Adrian Knox, who was elected to
the Committee in 1896 and was Chairman from 1907 to 1919. On his
resignation the Club made a presentation to him of his portrait. A
duplicate of the picture hangs in the Committee’s Council Room. The
Adrian Knox Stakes, a race for three-year-old fillies, held early in the
year, was also inaugurated in 1921 in his honour. During the time he
acted as Chairman, Randwick was practically rebuilt, the prize-money was
tremendously increased, Associations to control country racing were
formed, and racing legislation generally widened and improved.
So long as racing flourishes in Australia the name of Sir Adrian Knox
will be held in affectionate esteem by everyone who realises what a
wonderful influence for good he brought to bear on turf matters
generally.
[Illustration:
General View of Randwick Racing and Training Tracks and Flat taken
during Steeplechase.
]
[Illustration:
Randwick Weighing Yard, Official and other Stands, and Judge’s Box.
]
[Illustration:
The Flat at Randwick, with Betting Ring in foreground, St. Leger (on
left), Members’, Grand, and Official Stands.
]
[Illustration:
Plan of Randwick Racecourse.
]
A list of names of the men who have served on the Committee of the
Jockey Club since 1870 is not out of place in an article such as this,
and I am obliged to include my father’s name among those who helped to
make the A.J.C. the respected and capable institution it is to-day. The
names of the Committeemen who served for various periods since 1870 are
Messrs. S. C. Brown, W. R. Campbell, Hon. H. C. Dangar, E. Lee, A.
Thompson, H. Thompson, Henry Austin, J. W. Johnson, J. A. Scarr, Colonel
Richardson, Water Hall, J. de V. Lamb, F. C. Griffiths, F. W. Hill, Hon.
James White, Captain Osborne, W. B. Walford, J. Wentworth, Andrew Town,
S. A. Stephen, F. C. Griffiths, J. H. Want, W. A. Long, W. C. Hill,
Richard Jones, Junr., Dr. W. M. Traill, C. A. Goodchap, E. M. Betts,
Vincent Dowling, Alex. Mackellar, _Harry Chisholm_, Sir Adrian Knox, F.
W. Wentworth, A. Busby, George Lee, _R. C. Allen_, Ewan R. Frazer, A.
Hooke, John McDonald, _Hunter White_, _E. A. M. Merewether_, _C. C.
Stephen_, _Sir Samuel Hordern_, _T. A. Stirton_, _F. A. Moses_, _Walter
Brunton_, _George Main_—the names of present Committee being in italics.
Mr. C. C. Stephen has held the position of Chairman since the
resignation of Sir Adrian Knox. He has proved himself a worthy successor
to the best Chairman the Club ever had.
The Australian Jockey Club opens its Randwick season with what is known
as the Spring Meeting, held generally during the last days of September
and the first week in October. The racing is extended over four days. On
the first day of this meeting the A.J.C. Derby is decided. This race,
which is run over a mile and a half, is a classic event in which colts
and geldings are asked to carry 8 st. 10 lbs., while fillies get an
allowance of 5 lbs. The added money this year is 7,000 sovereigns, to
which a sweepstake of 25 sovereigns from each starter is added. The
breeder of the winner receives 250 sovereigns.
The Spring Stakes, a weight-for-age event, 1½ miles, involving 2,500
sovereigns, is another important race of this day, as well as the Epsom
Handicap, 1 mile, of 3,000 sovereigns. A considerable amount of
ante-post wagering in connection with this race and the Metropolitan is
indulged in prior to the meeting. The second day’s programme includes
the latter race, a handicap worth 6,000 sovereigns to the winner plus a
sweepstake of 30 sovereigns for starters, the distance of which is one
mile and five furlongs. The first two-year-old race of the New South
Wales racing season is the other important event. The Breeders’ Plate, 5
furlongs, of 2,000 sovereigns, is reserved for colts, who are asked to
carry 8 st. 5 lbs., and geldings 8 st. 2 lbs. The Craven Plate,
weight-for-age, 1¼ miles, of 3,000 sovereigns, and the Gimcrack Stakes,
5 furlongs, of 2,000 sovereigns, for two-year-old fillies, form the
attractive events of the third day; while on the last day’s racing a
two-mile weight-for-age contest, known as the Randwick Plate, of 2,500
sovereigns, tests the stamina of the best.
Four richly endowed jumping races are included in the Spring Meeting
programme.
Two meetings are held by the Jockey Club in December—the Villier’s
Stakes, a mile handicap; the December Stakes, 5 furlongs, involving
2,000 sovereigns, for two-year-olds; and the Summer Cup, a handicap of a
mile and five furlongs. A two-days’ meeting is held in the January of
each year at which the Challenge Stakes, a six-furlong handicap, and the
Anniversary Handicap, 1½ miles, are decided, as well as a race over the
hurdles on each day; and the Adrian Knox Stakes, 1 mile, of 1,500
sovereigns, a set-weight race for three-year-old fillies.
The Autumn Meeting, held every Easter, offers a splendid programme to
horse owners. On the first day is the Autumn Stakes, 1½ miles,
weight-for-age, of 2,500 sovereigns; the Doncaster Handicap, 1 mile, of
3,000 sovereigns; the A.J.C. Sires’ Produce Stakes, 7 furlongs, for the
two-year-old colts and geldings carrying 8 st. 10 lbs., and fillies 8
st. 7 lbs. The added money is 5,000 sovereigns in addition to a
subscription of 10 sovereigns each from the sires nominated, the progeny
of which are only eligible to compete. The nominator of the sire of the
winner receives 250 sovereigns. The A.J.C. St. Leger, 1¾ miles, is also
decided on this day, and is a classic race for colts, geldings and
fillies, of 2,500 sovereigns added money. The second day of the Autumn
Meeting is held on Easter Monday, and in the presence of some 80,000
people, which number increases each year, the Sydney Cup is run. This is
the most important long-distance handicap decided at Randwick, and is
run over two miles. The added money in 1921 was 6,000 sovereigns, and
the best horses in Australia are to be generally found among the field.
The Champagne Stakes, a six-furlong, set-weight, two-year-old race, is
decided before the Cup is run. Colts are asked to carry 8 st. 10 lbs.,
fillies 8 st. 8 lbs., and geldings 8 st. 7 lbs., the winner receiving
3,000 sovereigns in added money. On the third day are the All-Aged
Stakes, 1 mile, weight-for-age, of 2,500 sovereigns; the Easter Stakes,
7 furlongs, a special condition race for two-year-olds, of 750
sovereigns; and the Cumberland Stakes, 2 miles, weight-for-age, of 2,000
sovereigns. The concluding day’s racing contributes the A.J.C. Plate, 3
miles, weight-for-age; the second Steeplechase, and some interesting
handicap races.
What may be termed the Jumping Meeting is held early in June, and this
year the A.J.C., who have recently become alive to the importance and
attractiveness of cross-country racing, wisely established the
Australian Jockey Club Hurdle Race, 2 miles 3 furlongs, of 2,000
sovereigns added money, and a similarly named Steeplechase carrying the
same amount of added money, and run over a course of about 3 miles.
So much for the races which the Club offers the horse owner in New South
Wales. In addition to the fourteen days’ racing held at Randwick by the
premier Club, the two principal Betting Clubs have six days between them
there, while racing takes place every Saturday in the many proprietary
racecourses around Sydney, the Rosehill Club being the principal of
these moneymaking concerns.
But to return to Randwick. The pictures of the course and buildings will
give a good idea of the general outlook. The racing track is of oblong
shape, and the horses are asked to race round four easily negotiated
turns in traversing the mile and three furlongs of grass sward, which
the course proper measures in circumference two feet out from the inner
rail. It is practically a level stretch from start to finish, though
there is a gradual decline from the winning post to the mile and a
quarter start and a slight rise between the four and the two furlong
posts. The average breadth of the racing track from fence to fence is
100 feet, so that there is plenty of room on it for a very large-sized
field of horses to race with safety. The plan of the course published in
this book gives a good idea of the various training tracks; a recent
improvement to the latter is the conversion of the sand into a cinder
track, which will be of great value to work on during the wet months of
the year.
A distinctive feature of Randwick is its steeplechase course, situated
inside the course proper, and three other training tracks. A good field
of jumpers streaming up the hill and negotiating the jump on the crown
of it before racing down the steep incline to the foot is a splendid
sight. Steeplechasing is gaining favour with the public, and one of the
principal reasons for this is that the horses are well in view for the
greater part of the journey. The ascent and descent of the hill is most
spectacular, and also serves as a good test of stamina. The credit for
this successful innovation is due to the late Mr. Vincent Dowling, who
was a thick-and-thin supporter of jumping, and during the time he was on
the A.J.C. Committee did much for the “leppers” generally. There are
eleven fences to be jumped at Randwick, all made of thickly packed solid
brush, which will bring down any horse taking the slightest liberties
with them. The average height of the jump is about 4 feet 3 inches and 2
feet 6 inches wide across the top. Only two other courses in Australia
have a hill like Randwick—one in Victoria, at Warrnambool, and the other
at Oakbank in South Australia. Randwick is a very convenient course for
the average race-goer. It is situated some four miles from the Sydney
Post Office and Railway Station; it can be easily reached by a very
excellent tram service. Once inside the course one is struck by the
splendid buildings, which are growing every year. The great Totalisator
House, which handled in 1920 no less than £1,280,861, a sum that has
increased largely since; the Grand Stands, capable of seating over
25,000 people on their spacious decks; the Members’ Enclosure; the Tea
Rooms; the Leger Stand, etc. All these bear silent testimony to the
great, steady progress of the Club. The crowds are each year increasing,
and before long some big comprehensive scheme of remodelling the paddock
and stand accommodation will have to be introduced. The erection of the
Totalisator buildings has severely taxed the already somewhat
overcrowded accommodation, and the problem of expansion is one which the
A.J.C. will have to seriously consider. However, the policy of the Club
has always been a progressive one, so we need not fear.
The Club now pays over £24,000 in wages annually, and to add to this big
figure there is a Totalisator staff of over 400 when the machines are in
work. Hitches at Randwick are unknown, and everything goes like
clockwork from the time the turnstiles are opened on race days until the
day’s racing is over. The starting is in the capable hands of Mr. Harry
Mackellar, who not only has the confidence of the jockeys, from the
smallest apprentice upwards, but is a thorough horseman in the truest
sense of the word, and a starter by instinct. The important position of
handicapper is filled by Mr. Fred Wilson, for many years the present
Secretary’s right-hand man in the office, and now an established success
as a weight adjuster. The Club is lucky in having two such officials.
One of the highest tributes the course has received in its long history
comes from the present Prince of Wales, who during his visit to Sydney
spent some of his happiest days riding impromptu races at Randwick.
It is the Mecca of Australia to the true horse-lover, and, sitting under
its shady fig-trees, one may see the bronzed men of the far Northern
Territory who have come thousands of miles to swell the cosmopolitan
crowds which tread the green lawns and back their fancies. In the
paddock the strangest conglomeration of people assembles, for racing is
the greatest class leveller in the world. There is much truth in the
saying that all men are equal both on the turf and under it.
THE VICTORIAN RACING CLUB AND FLEMINGTON
By Dr. W. H. LANG
The early colonists of Victoria inaugurated racing, first upon the
slopes of Batman’s Hill, and then on the now famous flats alongside the
Salt Water River. The first Secretary of the Victorian Racing Club, Mr.
Bagot, performed his duties with an enthusiastic and far-sighted
thoroughness, and, at his too early death, his place was taken by Mr.
Byron Moore, who has carried on the work unremittingly ever since, and
who is still at his post there in Bourke Street, quiet, urbane, mild,
and entirely business-like. The name of Mr. Byron Moore will live for
ever in the annals of the V.R.C. During the late ’seventies, the
’eighties, and the ’nineties of the last century, the accommodation at
Flemington was ample, and no one ever seemed to imagine that the great
extent of lawn and hill, flat and grand stands would ever be overtaken
by the magnitude of the crowds which assembled there to watch the
national sport of the country. But since those days vast changes have
been silently creeping on almost unnoticed. In the early days of the
twentieth century, and even earlier, it became noticeable that on Cup
days it was extremely difficult to force one’s way from the stands to
the saddling enclosure and the betting ring. There was a somewhat narrow
“bottle neck” between the corner of the main stand and the saddling and
weighing enclosure, where, on a Melbourne Cup day, the difficulty
experienced in worming a passage between races was almost
insurmountable. A certain amount of relief was obtained by robbing the
course itself of some of its superfluous width, and by slightly altering
the turn out of the straight. But the relief was only temporary. By the
year 1920, on which anniversary of the great day, the crowd was a record
one, the attendance on the ground actually amounted to 110,000. Crowds
of holiday-makers had also assembled on what is known as “The Footscray
Hill,” an eminence on the other side of the Salt Water River, which
faces the long straight six furlongs, and which is a splendid coign of
vantage from which to view the scene, without being able accurately to
name the winner in anything like a close finish.
Estimating the numbers there, and on the steep hillside at the other end
of the “straight six” at some 15,000 or 20,000 more, the folk who
actually took part in the day’s sport can be set down at somewhere close
on 130,000 souls. Thirty-two years previous to this, when Mentor was the
hero of the day, the crowd was reckoned at 80,000—an increase of 50,000.
And the question at once arises in the mind: “Where is it going to end?”
Victoria, which used to be nicknamed “the cabbage garden” of the States,
will, before very long, be re-christened “the workshop of Australia.”
She has cheap electrical power at the very doors of her metropolis, and
has already surveyed her city of the future with a view to providing
accommodation for two millions. And will the growth of the city come to
an end there? To what size may Melbourne grow during the coming fifty
years? And when she has even her two million inhabitants, will there be
room enough at Flemington to provide for the 200,000 at least who will
find their way to the course on Cup day?
The V.R.C. Committee has had something of this idea in front of it when
it accepted the plans, during the last twelve months, for the
reconstruction of the stands, lawns and saddling paddock.
Let us take a survey of the course and its surroundings, and you will
then appreciate what the famous race-ground has been, and what it is
destined to become.
If you stand upon the top of “The Hill,” you can take almost a
bird’s-eye view of the arena and the features of the surrounding
country.
The ground which the V.R.C. received from the Government at a peppercorn
rent, and additional land which they acquired subsequently by purchase,
lies at the foot of, and on the north-eastern side of, a huge cup. This
cup on the south side, that farthest away from the winning post and
stands, has a large piece bitten out of it, and then resembles the
teacup which Tenniel represents the Mad Hatter in “Alice in Wonderland,”
carrying about in his hand.
To the north-west, between the Flemington and the Footscray Hills, a
considerable chip from the edge of the cup has also disappeared, and
through the gap thus formed flow the sluggish waters of the Salt Water
River.
Here on the Hill there is accommodation for an enormous crowd of
racegoers, and from this high eminence, and from the stands which crown
it, a magnificent view of the racing can be obtained. It is the choicest
portion of the whole ground from which to enjoy the spectacle, and the
top of the hill itself is nearly fifty feet above the race track as it
passes the judge’s box. From here you see the Yarra, “dank and foul,”
but deep and wide enough for two great ocean-going steamers to pass one
another, flowing downwards to the bay, ere, “strong and free,” it
reaches “the foaming Rip and the infinite main,” as in Kingsley’s song,
and becomes as a “soul that has sinned and is pardoned again.” And here,
too, at the wide gap in the cup, the Salt Water joins it and increases
the Yarra’s volume on its course to the bay.
There is a little bit of commercial romance connected with the
acquisition of the Hill, and some other portions of the grounds, by the
Committee. In the beginning of the ’eighties of the last century the
Club did not own the Hill, and the Railway Department was compelled,
from lack of land, to take an inconvenient and even dangerous sweep of
the line to the right, just before entering the platform. The blocks on
which the Hill stands, and where the railway now runs, were for sale at
this period—100 acres of land—and the price was £100 an acre. The
Committee met and considered the advisability of making the purchase,
and turned it down. But at this time the Royal Agricultural Society was
located in a miserable spot which was half a swamp, and was on the look
out for fresh fields. The V.R.C. Committee, having definitely refused to
buy the 100 acres, Mr. Byron Moore, on his own account, now secured the
lot. Thirty acres of this he sold to the Agricultural Society at £150 an
acre, and the rest of it—the Committee now having its eyes thoroughly
opened—he disposed of to that body at cost price. On this land the
railway found room enough to straighten out the line; the Members’ Drive
now sweeps majestically through its avenue of trees; the Hill provides a
glorious site for the accommodation of racegoers; and an entrance is
provided into the back portion of the saddling paddock.
You can see from where we stand the Members’ Drive, with its long line
of trees, winding its way up to the edge of the cup at the Melbourne end
of the course, and there disappearing into the general traffic. The
public drive runs up to the same vanishing point, but on a lower level.
Follow the edge of the cup round to the great gap, and you see, on the
low-lying lands there, the abattoirs, from which, unfortunately, when
the breeze blows direct from that quarter, a somewhat disagreeable odour
reaches the senses of the crowd. Over the abattoirs, through the mists
of winter, or the haze of the hot summer days, you see innumerable
derricks and the funnels of the great fleets of steamers lying in the
docks, and, as if to remind us of the past, the slender masts and furled
sails of many a ship and gallant barque, loading for their long trek
across the deep seas.
Warned by the sensible proximity of the abattoirs, the Committee in 1903
bought all the rugged stony hill, which lies there close at hand to
where we are standing, and disposed of it very cheaply to the Footscray
Council, provided always that it should be used as a public garden. It
also gained possession of all the land on the far side of the river
between the Footscray Hill and the ammunition manufactory, so that any
risk of industries being established in the neighbourhood of the course,
and which might, in the days to come, emit objectionable odours, has
been for ever done away with. There, immediately at our feet, is the
Grand Stand, separated from us only by a great gulf which somewhat
resembles the barriers restraining the wild animals in their enclosures
at the new Zoological Gardens in Sydney. Beneath the Grand Stand lie the
very beautiful lawns, in the spring-time gay with flower-beds, and with
the rails of the race track festooned artistically with creeping roses.
The judge’s box and winning post stand opposite the lower end of the
stand, and beyond that, and nearer the river, rise the Official and
Members’ Stand and the Committee and Members’ Luncheon Rooms. Here,
sheltering the Members’ Enclosure and the Betting Ring, rises a
delightful little forest of “immemorial elms.” In the warm spring days,
and in the scorching heat often experienced at the New Year Meeting,
members, standing and sitting alongside the rails, the betting public,
and the fraternity of bookmakers, have conducted their business for many
years past in a leafy and chequered shade, and in an odour of sanctity
which almost resembles that of a great cathedral.
Beyond the betting ring, and close by the river’s banks, lies the
Bird-cage, where the racers have each their stall, and where they are
sheltered from any wind that blows, and from the burning heat of summer
suns. A lane runs from the Bird-cage up to the saddling enclosure in
front of the Official Stand, and outside the Bird-cage, too, are the
Casualty Rooms and various other necessary offices of the Club.
Everything is beautifully complete.
And now look at the race track itself. The straight course, six furlongs
in length, and the “course proper,” are nearly as level as a table. The
Newmarket Course, the only straight six furlongs in Australia, with the
exception, I think, of that at Singleton, runs from the foot of the
pine-clad hillside where the Members’ and Public Drives merge into the
general traffic, straight down to the winning post. Half-way to the post
it is joined by the course proper, which, some three parts of a furlong
past the judge, curves with a perfect racecourse turn to the left. After
rounding the bend the horses race along by the river and have a splendid
stretch in front of them with only a very slight curve until after
passing the mile post. After this the track inclines very gradually
left-handed past the seven furlongs, and the Australian Cup Starting
Post, and then it rounds gently, like the large end of a great egg,
until it joins the straight six again. The track itself is splendidly
grassed, and the going is almost always as near to perfection as
possible. The circuit of the course is 1 mile 3 furlongs 111⅓rd yards,
and it is essentially one which is suitable for a genuine stayer.
The Melbourne Cup Course Starting Barrier stands between the entrance to
the course proper and the Newmarket Barrier at the top of the straight.
It is a noble sight to see a field of between twenty and thirty of the
best horses in Australia wend their way from the enclosures, and, after
the canter, trot up the straight to the Cup start. Here, within easy
view of all the stands, they line up, and, after a few moments of
breathless suspense, the barrier rises, and, to a mighty roar from a
hundred thousand throats, the field with their glittering jackets jump
off and thunder down the broad ribbon of green, round the turn, and away
along the river bank. It is the most heart-stirring event of the whole
racing year, and will probably ever continue to be so. The Derby start
takes place just above the Grand Stands and the Hill.
That, then, is the Flat Race Course. But Flemington is the home also of
the Steeplechaser, and the Grand National, run for in the July of each
year, is, to many sporting men, even as grand a spectacle as the Cup.
The fences are higher and stiffer than on any other steeplechase course
in Australia, and although they are not nearly so formidable as they
were fifty years ago, they are still a splendid test of the capabilities
of the best of jumping horses in the land. The course runs inside the
racing track, although at the big end of the egg it crosses to the
outside and then comes back again just before the entry to the straight
running. There are six obstacles to be surmounted in the straight—three
posts and rails, a log, a very solid stone wall and a paling. After
leaving the straight a very good live hedge, with plenty of width on
top, is taken, and then along the river side two posts and rails. At the
abattoirs the field turns to the left, and, crossing the race track,
takes a solid post and rail and a log, then two more fences of the same
description, and, lastly, a live hedge is crossed before entering the
straight for the run home.
In the old days the leaps were, as we have noticed, higher, and they
were also what you might call “very rough and hairy.” The top ends of
the posts were left sticking right up, and were “iron-clasped and
iron-bound” like Michael Scott’s book of Glamourie. Now, in a more
humane age, the posts are sawn off level with the rails, the top rails
themselves and the coping of the walls, and the logs, too, are well
padded, so that if horses strike they no longer seriously injure their
limbs, even if they hit very heavily.
The sport of steeplechasing, fostered by hunting, is a very popular one
in Victoria, and in spite of the fact that races of that sort are
decided almost every week, very few horses are seriously injured, and
the riders, as a rule, escape with comparatively little hurt.
At the far end of the property several training tracks are laid out,
some of which cross the straight six furlongs racecourse at right
angles. Here are “the big sand” and the “cinders” and the “tan,” while
in the space enclosed by the round course, on the flat, is a sand, and,
just completed within the last few weeks, a capital grass track. The
course itself is occasionally thrown open for galloping at special
times, but, of course, some distance out from the rails.
There are usually somewhere approaching 400 horses located in
Flemington, Ascot Vale and the neighbourhood that make use daily of
these various training grounds.
Such, then, is a brief description of the course, training grounds,
stands and lawns of famous Flemington, as they have been until this year
of grace 1922. But, although the running tracks and steeplechase course
will probably remain unchanged for an indefinite number of years, the
stands, lawns, betting rings and all the enclosures and saddling
paddocks are about to undergo an entire regeneration.
A plate showing the projected improvements—which will be commenced very
shortly—will give the best idea of what is to be done. The present Grand
Stand will remain as it is, as will the Members’ and Official Stands.
The large brick stand farther up the lawn, which is being used to-day,
will be removed, and a magnificent three-decker, as seen in the plate,
will take its place. In front of this will be the new lawns, the
saddling and mounting enclosure, and, farther up the straight, the
Bird-cage.
The lawns of to-day will still be there, but the betting ring will be
located behind the new Grand Stand, and the park for motors will occupy
the space between the Bird-cage and the Members’ and the Public Drives.
And provision has been made for space in which to erect totalisator
buildings, if that form of wagering ever becomes law in Victoria.
The whole scheme of things is a tremendous stride in advance of what was
deemed so good during the last forty years. In the ’eighties all the
arrangements were believed to be as near to perfection as it was
possible to attain. In another forty years the increase of population
may once more insist upon still more extensive alterations. And meantime
there is one question which causes habitués of Flemington to heave a
heavy sigh. And that is: What is going to happen to our glorious elms?
The trees will remain where they are, of course, but who will make use
of them? The leafy groves which sheltered our forefathers as they took
their pleasure joyously, and which lent their shade, giving a feeling of
peace even whilst sitting in their shadow beside the babel and
pandemonium of the betting ring, will no longer perform their wonted
function, and we shall all miss them sorely—those old and trusted,
never-failing friends.
But a new generation will arise that knew not Joseph Thompson, nor
Oxenham, nor Sol Green, nor the Messrs. Allen, and all the other famous
members of the ring, and “Under the Elms” will become a memory.
[Illustration:
The Lawn and Stand at Flemington.
]
[Illustration:
Flemington Course from the Air, showing Maribyrnong River in the
foreground.
]
[Illustration:
Projected Improvements to Flemington Racecourse.
]
[Illustration:
Plan of Flemington, showing Race-track and Steeplechase Course.
]
THE THOROUGHBRED HOMES OF AUSTRALIA
By KEN AUSTIN
Thoroughbred horse breeding in New South Wales, or, in fact, in any of
the Commonwealth States, has never been on a sounder or more
satisfactory footing than it is at the present time. This happy position
is more or less due to the policy of the principal Racing Clubs
throughout Australia in so richly endowing their race programmes, and as
there has been a steady advance in prize-money from year to year, so
prices for Thoroughbred stock, and especially yearlings, may be expected
to hold good for some time to come.
Nowadays a majority of the successful Thoroughbred Studs in the State
have their home on the Hunter River or waters that run into it, and
within a radius of about 100 miles, on the upper stretches of this
famous district, most of the principal horse-breeding establishments are
to be found. The Hunter, on account of its extreme richness and
soundness is peculiarly adapted as a nursery for the Thoroughbred. The
Hunter, which derives its name from Governor Hunter, during whose regime
it was discovered, is one of the most important rivers of New South
Wales. It rises in the Mount Royal Ranges and flows in an easterly
direction past Muswellbrook and Denman. Three miles below the latter
town its waters are increased by the Paterson, and it eventually empties
itself into the sea at Newcastle. An extremely rich belt of country
follows the banks of the Hunter from Singleton up to Aberdeen, and some
miles beyond crosses to the Widden Mountain, and it is on these rich
flats and reaches that most of the studs are situated.
One of the oldest studs in Australia—the far-famed Tocal—is the first to
be met with after leaving Newcastle, and here the Reynolds’ Estate are
still carrying on the stud which the late Mr. Frank Reynolds owned for
so many years. No name is held in greater reverence among lovers of the
Australian Thoroughbred than that of Frank Reynolds—a man whose heart
and soul were centred in his horses and cattle, and who was in a great
measure responsible for the adoption of the Bruce Lowe Figure System.
Bruce Lowe and Frank Reynolds practically originated the system between
them, and, up to the day of his death, Frank Reynolds was a hard and
fast believer in the figures. One could write volumes on the Tocal Stud
and its influence on the Australian racehorse, but space is limited in
an article such as this. Tocal’s glory is at present somewhat
diminished, so far as its Thoroughbred Stud goes, and it is now some
seasons since a first-class horse has come from its paddocks. A new
sire, in use for the first time this season, is the Amphion horse The
Nut (imp.—an own brother to Lally), a very bloodlike individual who has
met with a very fair measure of success as a winner getter. About four
miles from the picturesque old Georgian homestead of Tocal is another
Reynolds holding in Duninald, and here Mr. Sydney Reynolds has been
breeding more than his share of winners for many years past. At the time
of writing, two English horses—Prudent King (a son of Love Wisely) and
Piedmont (a tail male descendant of Barcaldine)—are being used. The
first-mentioned horse has sired a number of winners, and, in Cadonia,
gave us a good-class Leger winner. Near Maitland Mr. John Hart keeps a
small but select stud at Bolwarra, and at the present time has the
imported sire Something Irish in use.
The next stud of importance to be met with is Wills Gully. It is
situated about five miles from the town of Singleton, and here it is the
coal magnate, Mr. John Brown, breeds on a lavish scale for his own
racing. There are upwards of 200 mares at the stud, including a number
of English importations, and a number of good winners have been bred at
Wills Gully during recent years. Prince Foote, Duke Foote, Wallace
Isinglass, Richmond Main and Prince Charles are names that suggest
themselves, and their owner and breeder has generally a good horse
running for him among the big string that F. J. Marsden trains for him
at Randwick. Stallion honours at Wills Gully are shared by Duke Foote,
Richmond Main and Wallace Isinglass, all three horses having been bred
at this stud. The first-mentioned two are of Wisdom descent, and
Richmond Main, who is a son of Prince Foote, the best horse ever bred at
Wills Gully, takes up his stud duties for the first time this year. The
Australian racehorse suffered a severe loss in the recent death of
Prince Foote, a racehorse of the highest class and held in almost
reverent affection by his owner.
Another breeder close to Singleton is Mr. Thomas Longworth, whose
property, Dulwich, shelters the English horse Shadowland and a number of
good mares. Shadowland is a half-brother by Dark Ronald to Troutbeck,
and is, consequently, a member of the successful Agnes family.
Across the railway line from Wills Gully is the famous old Dangar
holding, Neotsfield, held by that family since 1824. The present
occupier, Mr. R. H. Dangar, has practically given up Thoroughbred horse
breeding, having dispersed his fine stud in 1904. Many good performers
first saw the light of day in the rich Neotsfield paddocks, such horses
as Gibraltar, Sussex (of jumping fame), Mooltan and Poseidon all having
been bred there. About 18 miles from Neotsfield, on the Cockfighter
Creek, is the South Wambo Stud, the property of Mr. R. C. Allen. Here
St. Simon is represented by his son Charlemagne II., a horse of
beautiful quality, whose daughter Carlita may be counted among the ranks
of the first class. Another St. Simon descendant in William the Silent
is also here, and the South Wambo stallion ranks have just been added to
by the arrival of the French-bred Francinet, a half-brother to the Ascot
Cup winner, Willonyx, by Flying Fox’s son Ajax. Here, too, spending the
evening of his life, is Antonio, a remarkably fast English horse who won
good races for his Australian owner before going to the stud. There are
some fifty mares at Wambo, and the stud sells a large number of
yearlings each year at the Sydney sales.
The next stud of importance is Arrowfield, founded by Messrs. W. and F.
A. Moses, who have been remarkably successful breeders. Any success that
has gone to them is well deserved, for they have bought nothing but the
best, and have kept up the high standard of their stud by regular
importations from England. On these rich flats, in stallion state, is to
be found Poitrel, one of the best stayers Australia has produced, and
the winner of the V.R.C. Melbourne Cup, and practically all the
principal weight-for-age races of his time.
Poitrel is now in his second season at the Stud, and has let down and
developed into a magnificent horse, who may do big things in his new
sphere. Two high-class English importations—Valais, by Cicero, and
Roseworthy, by William the Third—are being used at Arrowfield; and the
twenty-three-year-old St. Alwyne, a son of St. Frusquin, and a great
sire of stayers, is also ending his days in happiness near his best son,
Poitrel. The Arrowfield mares are a splendid collection, and the stud
ranks as one of the most representative of Australia’s horse-breeding
establishments.
The peerless Wakeful, a winner of over £16,000 in stakes, is among the
mares at Arrowfield, and the way she carries her age is a good
advertisement for the richness of the Arrowfield pastures. She is still
the property of Mr. C. L. Macdonald, whose colours she made so famous.
Adjoining Arrowfield, with only a fence between the two properties, is
Woodlands, originally owned by the late Mr. H. C. White, but now the
property of Mr. E. G. Blume. The original old stone-built homestead is
still in use, and the view from the flagged verandah across the Hunter
to the hills beyond has to be seen to be appreciated. Shepherd King, a
good-looking horse by Martagon, is at the head of the stud, and is ably
seconded by Duke Humphrey, a half-brother by John O’Gaunt to the English
One Thousand Guineas winner Vaucluse, and these English horses have as a
mate Piastre, a Melbourne Cup hero, by imported Positano. Woodlands can
boast of a fine collection of mares, and the property has been brought
thoroughly up to date since coming into the hands of its present owner.
Several small studs are to be found in more or less close proximity to
the town of Muswellbrook, 76 miles from Newcastle and some 12 miles away
from Woodlands. Among these are Messrs. Jos. Brown’s and Walter
Brunton’s properties. The former has the Desmond horse, imported
Montecello, in use, while Mr. Brunton does not keep a stallion but sends
his well-bred matrons to the best available. His colours are conspicuous
at Randwick, and he is not only a breeder but regularly buys at the
yearling sales.
One of the best-known Muswellbrook properties is Merton, from whose
luxurious paddocks Mr. E. R. White bred so many winners. It is now owned
by Mr. W. H. Mackay, junr., a son of the owner of Beauford, and who
inherits the family’s love of the Thoroughbred and their knowledge of
them. He is just starting to breed in a small but successful way.
Martindale, owned by the polo-playing White Bros., is not far away, and
shelters an English classic winner in Night Hawk, winner of the Leger.
This hefty son of Gallinule looks like doing yeoman service in the near
future for his owners.
Leaving Muswellbrook we reach one of the most famous fattening
properties on the Hunter in the famous Turanville Estate, with its
beautiful flats and willow trees, and, adjoining this, is Camyr Allen,
where two of the younger generation of the famous family of
horse-breeding Thompsons have settled. The stud is owned by Messrs. W.
B. and C. L. Thompson, who have had great success at the yearling sales,
and in the paddocks is Bob Cherry, the dam of Eurythmic, the largest
stake winner in Australia. His sire, Eudorus, an imported son of
Forfarshire, and another English importation in Buckwheat, by Martagon,
are the stallions being used at the time of writing by the Thompsons.
The Camyr Allen mares are a very representative lot, and, as a great
proportion of them are daughters of Maltster, it is almost unnecessary
to add they have produced, and are producing, a big percentage of
winners. Maltster, whose fame as a stallion is almost too well-known to
bear repetition, has gained undying fame through his daughters.
Camyr Allen is only a few miles out from Scone, on the other side of
which prosperous town we find the Sledmere Stud, which has been quite
recently established by Messrs. H. R. Denison and H. G. Raymond, the
latter recently bringing on his return from England the successful sire
Quantock, a son of Thrush. Since coming to Australia Quantock’s stock
have been remarkably successful in England, and he looks to hold the
ball of stud success at his feet. A well-chosen and select band of
matrons are happily ensconced in the Sledmere paddocks, and if the young
Quantocks bred there follow in the footsteps of their English relatives,
the stud’s fortune is made. At Sledmere is Mr. Denison’s old favourite
Poseidon, a winner of over £19,000, and although more or less of a stud
failure, is being well cared for in his declining years by his grateful
owner. D. S. and H. Hall are young breeders in the Scone district, who
generally are represented at the Sydney sales by a good-class yearling
or two, and, leaving their place at Cressfield, we approach one of the
largest and most important studs on the Upper Hunter in Kiora, the
property of Mr. Percy Miller. No breeder of recent years has gone more
whole-heartedly into the breeding business—for business it is
nowadays—than the owner of Magpie, Sarchedon and Demosthenes, all very
high-class English importations. The first-named horse is by Dark
Ronald, and in his last race in England was beaten by a neck by his
stable companion Gay Crusader in the English Derby. Demosthenes, by
Desmond, and a close relation to Sunstar, was brought from New Zealand,
where he had been a great stud success, at a very high figure; while
Sarchedon, the most recent addition to the stud, and incidentally one of
the highest priced horses who have come this way, is a grey son of The
Tetrarch, and was the most brilliant two-year-old of his year in
England. There are certainly more high-priced mares at Kiora than in any
other New South Wales stud, and it keeps growing in numbers from year to
year. The property is part of the very famous Segenhoe Estate, and the
Hunter divides it from the original Segenhoe Homestead block where Mr.
William Brown bred many good ones.
Across the range from Segenhoe, in a very rich bend of the Hunter, is
Kingsfield, owned by Messrs. J. E. and C. H. Brien, and three stallions
live in luxurious ease here. Malt King, one of the most brilliant horses
we have had of recent years, and the fastest horse Maltster sired, has
been at Kingsfield since the inception of the stud, and he is kept
company by Beragoon, an Australian-bred son of Multiform, and the
recently imported St. Frusquin horse Rossendale. Beragoon was one of the
finest two-year-olds produced here, and was a racehorse of the highest
class, winning both the A.J.C. and V.R.C. Derbies, and is siring some
useful winners.
Rossendale comes from England with sire honours thick upon him, and with
the splendid chances Kingsfield will afford him he should do really
well, for he is a splendid type of horse whose racing merit was of the
highest order. The Kingsfield brood mares are second to none, the
foundation stock being young English mares bought at a very high cost
from the well-known English breeder J. B. Joel, and the additions made
to the mares since have been wisely chosen with a very high regard for
quality and a disregard for cost. Kingsfield is an ideal situation for a
Thoroughbred Stud, the Hunter running right through the property, which
consists of rich flats extending by gradual slopes up to limestone
hills, which form an almost natural boundary fence to the property.
Retracing our steps again to Scone, we find above Sledmere, on the
Kingdon Ponds, the brilliant Panacre, by imported Linacre, at the head
of the Cliffdale Stud, formed last year by Mr. J. Campbell Wood, whose
colours Panacre carried with such success. On this very rich and sound
piece of country a select stud is being put together, and the young
Panacres will shortly be trying to emulate the deeds of their speedy
sire. On north from Cliffdale Sir Samuel Hordern’s Petwyn Vale lies, a
small, attractive holding whose name has yet to be made. Let us hope the
well-bred Englishman Emblematic, a son of Tracery, and a fine stamp of
stallion, will rise to fame and breed some good winners for his sporting
owner, whose success as a breeder has been small in comparison with his
efforts. He has the horse, the mares and the country—that great
essential—and the remaining one, luck, let us hope, may be lurking
behind one of the corner posts. Still further north, near Quirindi, is
the Werribon Stud, and here The Sybarite, a half-brother to the
ill-fated Craganour, is located, with a number of well-bred mares.
Branching off the Northern Railway line at Werris Creek, well outside
the Hunter District, and running inland towards the Queensland Border,
is Mungie Bundie, where Messrs. B. and J. P. Burgess have lately taken
over the stud run so successfully by Mr. John McDonald. Here, on very
rich country, is a grandson of Carbine in Mountain King, a successful
sire, and this year he has been joined by another colonial-bred horse in
Kennaquhair, one of the finest individuals and gamest horses who ever
looked through the proverbial bridle.
Mr. D. Livingston, whose property, Boolaroo, is also in the Moree
District, has recently joined the ranks of yearling breeders, and he has
made an auspicious start by securing the imported Polymelus horse My
Poppo, who is siring good winners. The Yetman Stud, owned by Mr. G. W.
Dight, is farther north again, being practically on the Queensland
Border. The well-bred importation Chipilly, a son of Spearmint, and that
great mare Pretty Polly, is at the head of affairs at Yetman, and should
help to strengthen the house of Carbine in Australia.
Back to Scone once more, and striking out across country towards the
Widden Mountain in the direction of Mudgee, we find a belt of country
which has no superior in Australia as a Thoroughbred nursery. Here is
the home of a famous family of horse-breeders, the Thompsons, and it was
here such famous stallions of the past as Lochiel, Grafton, Ayr Laddie
and Maltster all earned their undying crown of fame. Widden is now owned
by Messrs. A. W. and A. E. Thompson, and they, with their cousins, the
Thompson Bros., of which firm Herbert is the head, have been wonderfully
successful horse-breeders. Widden and Oakleigh are beautiful bits of
country, and the excellence of their paddocks has contributed a great
deal to the success of the numerous horses reared there. Herbert
Thompson and his brother can lay claim to be the largest breeders of the
Thoroughbred in the world to-day, and last year they sent down to the
Sydney sales no less than seventy yearlings, all of whom sold remarkably
well. At Widden the premier stallion of New South Wales, in Linacre, a
well-performed son of Wolf’s Crag, shares the honours of the stud with
the French-bred Kenilworth, a staying descendant of St. Simon. Both
these stallions have been remarkably consistent as winner-getters, and
if the grey Chrysolaus, the most recent addition to the stallion
strength, meets with the same success, his dual owners, the Thompson
Bros., and their cousins A. W. and A. E., will have no reason to regret
having spent 3,600 guineas in acquiring him. The Widden and Oakleigh
mares are a wonderful lot, and are kept up to a very high standard by
the retention of the best fillies bred at the stud. In an article of
this description it is impossible to write of individual mares, for
reference to the good producers owned by the Thompsons would fill many
large sized volumes. At Oakleigh are the English stallions Gadabout, by
St. Denis, Sir Dighton, by Bayardo, and Cooltrim, by Flying Fox, and the
Australian-bred Greenstead, by The Welkin (imp.). The stud suffered a
severe loss recently by the death of imported Tressady, a successful son
of Persimmon.
Another Thompson holding is Canema, where Baverstock, a son of Maltster,
and Wakeful, is siring winners, his son David ranking as one of the best
stayers racing in Australia at the present time. Eaton Lad, by Orvieto,
sires his share of useful horses at Holbrook, near Widden, for his
owner, T. A. Harris. Leaving Widden behind us, and traversing the Bylong
Valley, long famous for the production of good cattle and horses, we get
within close call of Mudgee. Some ten miles before you reach this
veritable lucerne oasis Havilah appears in its picturesque frame of
hills, and here some good performers have been and are being bred. The
property is now owned by Hunter White, a member of one of the best-known
pastoral families in Australia, and a nephew of the late James White, a
counter-type of the famous Admiral Rous. Three, a very highly bred son
of The Welkin, is the hope of the Havilah Stud at the present time, and
he is a splendid individual who looks like getting good stock. Mr.
Hunter White not only breeds on a large scale, but is a staunch
supporter of the N.S.W. Turf, and no colours are more popular than the
red jacket and white Maltese cross of their non-betting owner.
On the other side of Mudgee Mr. D. U. Seaton has Eurunderee, where his
brilliant racehorse Wolaroi is embarking on his stud career. Wolaroi, by
Kenilworth, was bred and raced by his owner, and few more brilliant
horses have carried silk of recent years. Another good performer, in the
Bright Steel horse Westcourt, a Melbourne Cup hero, is at Eurunderee,
and the stud has a nice collection of English and colonial-bred mares.
Farther out from Eurunderee is the old-established stud Biraganbil,
owned for years by the Rouse family, and the present owners, Messrs. L.
G. and H. C. Rouse are keeping up the family’s long connection with the
Thoroughbred. A beautifully bred son of Chaucer, in imported Allegory,
holds sway at Biraganbil, and, if judicious mating will mean success,
the horse has got into the right stud. It is almost needless to say that
L. G. Rouse is identical with the keeper of the Australian Stud Book,
and there is no sounder judge of pedigree in the Southern Hemisphere. He
has done splendid work in his official capacity, not only as regards the
Stud Book, but also as a Racing Steward, etc., and our Thoroughbred
breeders are under a debt of gratitude to him, and Mr. Archie Yuille, of
Melbourne, for their efforts in recording reliable breeding records
whose value cannot be over-estimated.
Dunlop, near Merriwa, is a stud of fairly recent origin, Mr. T. A.
Stirton having established his splendid horse Cetigne, by Grafton
(imp.), there, as well as the flying Biplane, by Comedy King (imp.), a
dual Derby winner and one of the fastest horses of his day.
Another Western Stud, situated near Wellington, on the banks of the
Macquarie, some 80 miles from Mudgee, is that of Mr. Harry Taylor, a
successful breeder. A recent purchase is the New Zealand-bred Humbug, a
great, strapping son of Absurd, and a fine performer in the land of the
Moa. He also owns a fine son of The Welkin in Trillion, and some very
high-class mares. Mr. E. J. Watt, whose dark-blue jacket is familiar to
most racegoers in most parts of Australia, has the Boomey Stud near
Molong, an important station on the branch line from Orange to the
Lachlan and not far from Wellington. A horse of his own breeding in
Pershore, a son of All Black (imp.), is at Boomey, and he will not want
for opportunity among the mares he is being mated with.
Near Cowra, a flourishing Western town, is Alfalfa, owned by the Payten
Bros., sons of the successful trainer, Tom Payten, who saddled so many
good winners for the Hon. James White. The colonial-bred Popinjay, a
brilliant son of Maltster, has done yeoman service for his youthful
owners since being given to them by the present Chief Justice of
Australia, Sir Adrian Knox, whose colours he carried with distinction.
Here, too, in the rich Lachlan country, Mr. I. J. Sloan breeds a number
of good horses, and the latest addition to his stud in the English horse
Cyllene More should materially increase the record of winners turned out
from the North Logan Paddocks. Cyllene More, as his name implies, is a
son of the great Cyllene, and his dam is the well-performed St. Maura.
Another star in the Western breeders’ firmament is Mr. E. A. Haley,
whose stud is not far from the celebrated Leeholme, where the great mare
Etraweenie and her daughters bred so many good horses for the late Hon.
George Lee. At Tekoona, near Bathurst, Mr. Haley has a real English
aristocrat in Redfern, by St. Denis. This well-performed horse will be
represented in the yearling sale ring of 1923 for the first time, and if
Redfern’s progeny inherit their sire’s speed all will be well for the
Tekoona Stud. Redfern was imported at a high cost by Sir William Cooper,
Bart., who raced Trenton and other good horses, and whose colours were
very popular with the Australian racing public.
Another Bathurst studmaster is Mr. John Lee, whose family bears a name
famous in Australian turf and stud history. He is justly proud of a fine
son of The Welkin in Wedge, the last horse to carry Mr. John Turnbull’s
respected and popular colours, and who is just embarking on his stud
life.
An enthusiastic breeder in Mr. C. S. Macphillamy is happily located at
Warroo, near Forbes, on the Lachlan, whose peaceful waters, usually
teeming with bird and fish life, flow on through the property. Good
winners in the past have first seen the light of day in the rich river
frontages of Warroo, and a recently acquired English horse in Polydor,
by Polymelus, should sire many more there.
The Southern Districts of New South Wales breed many good horses, and
the Messrs. G. and H. Main have turned out their share of winners since
starting breeding at their Retreat Stud, near Illabo. William Allison,
the renowned “Special Commissioner” of the London “Sportsman,” made no
mistake in sending out to them the good-looking sire, Limelight, and
some beautifully bred English mares, for in his first stud season
Limelight was successful in siring the brilliant dual Derby winner
Salitros.
At Wagga, one of the oldest racing centres of the State, Mr. J. J.
McGrath and his sons have their Wattle Vale property, and this year a
recent purchase in the New Zealand-bred Egypt, an own brother to the
famous mare, Desert Gold, will be used the first time by them.
One of the most recently formed Southern Studs is Curraburrama, near
Young, owned by Mr. A. P. Wade, whose transactions in matters pertaining
to the pastoral industry generally have been on a very large scale
during recent years. He has established at the head of his Thoroughbred
stud a good-looking and well-bred stallion in Colugo, by The Welkin
(imp.), who will not want for opportunity. Mr. Wade does not do things
by halves and is giving Colugo a great chance with some splendid mares
at the outset of his career.
The rich, sound lands of the Upper Murray are ideal pastures for the
production of big-boned, sound horses, and here at Towong Hill, just
across the river on the Victorian side, stands a turf idol of yesterday
in splendid Trafalgar, the well-beloved of the Randwick and Flemington
crowds. Had his owner, the late Mr. Walter Mitchell, lived, Trafalgar’s
stud chances would have been greater than they now are.
Messrs. Leitch, A. E. Tyson, A. S. O’Keefe, etc., are all breeders who
contribute their quota to the number of good horses the South produces.
Mr. A. S. O’Keefe had in imported Bright Steel a very noble son of St.
Simon, whose memory will be kept alive by Westcourt, Chrome, Scarlet and
others.
Thoroughbreds also find a place on the Northern Rivers, and the
old-established studs of Gordon Brook and Dyraaba, near Casino, have
turned out their share of winners. The first-named property no longer
goes in for thoroughbred breeding, but Mr. H. S. Barnes has a very
elegant son of Bridge of Canny in the imported horse Canzone at Dyraaba
as well as another English-bred horse in Repartee, by Melton, and is
breeding some very useful horses.
Of the studs near Sydney, the famous old Hobartville comes easily first;
a beautiful old home surrounded by the most magnificent trees and
situated just outside the historic town of Richmond. Now owned by Mr.
Percy Reynolds, it still keeps up its reputation for producing
high-class winners, and in his English stallions Bernard, a son of
Robert le Diable, and Bardolph, by Bay Ronald, Mr. Reynolds has two most
valuable sires whose progeny for the most part know how to stay. Here it
was that the Ascot Gold Cup winner Merman first saw the light of day, as
well as the countless good horses bred by Andrew Town, Messrs. Long and
Hill, and other breeders who owned the property in bygone times.
Another historic property not far from Sydney is the Camden Park Estate,
owned by the Macarthur Onslow family, whose ancestor, Captain Macarthur,
brought out the first Merino sheep to Australia. A beautifully bred
horse in imported Polycrates, by Polymelus, is in use at Camden Park, as
well as another importation in the Desmond horse Flying King.
This about completes the itinerary of the Thoroughbred Homes of New
South Wales, and most of these mentioned send drafts of yearlings
regularly to the Sydney sales held every Easter at Randwick by the
bloodstock firms of Messrs. H. Chisholm and Co. and William Inglis and
Son. About 500 yearlings are offered each year, and most of the breeders
get a satisfactory return. In 1920, 572 yearlings realized £107,233,
averaging £187/15/-; in 1921, 512 brought £104,891, averaging slightly
over £204; while last year the 524 sold aggregated £101,669, averaging
£194. The sales have grown steadily in importance each year, and buyers
attend from all parts of Australia and New Zealand to satisfy their
wants. The possibility of buying an embryo Breeders’ Plate or Derby
winner cheaply is the magnet which lures the bids from the buyers at the
ringsides. There is a fascination in buying a yearling which does not
enter into the purchase of a horse whose galloping powers have been
tested, and nearly every buyer at the sales thinks, until disillusioned,
that he has the winner of the next Derby in his newly acquired equine
baby. When one pauses to consider that the average number of runners in
a Derby field is about ten, it will be seen what disappointments the
yearling lucky dip holds. It is good that racing men, one and all, are
more or less always cheerfully optimistic, and the compensation of a
yearling purchase turning out well makes up for a lot of
disappointments.
Victoria has, after many years of stagnation, taken on a new lease of
life as a stud centre, and, with such successful stallions as Comedy
King, The Welkin and Woorak, all located south of the Murray, New South
Wales will have to look to her laurels.
The valley of the Goulburn has become the happy hunting-ground of the
Victorian breeder, and mostly all the principal studs are now located in
this rich strip of country, which extends from Seymour along the banks
of the river for many miles.
At Wahring, about 87 miles distant from Melbourne, Mr. Norman Falkiner
has established his Noorilim Stud, whose rich and highly improved
paddocks shelter the best collection of mares owned by any one man in
Australia. Here, too, is that most perfect horse Comedy King (imp.), a
splendid son of Persimmon, and one of the outstanding stud successes of
to-day. He is a most versatile sire, producing as he does sprinters,
stayers, Cup and Grand National winners. With Comedy King at Noorilim is
the imported Spearmint horse Spearhead, a highly bred young English
horse who is just starting his stud life.
Some ten miles away on the Melbourne side is Chatsworth Park, where the
Redfearn family bred many good horses in days gone by. The V.R.C.
Chairman, Mr. L. K. S. McKinnon, on Woorak’s retirement from the turf,
established him at Chatsworth at the head of a very select lot of mares,
but dispersed the stud in 1921. Chatsworth is now owned by Mr. Hildyard,
who is gradually establishing a stud there with the imported Quæstor, by
Cicero, at the head of it. The hunting enthusiast, Mr. A. T. Creswick,
whose years sit lightly on him and who yet takes tea with the best of
them over the stiff post and rail fences the Melbourne Hounds hunt over,
has a nice property at Negambie. Here, at the Nook Stud, is All Black,
an imported son of Gallinule, and whose daughter Desert Gold is one of
the best of the Australasian Turf’s fair sex. White Star, an own brother
to the English Derby winner Sunstar, is also at The Nook with a
wonderfully choice collection of mares, who are bound to produce more
than their share of winners. Not far away Mr. Winter Irving keeps some
half-dozen very select mares, and he has already added to the valley’s
reputation by breeding good horses.
This year death removed Mr. J. V. Smith, a familiar figure from the
horse-breeding world of Victoria; he has left his sons to carry on his
breeding operations. Only recently the stud was moved from Bundoora,
where it had been for many years, to Kuarangi, a rich valley property
near Dhurringle. Wallace, who was at Bundoora for several seasons, was
undoubtedly the best horse Carbine left behind him in Australia, and the
Messrs. Smith are happy in the possession of a number of well-bred mares
by him. The stallion now in use is Ethopiam (imp.), a son of Dark
Ronald, and this year will be his first at the stud. Toolamba is another
valley stud of recent origin, owned by Dr. S. A. Syme. He has a
prospective stud success here in imported Lanius, a very well performed
and staying son of Llangibby, whose progeny are just starting to race
this season. The New Zealand-bred Broadsword is also at Toolamba, and
siring useful horses.
All the successful Victorian studs are not to be found in the fertile
Goulburn pastures, for one of the most famous of them is situated some
20 miles the other side of Melbourne. This is Mr. E. E. D. Clarke’s
property, Melton, which he keeps almost entirely as a private stud, only
selling a few yearlings each year at the sales. Melton shelters that
wonderful horse The Welkin, one of the most successful stallions ever
imported to the colonies. Another importation is Cyklon, by Spearmint,
who was bought by Mr. Clarke quite recently. This year Melton has
achieved something in the way of a double-barrelled record, for The
Welkin is at the head of the Winning Sires’ List, while Mr. Ernest
Clarke tops the names of the Winning Owners of Australia.
Other Victorian breeders, in Messrs. Philip Russell, Major Alan Currie
and the Hon. Agar Wynne, have all established studs on the Western
Plains of Victoria, and are breeding their share of winners; while
Messrs. F. W. Norman, D. J. Bourke, H. F. Creswick, A. S. Chirnside are
also doing their bit in the production of the Victorian Thoroughbred.
Most of the breeders above named send drafts of yearlings annually to
the sales held in Melbourne during March by Messrs. W. C. Yuille & Co.
and Messrs. Adamson, Strettle & Co. The number of yearlings sold by the
two firms falls a long way short of the number offered in Sydney, but
they are remarkably successful.
South Australia does not produce a great number of Thoroughbreds, but
quality is very much in evidence in the yearling drafts which are
annually sold in Victoria by Messrs. J. H. Aldridge and R. M. Hawker.
Richmond Park, owned by the Aldridges, has been famous as a Thoroughbred
nursery for many years, and has been remarkably successful in
insistently producing good winners. The sires now in use are Pistol, by
Carbine, imported some years ago; St. Anton, by St. Frusquin; and
Lucknow, by Minoru. Mr. L. F. Aldridge, who manages Richmond Park, is a
practical enthusiast who leaves nothing to chance. Mr. R. M. Hawker
comes of a South Australian family famous as sheep breeders, but he has
shown that he can breed Thoroughbreds equally as well, and his young
Cyklons are proving themselves on the racecourse.
Western Australia for years barely attempted to produce the home-grown
article in the Thoroughbred, but recently Messrs. P. A. Connelly, D.
Grant and others have started breeding with success, and with others
following their example the West should more than hold their own against
horses bred in the other States.
The Thoroughbred studs of Queensland are more or less confined to a very
rich tract of country known as the Darling Downs, situated within easy
reach of the New South Wales border. Here Mr. C. E. McDougall has that
fine property Lyndhurst, where he has been breeding winners for many
years. Lyndhurst has been particularly fortunate in its stallions, for
Ladurlad (imp.), Syce (imp.) and Seremond (imp.) have all been stud
successes, Syce in particular being a really great sire. Another English
importation in Chantemerle, by Polymelus, is now at Lyndhurst in company
with Seremond; and the stud sends drafts of yearlings annually to the
Sydney sales, where they sell exceptionally well. Mr. J. H. S. Barnes, a
member of a well-known New South Wales family of horse-breeders and
pastoralists, recently bought the Canning Downs property near Warwick,
on the Darling Downs, and has imported Highfield, by William the Third,
at the head of his stud of select mares established there. Other
well-known Queensland breeders in Messrs. M. Ryan and W. Glasson are
producing winners, and the future of the Thoroughbred in the Northern
State seems brighter than it has been for many years.
Thoroughbred horse breeding seems to be on the increase in nearly all
the States, and though the modern Australian Thoroughbred may not be as
tough an animal as his early progenitors, or possess their staying
powers, he is, taken all round, a sounder horse than is produced in any
other part of the world to-day. The few horses that have been sent to
England from Australia have more than held their own both on the
racecourses and at the stud, and it is to be hoped that the demand from
home for the good staying Waler will be revived.
FAMOUS RACEHORSES
In 1840 that influential body then known as the Australian Race
Committee, in a long statement, said: “They had in view the
encouragement to breed that description of horse which was most
desirable for colonial purposes—viz., one combining, with great strength
and endurance, as much speed as we can procure.” The old-time breeders
acted well up to those conditions, as we have proof in the wonderful
stamina shown by such horses as Jorrocks, Veno, The Barb, Tarragon,
Dagworth and Reprieve.
During the early part of the present century it became apparent that the
horse was gaining in speed but losing in stamina. Trainers, who have
spent a lifetime at the work, are all agreed that the horse of the
present day has not the stamina or constitution of those horses bred in
the middle and towards the close of the last century.
The question is often asked: “Which was the best horse that ever raced
in Australia?” Racing men all have their fancies. I favour the idea of
classing them according to the period in which they raced. Thus, the
best horse of the early period of racing in this colony appears to have
been Junius. Then comes Jorrocks, Veno, Zoe, Tarragon, The Barb, First
King, Grand Flaneur, Malua, Sir Modred, Commotion, Carbine, Wakeful,
Poseidon and Poitrel. Asked which were the better quartette of the lot
mentioned as far as personal opinion goes, the reply would be: The Barb,
Carbine, Sir Modred and Poitrel.
FRANK WILKINSON.
[Illustration:
JORROCKS (†) by Whisker. Sold in 1841 by his breeder, Mr. H. Bailey,
who took in exchange for the gelding 8 springing heifers (equivalent
to £40 sterling). The gelding took part in 81 races, 57 of which he
won, the majority being run in heats.
]
[Illustration:
VENO (†). Ches. Horse, foaled about 1853, by Waverley—Peri. Winner
A.J.C. Plate at Homebush, 1857, beat Alice Hawthorn in a match over
3 miles at Flemington for £2000 and the Championship of the N.S.W.
and Victorian Turf. Owned by Mr. G. F. Rowe.
]
[Illustration:
FISHERMAN (11) imp. Brown Horse, 1854, by Heron—Mainbrace. Winner of
65 races, including Ascot Gold Cup (twice), etc. Imported in 1860.
Sire of Maribyrnong, Fishhook, Gasworks, Angler, etc. Died 1865.
]
[Illustration:
FLYING BUCK (†). Bay Horse, 1856, by Warhawk or Romulus—Wilhemina.
Winner of the first Champion Race at Flemington in 1859. Owned by
the late Mr. W. C. Yuille, Victoria.
]
[Illustration:
ARCHER (†). Bay Horse, 1856, by William Tell (imp.)—Maid of the Oaks.
Winner of the first and second V.R.C. Melbourne Cups, etc. Owned by
the late Mr. E. de Mestre, N.S.W.
]
[Illustration:
CLOVE (3). Brown Mare, 1862, by Magus—Clove (imp.). Winner of the
first A.J.C. Derby, and ancestress of Abercorn, Desert Rose,
Wolaroi, etc. Owned by Mr. Cheeke.
]
[Illustration:
YATTENDON (17). Brown Horse, 1861, by Sir Hercules—Cassandra. Winner
of the first Sydney Cup, and one of the most successful sires bred
in Australia. Died at Fernhill in 1880.
]
[Illustration:
MARIBRYNONG (3). Brn. Horse, 1863, by Fisherman (imp.)—Rose de
Florence (imp.). Winner of good races and a very successful sire.
Among his progeny were Richmond, Bosworth, Woodlands, etc. Died in
1887.
]
[Illustration:
THE BARB (†). Black Horse, 1863, by Sir Hercules—Fair Ellen. Winner of
the Champion Race, Melbourne Cup, Metropolitan Stakes, Sydney Cup
(on two occasions), the last time carrying 10 st. 8 lb. A really
good horse. Sire of Tocal, Fitz Hercules, etc. Owned by the late Mr.
John Tait, Sydney.
]
[Illustration:
TIM WHIFFLER (4). Bay Horse, 1862, by New Warrior—Cinderella. Winner
of the S.A.J.C. Derby, V.R.C. Melbourne Cup, Australian Cup, A.J.C.
Metropolitan, etc. Owned by the late Mr. E. de Mestre, N.S.W.
]
[Illustration:
CHESTER (8). Brown Horse, 1874, by Yattendon—Lady Chester (imp.).
Winner of the V.R.C. Derby, Melbourne Cup, etc. A great racehorse,
and the sire of Abercorn, Carlyon, etc. Bred and raced by Hon. James
White. Died at Kirkham in 1891.
]
[Illustration:
FIRST KING (12). Bay Horse, 1874, by King of the Ring—Mischief. Winner
of numerous races, including the V.R.C. Champion Race, in which he
established a time record up to the year he was successful. Sire of
The Nun, Chintz, Ringmaster, etc. Owned by the late Mr. Jas. Wilson,
Victoria.
]
[Illustration:
ROBINSON CRUSOE (13). Brn. Horse, 1873, by Angler—Chrysolite (imp.).
Winner of A.J.C. Derby, St. Leger, and other good races. Sire of
Insomnia (dam of Wakeful), Navigator, Trident, etc. Died in 1898.
Owned by Mr. C. B. Fisher.
]
[Illustration:
GOLDSBROUGH (13). Brown Horse, 1870, by Fireworks—Sylvia. A high-class
racehorse and sire, whose daughters produced many of the best horses
of Australia, including Trenton, Wallace, Abercorn, etc. Died at
Tocal Stud in 1898.
]
[Illustration:
GRAND FLANEUR (14). Bay Horse, 1877, by Yattendon—First Lady (imp.).
Winner of £7,939, including A.J.C. Derby, V.R.C. Melbourne Cup, etc.
Unbeaten as a racehorse. Sire of Merman, Patron, Hopscotch, etc.
Died at Chipping Norton in 1900.
]
[Illustration:
ABERCORN (3). Ches. Horse, 1884, by Chester—Cinnamon. Winner of
£12,828, including A.J.C. Derby, Randwick Plate, V.R.C. Champion
Stakes, etc. Abercorn beat Carbine on three occasions at
weight-for-age. Sire of Coil, Cocos, Cobbity, etc. Exported to
England in 1898. Died in 1905. Raced by the late Hon. James White.
]
[Illustration:
MALUA (3). Bay Horse, 1879, by St. Albans—Edella. Winner of the V.R.C.
Newmarket Hcap., Melbourne Cup, and Grand National Hurdle Race, etc.
Sire of Maluma, Malvolio, Mora, etc. Died 1896. Owned by the late
Mr. J. O. Inglis, Victoria, who rode him in the Grand National
Hurdle Race he won.
]
[Illustration:
WAKEFUL (9). Bay Mare, 1896, by Trenton—Insomnia. Probably the best
mare bred in Australia. Winner of £16,580, and at the stud has
produced Nightwatch, Blairgour and Baverstock. Owned and raced by
Mr. C. L. Macdonald, Victoria.
]
[Illustration:
LA CARABINE (1). Ches. Mare, 1894, by Carbine—Oratava (imp.). A
high-class stayer, winning 15 races, including Champion Race on two
occasions. Raced by Sir Rupert Clarke, Bt., Victoria.
]
[Illustration:
CARLITA (1). Brown Mare, 1911, by Charlemagne II. (imp.)—Couronne.
Winner of V.R.C. Derby, Oaks, Champion Stakes, A.J.C. Randwick
Plate, Craven Plate, etc. Now at the stud. Owned by Mr. P. Puech,
Sydney.
]
[Illustration:
TARTAN (13). Brown Horse, 1901, by Lochiel (imp.)—Colors. Winner of
£9697, including A.J.C. Sydney Cup. Died 1914.
]
[Illustration:
POSEIDON (10). Bay Horse, 1903, by Positano (imp.)—Jacinth. Winner of
£19,946, including V.R.C. Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, A.J.C. and
V.R.C. Derbies, etc. Sire of Telecles, Greg, Old Mungindi, etc.
Owned by Mr. H. R. Denison, N.S.W.
]
[Illustration:
PRINCE FOOTE (5). Bay Horse, 1906, by Sir Foote (imp.)—Petruscka
(imp.) Winner of V.R.C. Melbourne Cup, A.J.C. and V.R.C. Derbies,
etc. Sire of Richmond Main, Prince Viridis, Prince Charles, etc.
Died 1922. Owned by his breeder, Mr. John Brown, Will’s Gully Stud,
N.S.W.
]
RACING IN NEW SOUTH WALES
By FRANK WILKINSON (MARTINDALE)
The early history of racing in New South Wales is somewhat obscure owing
to the extreme reticence of the State’s first journals.
The first newspaper published in New South Wales was the “Sydney Gazette
and New South Wales Advertiser,” which made its appearance on March 5th,
1803. There was no competition, and thus the recognition of good news
depended on the inclination of a single office staff.
The first sporting note published in the “Gazette” was relative to a
cockfight which took place in the village of Parramatta in September,
1804. It was not until April 30, 1810, that any mention of racing was
made. Six years later the “Gazette” of May 5th records a match at
Parramatta on April 5th. Even in this first notice there are indications
given of previous matches, and a considerable amount of fame attributed
to some of the performers.
The report is interesting:—
The following express from a correspondent at Parramatta. We
acknowledge its receipt by its insertion. The annals of this country
have never been able to record such _outré_ pastimes—such feats of
humour and fun so congenial to the spirit and temper of Englishmen as
this day has produced in the village of Parramatta. The sport
commenced with a race between the celebrated horse Parramatta and the
b.h. Belfast, which was won by the former. A trotting race succeeded,
when the famous mare Miss Betty was victorious, going over the ground
in a style scarcely to be surpassed by some of the first trotters in
England. On these matches, bets to a considerable amount were pending.
When these animals had retired from the field, the old but not very
humane or merciful custom of cockfighting was introduced, and a main
of cocks was fought, the chances of which were for a long time
precarious until at length death decided the victory, and the survivor
was borne off triumphant. Then succeeded the motley mirth of
footracing, wheelbarrow races, or rather stumbling, for the heroes who
had charge of these wooden conveyances were blindfolded to give them a
fairer chance of effecting by accident that which they had no visible
means of doing. Jumping in sacks came next in order, and a venerable
host gave the calculated complement of calico for a “chemise” to be
run for by three vestals of the current order. This was a very warm
contest, and was obstinately kept up as long as the fair competitors
could keep themselves up. But this not being practicable nor
altogether answerable to the wishes of the spectators, the sacks were
soon disburthened of their fair contents and the prize awarded. The
day’s proceedings finished up with the carrying of the good host on
the shoulders of some spectators to his own door, when he “shouted”
for his carriers with a copious libation of the best West Indian
product.
THE FIRST RACE MEETING AT SYDNEY.
The officers of the 73rd Regiment, together with many of the better
class of people in Governor Macquarie’s reign, were evidently keen on
racing, for they announced in the “Gazette” that the Sydney races were
to take place in October (1810) for three fifty-guinea plates. A track
was prepared on what is now known as Hyde Park. Chatting with some of
the old hands years ago I was told that the stand was placed close by
what is now the junction of Market and Elizabeth Streets, the straight
being along the latter thoroughfare from Park Street. The attendance was
the largest ever collected in the colony. The winners were:—
Subscribers’ Plate of fifty guineas Chase
Ladies’ Cup, fifty guineas Chase
Magistrate’s Purse, fifty guineas Scratch
The second Sydney race meeting occupied August 12th, 14th and 16th,
1811, on the Hyde Park track. On the first day the Subscription Plate of
fifty guineas was won by Mr. Bent’s ch. g. Matchem, while Captain
Ritchie’s Cheviot won the Two-year-old Sweepstakes. Here we have the
interesting fact of thoroughbreds being produced, yet not a word as to
their sires or dams. On the second day the Ladies’ Cup of fifty guineas
was won by Colonel O’Connel’s Carlo and the presentation to the winner
was made by Mrs. Macquarie. A pony race was won by Mrs. James Cox’s
Fidget. On the third day the Magistrate’s Plate was won by Mr. William’s
Strawberry.
Just a year elapsed before the third meeting took place. It extended
over four days, August 17, 19, 21 and 22. On the opening day Colonel
O’Connel’s black horse Carlo won the Subscription Purse of fifty
guineas, and Mr. Williams’s rn. h. Strawberry took the Ladies’ Cup on
the second day. Mr. Birch’s Cheviot won the Subscription Purse of fifty
guineas on the third day. The sporting people also subscribed fifty
guineas for a three-mile race, in which Mr. Kearns’ b. m. Creeping Jenny
outdistanced her two opponents. On the fourth day a sweepstake of
fifteen guineas for gentlemen riders was won by Mr. R. Campbell’s
Tallboy, and a match for twenty guineas between Captain Cameron’s Miss
Portly and Captain Crane’s Erin was won by the former.
The fourth race meeting was held on August 16, 18 and 19 (1813), when
Little Pickles won a 50-guinea Plate; Carlo won the Ladies’ Cup and
Plate; Purse, Mulberry.
It was not until May 31, 1819, that a race meeting was held, when a
programme of three events was run off. A Silver Cup (two-mile heats) was
won by Mr. Emmett’s Rob Roy, beating Commissary and five others. A
Silver Bowl for three-year-olds went to Mr. Cribb’s Sly Boots, who beat
Haphazard and three others. The third race was for a saddle and bridle,
which were easily appropriated by Mr. R. Campbell’s Speedy.
In 1820 there was a race meeting which extended over two days. It was a
poor affair. A Subscription Cup (three-mile heats) was run, in which Mr.
Frank’s Rob Roy beat Mr. Fisher’s Pickles. On the second day Mr.
Walker’s Haphazard won a Subscription Purse, and Mr. Campbell’s Speedy
won a prize of £20, while Mulberry collected a Silver Bowl, Cover and
Saddle.
There was a three-days’ meeting on August 14, 15 and 16, 1821, when the
winning horses were Rob Roy, Captain Dandy, Deceit, Bray and Leadbeater.
The event which created most interest was the Subscription Purse of 50
guineas, presented by the ladies of the colony for three-year-olds
carrying 7 stone, two-mile heats. It was won by Mr. Walker’s blk. f.
Miss Nettleton, after three heats, of which Mr. Cooker’s Random won the
first.
The year 1822, and the two following years, are entirely bare of
sporting news, and not until 1825 did turf affairs improve. During the
month of March a new turf club was formed, with the Governor, Sir Thomas
Brisbane, as patron. A race club was also instituted at Parramatta, and
an impromptu meeting held on a new course four miles outside Sydney, on
March 17. At first it was resolved to limit the members of the new turf
club to sixty, but this was considered too exclusive. Sir John Jamieson
was elected president, and the first race meeting was held at Hyde Park
on April 25 and 26, 1825. At this meeting the afterwards celebrated
Junius made a victorious appearance by securing first place in the Town
Plates of 50 sovereigns (heats). He was owned by Mr. Nash, and for some
time after was termed the champion horse of the colony. At this meeting
he also secured the Magistrate’s Plate, and at the second meeting of the
Sydney Turf Club, held on September 23, 24 and 25, Junius won two
events. At this meeting we read of a Handicap Stakes of five guineas
each, with ten guineas added, won by Mr. Nichol’s Captain, 7st. 2lb.
This is the first mention of a handicap run on the Australian turf.
There was also a six-furlong race for two-year-olds, won by Australian.
Racing at Parramatta.
The new club at Parramatta held its opening meeting on October 7 and 8.
There was a most fashionable attendance. Slender Billy, nominated by Mr.
Nash, won the J.C. Plate in three heats; Mr. Bayley’s Traveller took the
Ladies’ Purse, and also beat Slender Billy in a match for 20 sovereigns,
following up by gaining the Town Plate in two heats. His Excellency the
Governor presented a purse won by Mr. Yorrick’s Prince.
A New Racecourse.
The Committee of the Sydney Turf Club were evidently determined to push
the sport ahead. They had a fresh course laid out during 1826. The new
track, about four miles from Sydney, lay on the Parramatta Road, between
Gorse Farm and the farm belonging to Mr. Johnson, where the annual races
took place on June 14 and 16 of that year. It is said that there were
2,000 people present when Junius won the Brisbane Cup (heats, twice
round). Junius also won the Turf Club Plate. Other winners were Mr.
Wentworth’s Don Giovanni, Colonel Dumaresque’s Alraschid, Mr. Bayley’s
Nesta and Mr. Roberts’ Captain.
The second meeting on the new course took place on April 25 and 27,
1827, in unfavourable weather. Junius again won the Brisbane Cup, and
Australia won a Sweepstakes (mile heats). On the second day Junius
walked over for the Town Plate, when Mr. Nash, his owner, gave the prize
for a second competition. It was won by a horse owned by a Mr. Brown, of
Windsor. Australia also won the second Subscription Race.
The other notable event of this year—1827—was the first race meeting
ever held at Campbelltown, on August 13, when three events of £50 each
were run off. The keenest contest of the day is said to have been
between Young Junius and a horse owned by a Mr. Sikes. Young Junius took
the prize.
On September 14 Mr. Deely secured Steeltrap for £250, with the proviso
that the horse should be allowed to cover, free of cost, twenty-five
mares the property of his late owner. Steeltrap was a chestnut horse,
imported by Mr. Aspinall in 1823. He was by Scud from Prophetess, by
Sorcerer.
During the month of October, 1829, at a show held at Parramatta, Sir
John Jamieson’s Bennelong, a son of imported Steeltrap, was awarded
first prize, and at Parramatta races Australian won the Promoter’s Purse
and the Handicap Sweepstakes. Scratch, who came down from the Hawkesbury
district, won the Australian Youths’ Stakes, beating a good
field—Highflyer, Bowler, Abdallah, Creeper, Smallhopes and Honeycomb.
A New Race Club.
In November, 1827, an event happened which played a most important part
in Australian turf history. At a dinner given in honour of Sir Thomas
Brisbane some remarks were made by Mr. Wentworth and Dr. Wardell, which
were thought to bear a political significance. The result was that
Governor Darling considered himself insulted, withdrew his patronage
from the Sydney Turf Club, and subsequently issued arbitrary injunctions
to all members of the Civil Service to do likewise on pain of dismissal.
Many members had thus to leave the old club, but they were not long idle
in setting about forming another.
However, the split in the camp did not prevent the old club from racing
on April 9th and 11th, 1828. On the first day, the third Brisbane Cup
was won by Mr. Brown’s bl. h. Scratch, beating the old champion Junius.
There was a great race for the Produce Stakes of £75, for 2-year-olds,
the progeny of Steeltrap, Cammerton and Baron. There were four starters,
Mr. Lawson’s bl. c. Spring Gun, by Steeltrap, winning by a neck from Sir
J. Jamieson’s b. c. Bennelong, by Cammerton. In a match for £1,000
aside, Abdallah beat Don Giovanni, and Mr. Lawson’s 2-year-old filly
Nell Gwynne, by Steeltrap, won the Turf Club Plate of 50 guineas (heats
once round). The winning of the race was a great surprise, as she beat
such good performers as Australian, Young Hector, Brown George, and
Junius. The lastnamed must have been out of form, as he was distanced.
On the second day Abdallah won the Members’ Purse, also the Sweepstakes,
while Australian won the Town Plate and Handicap Sweepstakes.
The Australian Racing and Jockey Club.
On April 23, 1828, the new club was established under the name of the
Australian Racing and Jockey Club, to which Governor Darling accorded
his patronage. At that time it was generally known as the Governor’s
Club, and was expected to materially injure the old club. However, such
was not the case, for during the next few years there were three and
four meetings in place of one.
A Liberal Governor.
On July 7, 1828, the “Gazette” announced Governor Darling’s intention to
present a cup annually to the new Jockey Club. The first meeting was
held on October 1st and 3rd on the Parramatta Racecourse, as the Turf
Club refused them the use of the course near Sydney. The first day’s
programme opened with the Governor’s Cup heats, twice round the course,
gentlemen riders, and the eventual winner was Mr. Lawson’s 3-year-old,
Spring Gun. Other starters were Bennelong, Junius, Lawyer and Currency
Lad. One of the most hotly contested races ever witnessed in the colony
was for a sweepstake of 10 guineas each, with 25 guineas added.
Australian won. A 2-year-old filly named Cornelia, owned by Mr. Icely,
made a victorious effort. A hack race, won by Mr. Riley’s Major, and a
match in which a pony owned by Mr. Terry defeated Mr. Stephen’s Don
Giovanni, concluded the day’s sport.
On the second day, Australian won the Town Plate, and Lawyer (who
afterwards had his name changed to Counsellor) won the Maiden Plate. The
meeting concluded with the winning of the Handicap Sweepstakes by
Australian, who defeated Abdallah.
Leading Events of 1829.
On April 8th and 10th, the Turf Club held a popular meeting on its own
course. The report states that there were 5,000 people present on the
first day, when Mr. Lawson’s Spring Gun won the fourth Brisbane Cup,
beating Crowcatcher, Scratch and Australian. Mr. Lawson’s stable was in
great form, as his horses won the three events of the day. His filly,
Princess, took the Two-year-old Stakes, whilst Spring Gun won the
Wentworth Purse. On the second day, Spring Gun won the Town Plate, but
Princess was beaten by Australian in the Sweepstakes. In the Second
Handicap Sweepstakes, the favourite, Scratch, was beaten by Crowcatcher.
This was a great disappointment to the favourite’s followers from
Windsor, who offered to make a match to run the winner in a month’s
time, but the owner of Crowcatcher would not agree.
The Australian Racing and Jockey Club ran off a two-days’ programme on
April 22nd and 24th. The Challenge Cup took four heats to decide the
winner, owing to a dispute. Sir John Jamieson’s Bennelong eventually got
the verdict. A Maiden Plate of £30 for two-year-olds resulted in a win
for Mr. Icely’s Counsellor. A sweepstake of £10, with £20 added, was won
by Sir John Jamieson’s Abdallah, which also won the Subscription Stakes
on the second day. The Ladies’ Purse went to Counsellor, who, saddled up
a third time, appropriated the Handicap Sweepstakes. His only opponent,
Abdallah, won the first heat, and the talent laid 5 to 1 on him for the
second, but the horse threw his rider. A hack race, won by Alraschid,
brought the meeting to a close.
Hawkesbury Races.
The Hawkesbury Races took place on July 22nd and 24th, when funds were
poor. To the joy of the local contingent, Scratch won the opening event,
Steward’s Cup of £50, after a good race with Abdallah. Counsellor took
the Ladies’ Purse. A chestnut filly by Steeltrap won the Two-year-old
Stakes, beating Sir John Jamieson’s Chance, by Camerton or Abdallah. On
the second day the filly Chance was entered as by Abdallah, and unnamed,
for a Subscription Stakes of 25 guineas. She won, but a protest was
entered on the ground that she had previously run as Chance. She was
withdrawn, and the race run over again, when Scratch won. The Town Plate
was won by Counsellor, and the Handicap Sweepstakes by Scratch. The
meeting closed with a hack race, won by a black filly owned by Mr.
Badgery.
The Spring Meeting of the A.R.J.C. or Governor’s Club was held on the
Parramatta Course, on September 30th and October 2nd. There were only
two starters for the Governor’s Cup, Bennelong and Counsellor, the
former taking the prize. The Maiden Plate of £40 was appropriated by Mr.
Hays’ b. h. Sober Robin, 4 years, who won two heats, defeating Gipsy,
Golumpus, Manciella and Delphina. Abdallah won the Ladies’ Purse, and
secured a £30 Sweepstakes.
On the second day there was a keen contest for the Town Plate between
Abdallah and Scratch. The latter won the second and third heats. That
Counsellor was in great form was shown by his winning of the Ladies’
Purse. The meeting concluded with a race for hacks and another for
ponies.
Racing During 1830.
The only racing events during the year of 1830 were the annual fixtures
of the Turf Club and the Spring Meeting of the A.R.J.C. The former held
its meeting on April 20th and 22nd. The fifth Brisbane Cup (heats) went
to Bennelong. Behind him were Counsellor, Sir Hercules, Chase and
Scratch. The Two-year-old Stakes of £25, once round, attracted a field
of five, and won by Mr. Bettington’s b. c. Mantrap. The beaten division
was composed of Tally Ho, Skip, Tomboy and Velocipede. The Wentworth
Purse of £50, heats, once round, went to Mr. Lawson’s Spring Gun. Other
starters were Abdallah, Laurel, Rob Roy, Waxy, Boshey, and Bolt. During
the race, Bolt, who cleared off the course, overthrew a gig and pitched
his rider ten yards. Boshey, while crossing a bridge on the course,
fell, throwing his rider, Badgery. The bridge also brought about another
serious accident, as when contesting a match for £150 aside, Sir J.
Jamieson’s Sailor Boy, racing neck and neck with Mr. Justice Savage’s
Sir John, put his foot in a hole, throwing Lawson.
Owing to heavy rain the course on the second day was very bad, but there
was a better attendance. The veteran Scratch won the Town Plate of £50
(heats) from Bay Camerton, a two-year-old, and Nell Gwynne. A
Sweepstakes of £10 each, with £20 added, heats, once round, was won by a
chestnut colt named Chase, owned by Messrs. Cox. He easily disposed of
Spring Gun, Counsellor and Barefoot. A Handicap Sweepstakes, twice
round, concluded the programme. The winner was Sir J. Jamieson’s veteran
Abdallah, beating Skip, Tally Ho, and Boshey. The latter was again
unlucky, as he fell when leading.
Camerton’s Representatives.
The Australian Racing and Jockey Club held their Spring Meeting on
October 6th and 8th. The feature of the first day was the success of
Camerton’s stock. They won the three events, as follows:—Governor’s Cup,
Counsellor; Maiden Plate, £25, Mr. Bayley’s three-year-old Tomboy; Turf
Club Sweepstakes, £25, Mr. Bayley’s four-year-old Chase.
On the second day, the Town Plate (heats, twice round, w.f.a.) was won
by Chase, beating Counsellor, Scratch and Junius. Mr. Bayley won the
Ladies’ Purse with Boshey, while Barefoot won the Two Miles’ Handicap
Sweepstakes, beating Tomboy and Abdallah. The programme closed with a
race for untried horses, won by Mr. Bayley’s Australian.
A day’s racing at Windsor on December 27 closed the year.
From 1831 to 1835.
Turf affairs became dull during these four years, but there were several
happenings worth chronicling. On May 18th and 20th of 1831, the Turf
Club held a meeting, when Sir John Jamieson won the sixth Brisbane Cup
with Bennelong. Mr. Smith won Mr. Wentworth’s annual gift of £50 (heats)
with Boshey, and also the Town Plate on the second day. The Members’
Purse went to Tomboy, and in a match Mr. E. Deas-Thomson’s Tam o’
Shanter beat Captain Harper’s Getaway. The added money to the meeting
was £205.
During August of 1831, the death was announced of the Windsor champion,
Scratch, while being exercised.
In the same week Mr. Nash’s stables at Parramatta were destroyed by
fire, and the horses Junius and Laurel died from injuries received. For
the previous two years Junius had been pensioned off by his sporting
owner.
On August 24th, 26th and 27th, a race meeting was held on the beautiful
Killarney course near Windsor. The opening event, Publican’s Purse, was
won by Mr. Bayley’s Tomboy. There was a field of ten for the Ladies’
Purse, won by Mr. Smith’s Flying Pieman, after four heats. Winners of
other races were Chase and Matilda. The Scarvell Cup (heats) was keenly
contested and eventually won by Mr. Warby’s Sovereign.
Parramatta Subscription Races were held on October 5th and 7th, 1831,
when Tomboy, now a four-year-old, won the opening event, a £50 purse
(heats). Mr. Hartley won the Maiden Plate with Shamrock, and Chase beat
his only opponent, Brutus, for a £30 purse (heats). The first day’s
proceedings closed with a hack race, won by Matilda. On the second day,
Bennelong beat Chase in the Town Plate, and Shamrock won a Sweepstakes,
defeating Tomboy.
Mr. Wentworth elected President of the Turf Club.
Governor Burke Presents a Cup.
In February of 1832, a meeting of the Turf Club members decided to hold
the spring race meeting at Parramatta. Mr. Wentworth was elected
President of the Club, and Governor Sir Richard Burke eventually
consented to assist the Club, and presented a cup for competition. The
meeting took place on April 11th and 13th—probably the best meeting yet
held.
Proceedings opened on the first day with the race for Governor Burke’s
Cup for horses of all ages, twice round the course. There were three
starters—Bennelong, Shamrock, and Mr. Icely’s three-year-old Chancellor,
by Steeltrap from Minto, which won. The Two-year-old Stakes of £30 was
won by Mr. Lawson’s Belinda, by Skeleton. The Wentworth Purse (heats,
once round, about 1 mile 1 furlong) was secured by Mr. Bayley’s
three-year-old filly Lady Emily, by Manfred. The winner won a heat in 2
minutes 30 seconds—a very fine performance. On the second day the
seventh Brisbane Cup was won by Chancellor. Lady Emily took the Members’
Purse, Belinda the Town Plate, and Matilda a handicap.
It is reported that the second day was long remembered from the fact
that about 40 women who were taken out of the Parramatta factory to cut
brooms, bolted from the overseers and made for the racecourse, where
they were received with loud cheers. One of them was mounted on a horse
behind the rider and borne round in triumph. The others were liberally
treated to brandy and ginger beer before they were captured. Several men
also escaped from the gaol and took a few hours’ recreation at the races
before they were retaken.
Steeplechasing. First Liverpool Races.
Parramatta Races. Important Action at Law.
On August 25th, 1832, a steeplechase took place over five miles of
ground between Botany and Coogee, in which the last horse forfeited £5
to the winner. The following horses started and finished in the order
given:—
Mr. Williams’ ch. h. Thiefcatcher (Capt. Deedes) 1
Mr. E. Deas-Thomson’s Tam o’ Shanter (Owner) 2
Mr. Meller’s gr. m. Moll (Owner) 3
Capt. Hunter’s b. h. Tom (Owner) 4
Mr. Bourke’s gr. h. (Owner) 5
Mr. Finch’s gr. h. Bogtrotter (Owner) 6
Major Bouverie’s gr. h. Ugley (Owner) —
They went away at a killing pace, Captain Hunter leading, followed by
Mr. Thomson. When crossing the brook in Coogee Bay a sheet would have
covered five of the number, but a steep hill which had to be surmounted
settled the pretensions of all excepting Thiefcatcher and Tam o’
Shanter. The latter then took the lead and held it for about five
hundred yards, when Captain Deedes challenged him with Thiefcatcher and
succeeded in winning a beautifully ridden race by a neck, in 18 mins. 30
secs. Mr. Finch took a line of his own, the result of which was most
disastrous, as he parted company with Bogtrotter; otherwise it was
believed that he would have won. The course was a very severe one, and
the plucky riding surpassed anything ever before witnessed in the
Colony.
On September 1st another steeplechase between numerous gentlemen took
place on a course at Cook’s River, and was won by Mr. E. Deas-Thomson’s
Tam o’ Shanter.
A Match and an Action at Law.
A match for £100 aside was run off on October 4th, 1832, between Mr.
Bayley’s Velocipede and Mr. Hartley’s Blacklock, at Parramatta. The
former came in first, but was protested against, and the result was
finally settled at Court. This is about the first case in Australia in
which a stakeholder was summoned to return the money deposited with him.
The case, Hartley v. Shadforth, was tried on March 21st. It was an
action brought by the plaintiff before the Chief Justice and Messrs.
Manning and Lane, Assessors, to recover £100, being stakes deposited in
the hands of defendant, who acted as judge and stakeholder in a match
run at Parramatta during the previous October between Velocipede, the
property of Mr. Lawson, and Blacklock, who was borrowed by plaintiff
from his owner, Captain Harper, for the purpose of this match. The
assessors found a verdict for defendant.
First Liverpool Races.
The first races at Liverpool took place on October 12, 1832, on a course
lent by Mr. Throsby, on the Glenfield Estate. Only untried horses were
allowed to run, in order to induce owners to train the well-bred horses
in that locality. Although the day was windy and wet, the racing was
interesting. The Members’ Purse was won by Mr. C. Roberts’ b. m. Selina,
beating Broughton’s Jupiter, Wentworth’s Victoria, and Ward’s Poppitt.
Mr. Throsby took the Ladies’ Purse with Whitefort, beating Jenkins’
Fidget and Roberts’ Jolly Roger; but the winner was disqualified in
consequence of his rider dismounting without orders. Proceedings closed
with a pony race, won by a chestnut filly owned by Mr. Bayley.
A New Racecourse.
At the beginning of 1833 the Governor sanctioned a new racecourse on the
Botany Road. He also authorised the loan of 20 labourers to assist in
its formation. This year the Spring Race Meeting took place at the new
course on April 17th and 19th, when the Governor’s Cup was won by Mr.
Bayley’s imported colt Whisker—a three-year-old. This colt and a filly
named Lady Emily cost approximately £500 when young foals. Lady Emily
was said to be a handsome filly (own sister to Doctor), by Manfred.
Whisker was by Whisker from Woodbine, by Comus, from a mare by Patriot,
great granddam by Phenomenon, from Czarina. Whisker also won the Ladies’
Purse on the second day. Other winners at the meeting were: Trial
Stakes, Mr. Badgery’s York; Maiden Plate, Mr. Smith’s Chester; Town
Plate, Mr. C. Smith’s Emancipation; Handicap, Mr. C. Smith’s Chester. It
is said that the track was very heavy and should be sodded. Almost all
the leading hotels in the city were represented by booths on the
grounds. After Whisker had won the Cup, Sir John Jamieson protested that
the winner was incorrectly nominated as a three-year-old. The protest
was dismissed.
Racing at Maitland.
A successful meeting was held on September 11th and 13th, when the
winners were Chester, Miss O’Neill (owned by Mr. Ephraim Howe),
Collingwood and Greenmantle. The meeting in the previous month at
Windsor was not up to the usual standard. On the first day Emancipation
walked over, and the events won by Firelock and Lady of the Lake were
almost as bad, as there was only one opponent for each. On the second
day Chester won the first race, the second went to Sally Grey, and the
other winner was Ironbark.
The Parramatta people continued their meetings. On October 2nd and 4th,
1833, Emancipation was returned winner of the Town Plate, and Mr. J.
Hillas’ b. f. Malvina, by Camerton, won the Maiden Plate. Mr. Bayley’s
ch. c. Mistake won the Hack Race, which concluded the first day’s
programme. Mantrap opened on the second day with a win in the Publican’s
Purse. The J.C. Plate went to Mr. Nicholls’ Sally Grey, and a pony race,
won by Mr. Taylor’s Quippe, finished up the meeting.
Racing at Bathurst.
A race meeting took place at Bathurst on October 11th and 13th. The
course in use was a new one at Alloway Bank. The opening event, Maiden
Plate, was won by Mr. Grant’s Lady Byron, and the All-Aged Stakes went
to Mr. Piper’s Earl Grey.
1834.
The “Gazette” of April 19th, 1834, stated that the old Jockey Club
had become extinct, and that racing depended entirely on two or
three individuals. Thus the meeting held on April 30th and May 2nd
was a subscription affair. The “Herald” told how the original
projectors entirely deserted their posts. There were only two
starters for each of the three races on the first day, which
resulted as follows:—Subscription Cup (value 50 guineas, heats,
twice round the course, weight-for-age): Mr. Smith’s Chester, 1; Mr.
Campbell’s Mantrap, 2. Two-year-old Stakes, of 5 guineas each, 20
guineas added, 1 mile: Mr. Roberts’ Traveller, 1; Mr. Smith’s Lady
Cardina, 2. Ladies’ Purse, of £25, heats: Mr. Bayley’s Whisker, 1;
Mr. Smith’s Emancipation, 2. Second day.—Town Plate, of £50:
Whisker. Emancipation saddling up again for the Publican’s Purse, of
£25, won from Chester. A Sweepstakes of £3 each, £10 added, produced
a good race, and was won by Traveller.
At Maitland, on July 14th and 15th, the Maitland Purse was won by Mr.
Simpson’s Pitch; Ladies’ Purse, of £15, Mr. Earle’s Countess; Hack Race,
Mr. Rudd’s Bob. Second day.—Governor’s Cup, of £5 each, £20 added, 2
miles, heats, was won by Pitch; Hunter River Stakes, of £20, Bob; Hack
Race, Mr. Earle’s Tam o’ Shanter.
The Hawkesbury Races, on August 21 and 22, were successful. First
day.—Mr. Smith’s Chester (seven starters); Ladies’ Purse, of £25, Mr.
Earle’s Countess; Pony Race, Mr. Fitz’s Darcy. Second day.—Australian
Youth’s Purse, of £30, Mr. Bowman’s Currency Lad (late Chance); Maiden
Plate, of £20, Mr. Smith’s Stella; Handicap, 2 miles, Mr. Bayley’s
Matilda; Hack Race, Mr. Earle’s Tam o’ Shanter.
Steeplechasing was popular in those days, and the annual event took
place on August 20th on the new course. The distance was three miles and
consisted of nine three-rail fences, upwards of 4 feet in height, and a
hedge and ditch. It was a wet day, and only three started, viz., Captain
Petty’s Waxy, ridden by Captain Waddy, Captain Hunter’s Smuggler (Mr.
Croker), and Captain England’s Cock Robin (Mr. De Bucker). All refused
the first fence, but eventually Waxy took it and was followed by the
others. Waxy cleared the second, but the others refused; but after
several trials Cock Robin got over, but parted company with his rider,
who remounted, but was unseated again. Smuggler refused altogether.
Waxy, in negotiating various obstacles, unseated Captain Waddy twice,
but he got him home. The winner was sired by Baron, at one time owned by
Governor Darling.
The Parramatta Races took place on October 1st and 3rd, with the
following results:—First day: Maiden Plate, of £25 (heats), Mr. Roberts’
Woodman; Australian Plate, of £50 (mile heats, w.f.a.), Mr. Roberts’
Traveller (Bennelong started, but broke down); Hack Race, Mr. Lawson’s
Velocipede. Second day: Town Plate, £50, Mr. Roberts’ Traveller;
Sweepstakes, £5, with £50 added, Mr. Lawson’s Velocipede; Hack Race,
Spider.
Cumberland Turf Club.
The Cumberland Turf Club, at Campbelltown, held its first race meeting
on October 21st and 22nd, on the estate of Dr. Redfern. Results:—First
day: Members’ Cup, 25 guineas, two-mile heats, Mr. Howe’s ch. h.
Forrester (late Mantrap); Hack Race of £2 each, with £10 added, Mr.
Scarr’s b. h. Rattler; Pony Race, £10 (mile heats), Mr. Byrne’s filly;
Sweepstakes, Mr. Stewart’s ch. m. Norma, 1; Mr. Hordern’s Fireway, 2.
They were ridden by their owners. Second day: Ladies’ Purse of £30 (for
maiden three-year-olds, mile heats), Mr. Keightan’s b. f. Creeping Jane;
Sweepstakes of £3 each, £20 added, Mr. Howe’s Theorem; Hunters’ Plate (a
steeplechase), Dr. Kenny’s b. h. Ramrod; Ladies’ Race, once round,
concluded the meeting, and was won in good style by Miss Byrne, of
Campbelltown, on the veteran Scratch.
The last sporting announcement of the year was that of the formation of
the Illawarra Turf Club at Wollongong.
1835. Imported Horses. Sydney Races.
Maitland Races. Racing at Patrick Plains.
One of the most notable happenings of the year—1835—was the arrival of
Gratis, the afterwards-celebrated sire, and Velocipede. They arrived in
the ship “Hercules.” Gratis was a performer in England, and was by
Middleton from Lanica, by Gohanna. He was imported by Captain Daniels,
as was also Velocipede, a grey, by Velocipede from Jane, by Superior
from Bried’s Noblesse. Later on in the year both were offered for sale,
but passed in, Gratis at £350 and Velocipede at £300. Afterwards Mr. C.
Roberts purchased Gratis for £450.
Sydney Subscription races opened on April 22, with the following
results:—First Day: Members’ Plate of £20 (heats), Mr. C. Smith’s
Chester, by Camerton; Two-year-old Plate, Captain Williams’ br. c.
President, by Emigrant; Ladies’ Purse, Mr. C. Smith’s b. f. Lady Godiva,
by Emigrant. Second Day: Farm Stakes of £50, Mr. Smith’s Chester;
Tradesmen’s Purse, Lady Godiva; Sweepstakes of £5 each, £20 added, was
won by Flirt, by Whisker, who was described as being the most perfect
picture of a racehorse in the colony. The stewards at this meeting were
Majors Bouverie and England, and Captains Williams and Hunter. Judge,
Captain Deedes, and Treasurer, Mr. G. Hill.
The meeting at Maitland was held on July 8 and 10, with the following
results:—First Day: Maitland Purse, £50 (2-mile heats), Mr. Simpson’s
Pitch; Ladies’ Purse, for two-year-olds, Mr. Earle’s filly, by Whisker;
Hack Stakes, Tam o’ Shanter. Second Day: Town Plate of £30 (2-mile
heats), St. Patrick’s Toss; Hunter River Stakes, Countess, who was
considered to be the best of her inches in the colony. Hack Race,
Steamer, who was then backed to run Tam o’ Shanter. The former won the
first heat by a short neck, while Tam won the second and third heats.
On September 9th and 11th the first race meeting was held at Patrick’s
Plains, with the following results:—First Day: Patrick Plains Purse of
£25, Mr. John Earle’s Countess, by Mantrap; Ladies’ Purse, Mr. H.
Scott’s Panula, by Toss; Hack Race, Tam o’ Shanter. Second Day:
Sweepstakes of £2 with £10 added, Mr. J. Earle’s Countess; First Hack
Race, Steamboat; Second Hack Race, No Mistake.
Parramatta races were held on September 30th and October 1st and 2nd.
Results:—First Day: Australian Plate of £50 (two-mile heats, w.f.a.),
Chester; Maiden Sweepstakes of £5 each, £15 added, Mr. Lawson’s filly; a
second Sweepstake was won by a colt, by Whisker. On the second day there
appears to have been only a Steeplechase of £3 each, £15 added, about 2
miles, 11st. 2lb. up, won by Woodman. Third Day: Town Plate of £50, Lady
Godiva; Two-year-old Stakes, Mr. Plunkett’s Lilla.
1836. Sydney Subscription Races.
Campbelltown Races. Meeting at Patrick’s Plains.
Racing at Yass. Sydney’s Annual Hurdle Race.
In this year Mr. Henry Bayley’s racehorses were announced for sale. The
lots consisted of Spiletta, by Whisker—Lady Emily; Young Whisker, by
Whisker—Matilda; Memmon, b. c., by Whisker from a Steeltrap mare. No
mention of the sale having taken place is made, and taken all round
there was a general shortage of sporting information throughout the
year. On March 22nd and 24th, at Campbelltown, Mr. Kemp won the Members’
Purse with Flirt, beating Chester and Creeping Jane. The Hack Race went
to Mr. W. Jenkin’s Red Rose; Snob, also owned by him, running second.
Mr. Boon’s Chester won the opening event and a Pony Stakes. The
Steeplechase, three miles, 11st. 7lb. up, was won by Major England’s
Whipcord, with Mr. Waddy’s Ketchimocan, a three-year-old, second.
Sydney Subscription races were held at the old course on April 27th and
29th. Mr. C. Smith won the first race, Sweepstakes of £5 with £50 added,
with Lady Godiva. The Produce Stakes of £30 for two-year-olds, 7st.
6lb., one round, by Mr. C. Roberts’ Lady Fly, by Whisker (Badkin).
Australian Purse (J. Dunn), who was one of the most noted riders of the
day, won on Mr. Williams’ President, by Emigrant. J. Badkin was the
successful rider in the Town Plate, the opening event of the second day,
winning on Mr. C. Roberts’ Traveller, by Camerton (J. Kerwin), commonly
known as the “Milkman,” landed Mr. C. Smith’s Lady Godiva, by Emigrant,
home in the Ladies’ Purse of £30, and also a Sweepstakes of £5, with £30
added.
The added money to the Patrick Plains meeting on July 20th and 22nd was
£240. Lady Godiva won the Patrick Plains Plate of £120 on the first, and
Hunter River Plate, £50, on the second day. Other winners were Mr. N. B.
Wilkinson’s Pauline, by Old Camerton; she got home in the Ladies’ Purse
for two-year-olds. Weight did not seem to matter much then, as we are
told the winner carried 14lb. over, while Northumberland (second), owned
by Mr. Otto Baldwin, put up 28lb. over. Tam o’ Shanter won the Weller
Purse on the first day, and the Hurdle Race, three miles, on the second.
On September 20th the Annual Sydney Hurdle Race was run off on what was
termed the new racecourse, known later on as Randwick. There were nine
starters, and the winner, Whisker (Major England), Fergus (owner),
second, and Steeltrap, third. The winner received £73.
1837. Hurdle Races. Sale of Horses. Sydney Races.
Bathurst Race Meeting. Racing at Parramatta.
The Cavan Cup.
On March 9th there were several hurdle events. The first race, Sydney
Hunt Stakes of £50, was won by Major England’s Whisker, 4 years, 11st.
4lb. (owner); Mr. Renell’s Traveller, 5 years, 11st. 8lb., 2; Mr.
Barker’s Steeltrap, 6 years, 11st. 8lb. (Mr. Stein), third. Hunters’
Plate of £50, Mr. Renell’s Fergus, 12st. 2lb. (Mr. Stein), 1; Lieut.
Waddy’s Frederick, 5 years, 11st. 12lb. (owner), 2; Mr. Barker’s Jim
Charcoal, 4 years, 3; Ladies’ Purse, Captain Williams’ Petersham, 5
years, 11st. (Captain Simmons), 1; Major England’s Camden, 6 years,
11st. 4lb., 2.
On March 19th the late Mr. W. E. Riley’s horses and mares were disposed
of at auction. The twenty-eight lots sold realised £1,143/10/-.
Sydney Subscription races were held this year on May 3rd and 5th, when
the added money amounted to £240. First Day: Sweepstakes of £10, with
£75 added, Mr. C. Roberts’ Traveller 1, Whisker 2; Two-year-old Stakes
of £25 (heats), Mr. C. Smith’s Clifton 1, Mr. Tooth’s Effie Deane 2;
Ladies’ Purse of £5, with £30 added, Mr. C. Roberts’ Lady Cordelia 1,
Mr. C. Smith’s Moggy, 2. Second Day: Town Plate, Mr. C. Roberts’
Traveller 1, Mr. C. Smith’s Moggy 2; Australian Youths’ Purse of £30,
Major England’s Whisker 1, Mr. C. Roberts’ Lady Cordelia 2; Sweepstakes
of £5 each, with £30 added, Mr. C. Roberts’ Traveller 1, Captain
Williams’ Petersham 2, Mr. May’s Sportsman 3; Hack Race, won by Mr. G.
Hill’s Black Boy, concluded the racing.
Country clubs offered very fair stakes. At Maitland on May 23rd and 25th
the added money was £300, while Patrick Plains Club gave away £240 on
June 7th and 9th, and the prize-money at the Hawkesbury Subscription
races on August 9th and 16th was £175. At Patrick Plains, Lady Cordelia
won the first event on each day. Other winners, Traveller, a filly by
Steeltrap, and two-year-old by Whisker (winner of the Maiden Race). In
the Hurdle Race nothing finished the course.
There was a successful two-days’ meeting at Bathurst on June 5th and
7th, when the winners were:—First Day: Bathurst Plate, Romeo; Maiden
Plate, Lushington. Second Day: Publicans’ Purse, Theorem; Sweepstakes,
Lushington; Hurdle Race (gentlemen riders), Abdallah (Mr. J. Piper,
junior).
Parramatta races held in October were productive of the following
results:—First Day: Australian Purse, Traveller; Hurdle Race, Teapot;
Ladies’ Purse, Lady Cordelia. Second Day: Town Plate, Traveller;
Australian Youths’ Purse, Lady Cordelia (walked over); Sweepstakes for
beaten horses, Lady Flora.
The annual race meeting was held at Yass on October 20th and 21st, when
Mr. Waddy’s Frederick walked over for the Cavan Cup; Yass Cup of £50,
Paddy; and Eleanor easily took the Maiden Plate. On the second day
Frederick won the Hurdle Race, and Moustache took the Ladies’ Purse;
Squatters’ Purse went to Medora.
1838. Cumberland Hunt Established. Bathurst Races.
Sydney Races. Hawkesbury Races. Parramatta Races.
There was a fair amount of racing during the year 1838. The first
notable item was a meeting on February 15th of those interested in
hunting, when the Cumberland Hunt Club was established. This was to
maintain a subscription pack of hounds. The entry fee was £5, and the
committee consisted of Messrs. W. Lawson, N. Lawson, H. Harvey, R.
Crawford and E. Weston.
On March 27th and 28th, Bathurst Subscription Races were held, when the
added money was £135. Results:—First Day: Bathurst Plate of £75, w.f.a.,
one round (heats), Mr. J. Nobel’s Flirt (Roberts) 1, Mr. J. Wriggle’s
Zorab 2, Mr. P. Flamington’s Theorem 3, twenty-four starters; Maiden
Plate of £50 (heats), one round, Mr. G. Freeman’s Jim Crow (J. Piper) 1,
Lean Jack 2, Creeping Jenny 3; Hack Stakes of £10, Woverman 1, Peacock
2. Second Day: Hurdle Race of £50, three times round, nine jumps, Mr.
Waddy’s Dr. Syntax (Lieut. Whiting) 1, Mr. Gibson’s Block (D. Campbell)
2; Hack Hurdle Race of £10, Mr. Gibson’s Toss (N. Lawson) 1, five
started. Third Day: Publicans’ Purse of £70 (heats), Mr. J. Piper’s
Theorem, 6 years (N. Suttor) 1, Mr. J. Noble’s Flirt (Roberts) 2,
twenty-four started; Ladies’ Purse of £30 (heats), Mr. J. Noble’s Medara
(Waddy) 1, Jim Crow 2; Pony Race of £10, Mr. C. Quail’s Win-if-I-can;
Sweepstakes for beaten horses, Mr. G. Fifewell’s Lushington. A ball
given by the officers of the 80th Regiment was a great success.
April 25th and 27th, Sydney Subscription Races. First Day: Sweepstakes
of 15 guineas, with £75 added, Mr. C. Smith’s Chester; Produce Stakes of
£25, Mr. C. Smith’s Bessy Bedlam; Sweepstakes of £6, with £30 added, Mr.
C. Roberts’ Miss Flirt. Second Day: Town Plate of £50, Mr. C. Smith’s
Chester 1, Mr. C. Roberts’ Traveller 2; Ladies’ Purse of £30 (heats),
Mr. C. Roberts’ Miss Flirt 1, Mr. C. Smith’s Bessy Bedlam 2, Mr. Riley’s
Lady Cordelia 3; Sweepstakes of £5, with £30 added, Mr. C. Smith’s
Clifton 1, Mr. Riley’s Jorrocks 2. The meeting was held on the Sydney
course, which was said to be in a very bad state, as was also the road
out to it.
Parramatta, October 3rd and 5th. Results:—First Day: Australian Plate of
£50, Mr. C. Roberts’ Lady Cordelia 1, Mr. C. Smith’s Lady Godiva 2, Mr.
D. Egan’s Crockford 3; Maiden Plate of £25, Mr. Evan’s Victor 1, Mr. C.
Smith’s Cinderella 2, Mr. Darling’s No Mistake 3; Ladies’ Purse, Sweep
of £5, with £20 added, Mr. C. Smith’s Bessy Bedlam 1, Mr. Sadler’s Robin
Hood 2, Mr. Egan’s Crockford 3. Second Day: Parramatta Town Plate, Sweep
of £5, with £50 added, Mr. C. Roberts’ Traveller; Australian Youths’
Purse of £20 (mile heats), Mr. C. Smith’s Bessy Bedlam 1, Crockford 2;
Beaten Stakes, Crockford walked over.
1840. Light Racing Year. Meeting at Parramatta. Braidwood Races.
Hawkesbury Meeting. Races at Campbelltown. An Important Match.
Establishing Racing in the Metropolis.
The first meeting of importance was on April 20th at Parramatta. The
winners were:—First race, Hunters’ Plate, value 100 guineas, Mr.
Broughton’s Medora (owner) 1, Mr. R. Anderson’s Artful 2, Mr. W.
Lawson’s Pickwick 3. A match, 50 guineas aside, Mr. N. Lawson’s Don
Giovanni, beat Captain Hunter’s Billy. Third race, a stake of 200
guineas, was won by Messrs. Douglas and Sutton’s Crockford, who won both
heats against the Campbelltown horse, Rob Roy. There was heavy betting,
over 2,000 guineas changing hands on the result.
On July 17, at Braidwood, a match for £100 aside took place between Dr.
Wilson’s Sir James, ridden by Mr. Farmer, and Mr. Burnell’s Improver,
who was piloted by Andrew Badgery. Improver won by a neck, but he
encroached on the course and no decision was given. Mr. Farmer’s horse
won a £10 sweepstake.
A meeting was held at the Hawkesbury on August 5th, 6th and 7th. First
Day: Stakes £100, Bessy Bedlam; Two-year-old Stakes, Eleanor;
Sweepstakes, Jerry Sneak. Second Day: Hurdle Race, Slasher. Third Day:
Australian Youths’ Purse, Jerry Sneak; Maiden Race, Cinderella; Beaten
Stakes, Woodpecker; Hack Race, Snowball. On September 9th and 11th a
meeting was held at Campbelltown, with following results:—First Day:
Members’ Purse, w.f.a., £50, Mr. Onus’s Jerry Sneak 1, C. Smith’s Crazy
Jane 2; second race, Maiden Plate, Mr. Raymond’s Theorem, filly. Second
Day: Match, £200, J. Barrie’s three-year-old colt beat Warby’s horse. A
hurdle race was won by J. Sutton’s Slasher on the third day. Mr. Rouse
won the Campbelltown Plate with Bessy Bedlam, also the Two-year-old
Stakes with Eleanor.
The most important event of the year was a meeting in Sydney of what was
termed the Australian Race Committee, when it was decided to raise funds
for Autumn and Spring meetings at Homebush in February and September of
1841.
1842. Racing at Homebush. First St. Leger. Adoption of Newmarket Rules.
Committee Appointed. Sale of Old Racecourse. First Meeting of Hawkesbury
Turf Club. First Meeting at Homebush. First St. Leger. Jockeys’ Fees
Fixed by A.J.C. Committee. First A.J.C. Spring Meeting.
In May of 1840 the Australian Race Committee decided to adopt the rules
which governed racing at Newmarket (England), and appointed the
following committee:—Captain Hunter, Mr. Lawson (senr.), Captain
O’Connell, Messrs. Kater, Scott, G. Way, Anderson, Holden, P. T.
Campbell, Leslie, Captain Westmacot, Lieutenant Price (28th Regiment),
Lieutenant Chambre (96th Regiment). The stewards acting at the first
meeting, held at Homebush on March 16th and 18th, were Mr. P. T.
Campbell, Captain O’Connell and Messrs. R. Scott and H. H. Kater; Judge,
Captain Hunter; Clerk of the Course, Mr. A. Way. On the first day it was
estimated that 8,000 people attended. Many made the trip in steamers to
Homebush Bay. The course presented a gay appearance with its three
buildings, viz., Grand, Walker’s and Pullinger stands. The band of the
80th Regiment performed on the lawn. His Excellency Sir George Gipps,
Sir Maurice O’Connell, Mr. P. T. Campbell, Major Nunn and others made a
great display with their handsome carriages. There was also a special
stand for the officials opposite the grandstand. On it were Messrs.
Kater and Holden, also Captains Westmacott and O’Connell and Lieutenant
Chambre, while in front of the grandstand was exhibited the handsome
trophy to be presented to the winner of the Metropolitan Cup, the first
race on the programme, won by Mr. Hall’s Hercules, who went out
favourite. The St. Leger, a sweepstake of 10 sovereigns each, with 200
sovereigns added, was won by Mr. Rouse’s Eleanor. Other starters were
Eucalyptus, Industry, Tranby and Young Duke. The winner was favourite.
Captain Hunter won the Ladies’ Purse of £50 with Prince. A match between
Mr. C. Roberts’ Colonel and Mr. H. H. Kater’s Cap-a-pie for £200 aside
resulted in a win for the latter by a length.
There was a great crowd on the second day, over a thousand coming out on
horseback. They created disorder by galloping into the paddock with the
racehorses. The first race on the card, Gold Cup, valued at 100
sovereigns, with 100 sovereigns added, 10st. up, two-mile heats, was won
by Mr. Onus’s Jerry Sneak. Mr. C. Roberts won the Homebush Stakes with
Flirt. The third race was to have been over hurdles, but through some
mistake the jumps were not erected, and the stewards decided to make a
flat race of it, with gentlemen riders, 12st. up. The winner was
Frederick, ridden by Lieutenant Chambre, with Slasher (Mr. Carne) second
and Markman (Mr. Raymond) third.
In April of 1841 Camperdown Estate, known as the old racecourse where
the defunct Sydney Turf Club raced, was announced for sale. It comprised
two hundred and forty acres, and was the property of the late
Rear-Admiral Bligh.
At Windsor the sportsmen had established the Hawkesbury Turf Club, and
they held their first race meeting on what was termed the Australian
Racecourse, on August 4th, 5th and 6th, 1841. Mr. James Cullen was
secretary of the club. The Town Plate was won by Mr. Rouse’s Jorrocks.
The Colonel broke down in the race. Mr. C. Smith won the Two-year-old
Stakes with Beeswing.
The Australian Race Committee started with their second meeting at
Homebush on August 26th, 1841, when the Australian Stakes, a sweep of
sixteen sovereigns, with 200 sovereigns added, w.f.a., was won by Mr. C.
Smith’s Beeswing, a chestnut filly by St. John. Jorrocks went out
favourite at 2 to 1. Beeswing’s price was 5 to 1. She won her first heat
(2½ miles 140 yards) in 5 min. 10 sec., and the second in 5 min. 12 sec.
Mr. Scott won the Publicans’ Purse of 50 sovereigns, 1¼ mile and 310
yards, with Mentor, by Toss; he won his first heat in 2 min. 41 sec.,
and second in 2 min. 44 sec. Captain Hunter’s Prince, by Camerton, won
the Welter easily. He was ridden by Mr. Pryce, and ran the 3¾ miles 210
yards in 8 min. 5 sec. Beeswing won the Champion Cup in two heats (2½
miles 180 yards), the first in 5 min. 30 sec., and second in 5 min. 40
sec. Mr. Scott’s Mentor won the Ladies’ Purse, beating Jorrocks (Mr.
Rouse), but the latter won the Handicap with 10st. 9lb., beating
Gohanna, 11st., and others.
In 1842 the Autumn Meeting at Homebush saw Jorrocks in winning form. He
led off on the first day, March 24, winning the Metropolitan Stakes of
10 sovereigns each, with 75 sovs. added. The St. Leger of 15 sovereigns
sweepstakes, with 100 sovs. added, 1½ mile, was won by Mr. S. Smith’s
Beeswing, by St. John, ridden by Marsden, Captain Hunter’s The Princess,
by Gratis second, and Conservative, by Gratis, third. Mentor, by Toss,
won the Ladies’ Purse, and a Selling Stakes of 25 sovereigns went to Mr.
Cullen’s Prince, by Toss, piloted by Higgerson. On the second day Mr. C.
Smith’s Gohanna (Dunn) won a race, w.f.a., a sweep of 10 sovereigns,
with 100 sovereigns added, and the same owner won the Hack Race with
Prince. There was also a Pony Race, won by Master Hunter’s Billy, alias
Billy the Devil, eleven years old.
The third day’s programme opened with the Cumberland Cup, won by
Jorrocks; Eucalyptus and Eclipse also started. The betting was 3 to 1 on
Jorrocks. Mr. Scott won the Homebush Stakes with Mentor, by Toss,
favourite at 5 to 1 on, and the Beaten Plate went to Mr. Egan’s
Zephyrine. Prior to the meeting, Toss beat Colonel in a match.
Formation of the Australian Jockey Club.
According to the “Sydney Morning Herald,” at a meeting held on April of
1842, it was decided to form the Australian Jockey Club. In August of
that year a meeting of the club at the Royal Hotel appointed stewards
for the forthcoming meeting in September at Homebush. The stewards were
Captain Sawbridge, Mr. Lawson and Mr. Icely; Judge, Major Hunter; Clerk
of the Course, Mr. May, and Hon. Sec., Mr. W. Hunter.
At another meeting it was resolved that jockeys be paid the following
rates:—Rider of the winner of a £50 prize of public money and under, £5;
a loser in a race of similar amount £3. Winner of more than £50 of
public money £10, and a loser £5.
The first race meeting carried out at Homebush by the A.J.C. extended
over three days, starting on September 20th, when the first race,
Champion Cup, a sweep of 10 sovereigns, with 100 sovereigns added was
won by Mr. C. Smith’s Eclipse, by Whisker (Dunn), Sir J. Jamieson’s Sir
Charles second. The Two-year-old Stakes of 10 sovereigns for starters,
with 30 sovereigns added, went to Mr. C. Roberts’ President, by
Emancipation. Mr. C. Smith won the Australian Stakes with Tranby, by
Operator, also the Maiden Plate of 25 sovereigns with Chillington. There
were two races on the second day—Tradesmen’s Purse, a sweep of 5
sovereigns, with 30 sovereigns added, won by Mr. C. Smith’s Eclipse, and
a Hack Race won by a horse owned by Major Hunter.
The third day’s programme opened with the Champagne Stakes, a sweep of
10 sovereigns, with 75 sovereigns added, the winner to give three dozen
of champagne (heats, twice round); Mr. C. Roberts’ Quail, by Gratis,
walked over for it. Sir Charles, by Gratis, won the Ladies’ Purse.
Claret Stakes of 10 sovereigns, with 50 sovereigns added (heats, once
round), winner to give three dozen of claret to the ordinary. It went to
Mr. C. Roberts’ Tranby, by Operator, ridden by Johnny Higgerson. The
Beaten Stakes, won by Plutus, concluded a most successful meeting, which
was followed by a dinner at the Royal Hotel.
Racing at Homebush. A.J.C. Easter Meetings. Horses for India and First
A.J.C. Meeting at Randwick.
With racing firmly established at Homebush, under the management of the
Australian Jockey Club, there were few other meetings from 1843 onwards
held within reach of metropolitans. The stewards for 1843 were Mr.
Lawson, senr., Captain Ramsbottom and Mr. W. Russell. Major Hunter acted
as Judge. Racing commenced at noon each day, and the Press notified that
there would be no false starts. At this meeting Mr. Rouse won the
Metropolitan Stakes, also the Cumberland Cup with Jorrocks, while the
St. Leger Stakes went to Mr. Scott’s b. f. Marchioness, Attila running
second.
The club held a Spring Meeting in 1843, when Jorrocks won the Champion
Cup, ridden by Higgerson. He carried 9st. 9lb., and ran the three miles
in 5 min. 50 sec. In those days the Champagne Stakes was for all horses
w.f.a., twice round and a distance, and Jorrocks won it, carrying a
penalty of 5lb. Some other winners at the meeting were Attila, Lottery
and Marchioness.
In 1844 the horse stock in the colony had increased to such an extent
that shipments to India and other places were frequent. The ship
“Neptune,” bound for Madras, had been fitted up with one hundred horse
stalls. The “Medusa” had taken sixty to Madras, and the “William
Metcalf,” whose destination was Calcutta, had been provided with thirty
stalls. Even so early in her history Australian horses had made a name
abroad.
The Australian Jockey Club. Classic Winners.
To give a detailed account of the racing under the rules and regulations
of the Australian Jockey Club, from its formation in 1842 up to date,
would be more than our space can afford. The one race that was always
present in their autumn programme was the St. Leger. It is thus the
oldest classic race in Australia. As will be seen in previous chapters,
when the Subscription racing started at Homebush in 1841 they instituted
the St. Leger, run at 1½ mile, and the A.J.C. wisely adopted and carried
it on during their whole tenure of Homebush. From 1842 to the autumn of
1859 the winners of the St. Leger were:—
1841—Eleanor.
1842—Beeswing.
1843—Marchioness.
1844—Blue Bonnett.
1845—Peter from Athlone.
1846—Lady Theresa.
1847—Whalebone.
1848—Snake.
1849—Pastile.
1850—Cossack.
1851—Plover.
1852—Surplice.
1853—Cooramun.
1854—Venison.
1855—Camden.
1856—Stumpy.
1857—Laurestina.
1858—Chevalier.
1859—The Don.
1860 may be put down as the foundation year of the Australian Jockey
Club. The A.J.C. was not strong financially when it decided to take up
racing at Randwick. Several gentlemen, however, came to the club’s
assistance. The names of those friends are inscribed on a tablet in the
present grandstand. The land at Randwick, now used as a racecourse, was
set apart for the purpose in 1833 by the authority of Sir Richard
Bourke. It comprises two hundred and two acres and, according to a
letter which appeared in the “Sydney Morning Herald,” signed by Mr.
Mortimer William Lewis, the locality of the original track in 1860 was
selected by the Hon. E. Deas-Thomson, and set out and surveyed by Mr.
Lewis under the former’s personal direction. The whole of the timber for
the fencing and erection of buildings was supplied by Messrs. W. Jolly &
Company. Mr. Kelly was the architect.
The race track was 1¼ mile in circumference, with a straight run home of
seventeen chains. The made part of the track was fifty feet wide from
going out of the straight to the last half-mile, where the width was
increased to seventy feet. It was laid down with “doob” (couch) grass,
with a mixture of English grasses and Dutch clover, top-dressed with
bone dust. Posts, five chains apart, marked the race track. A remarkable
feature on the ground was “The Rocks.” They were just fifteen chains
from the winning post, and nearly opposite the present 9 furlongs post.
Further on, at twenty chains from the winning post, stood the starting
post for the mile course. The level between the fifteenth and
twenty-fifth chain was called the Lachlan Flat, and the bend at the
twenty-eighth chain was in honour of the Governor-General, designated
the “Denison Corner.” At the fortieth chain, or half-mile from the
winning post, stood the starting post for the T.Y.C., and for the six
furlongs races. There was a gentle rise called “Constitution Hill.” The
turn at the sixtieth chain post became known as “Champion Corner.”
Beyond the eighty chains came the starting point for the Derby and Oaks,
which was named “Derby Corner.” All those old landmarks have passed
away, with the formation of the present track. The lessees of the
grandstand for the opening meeting were Messrs. J. Poelhman and G. C.
Barkhausen, while the race cards were issued by “Bell’s Life in Sydney”
and printed on the course in a tent. The prices of admission were, if
taken for the three days, a guinea for gentlemen, 10/6 for ladies and
5/- for children.
First Race Meeting at Randwick.
The first meeting at Randwick commenced on May 29th, 1860, with an
attendance of 6,000. The first race was the First Year of the Second
Triennial Stakes, a sweepstakes of 10 sovereigns, with 100 sovereigns
added, 1 mile, won by Mr. I. K. Cleeve’s b. f. Chatteress, by Chatterbox
from Jessie (Henderson); Mr. J. Tait’s b. c. Alfred, by Warwick—Clove,
second. Won easily. Time, 2 min. 10 sec.
The Australian Plate of 130 sovereigns (twice round) was won by Veno,
ridden by Higgerson, beating Strop by two lengths in 5 mins. 11¼ secs.
Planet, ridden by J. Driscott, won the Metropolitan Maiden Plate of 150
sovereigns, and the Squatters’ Purse of 50 sovereigns went to Mr. T.
Ivory’s Flying Doe. Tattersall’s Free Handicap to Mr. W. Towns’
Stranger.
Second day, May 30th, Second Year of First Triennial Stakes Mr. J. T.
Roberts’ Moss Rose, by William Tell; Publicans’ Purse, Mr. W. R.
Blackman’s True Blue; Welter, Mr. T. M’Guire’s Egremont; City Plate, Mr.
J. J. Roberts’ Gratis; Hack Race, Mr. J. Taylor’s Pussy Cat.
Third day, May 31st, Prince of Wales Stakes, Mr. Ivory’s Euroka, and Mr.
A. Loader won the Randwick Plate with The Don, ridden by Higgerson.
Gratis won the A.J.C. Handicap, and Ackbar the Consolation Stakes.
Forced Handicap, Planet. The last three races were run in heavy rain.
Australian Jockey Club History. The Champion Race. Death of Strop. The
Tally-Ho Stakes. St. Leger and Derby Stakes.
The year 1860 was notable from the fact that the second race for what
was termed the Australian, New Zealand and Tasmanian Champion
Sweepstakes was run off at Randwick. It took place on Saturday,
September 1st, when about 10,000 people, including the Governor and the
Premier (Mr. John Robertson), Colonial Treasurer (Mr. Meekes), Minister
for Works (Mr. Arnold) and Mr. M’Quade (starter) were present.
The conditions of the leading event on the card read:—Second Australian
Champion Stakes, of a sweepstakes of 100 sovereigns each, h. ft., with
500 sovereigns added; second horse 200 sovereigns if three horses start,
or save his stake only if two start; third 100 sovereigns; 3 miles,
N.S.W., w.f.a. The following were placed:—
Mr. J. Tait’s ch. m. Zoe, by Sir Hercules—Flora M’Ivor, aged, 9st.
3lb. (J. Ashworth) 1
Mr. G. Dupas’ b. g. Wildrake, by Sir Hercules—Woodstock, 5 years,
9st. 1lb. (R. Snell) 2
Mr. J. Higgerson’s ch. g. Veno, by Waverley—Peri, aged, 9st. 5lb. (J.
Higgerson) 3
Mr. Hargrave’s b. m. Deceptive, by Young Plover—Vanity, 5 years, 8st.
13lb. (Willis) 4
Other starters were: Gratis (Holmes), Moss Rose (J. Cutts), Strop (J.
Carter), Waimea (J. Redwood), Young Morgan (J. Driscoll), The Don
(Murphy), Flying Buck (Perkins).
Betting: 7 to 4 Flying Buck, 5 to 1 Zoe, 6 to 1 each Veno and Strop, 8
to 1 Deceptive, 100 to 8 Young Morgan, 100 to 5 each Moss Rose, Wildrake
and The Don.
The Don led until going up the hill near the six furlongs post the
second time, when Zoe took up the running, and remained in front to the
finish, winning easily by a length from Wildrake, who beat Veno by two
lengths, with Deceptive a length away fourth, followed by Strop, Gratis,
The Don, Young Morgan and Waimea, with Flying Buck and Moss Rose last.
Time, 5 min. 59 sec.
This race and others showed that the New Zealand horse, Strop, was by no
means in his best form, and when he returned to the paddock the old
horse staggered, fell down and died. An investigation showed that the
cause of death was congestion of the lungs. He was buried just at the
back of the old winning post.
A notable item in connection with the A.J.C. Spring Meeting of 1860 was
the winning of the first race by Archer—the Maiden Plate of 120
sovereigns—which he won easily from the New Zealand mare Io. On the
second day of the meeting was run the first hurdle race, known as the
Tally-Ho Stakes, of 50 sovereigns, 2¼ miles, over nine hurdles three
feet six inches. The winner was Miss Weller, ridden by Chase. The added
money for the year was £2,320.
There was nothing of a sensational nature connected with the Autumn and
Spring Meetings of 1861, when the winners of the St. Leger and Derby
Stakes were Mr. John Tait’s Alfred, ridden by J. Driscoll, and Kyogle
(Driscoll), nominated by Mr. S. Jenner. These meetings extended over
four days, and the added money for the year totalled £2,505.
The A.J.C. held a race meeting at Randwick on January 1, 1862, when a
five-event programme was run off, carrying 385 sovereigns. The principal
events, Hurdle Race of 100 sovereigns and Free Handicap, 100 sovereigns,
were won respectively by Mr. J. Faraher’s Prince and Mr. W. O’Brien’s
Peter Finn.
Great regret was expressed at the death of Mr. T. Ivory’s William Tell.
His death robbed the Spring Meeting of 1862 of a lot of interest. At the
Spring Meeting the All-aged Stakes resulted in a dead heat between Ben
Bolt (Thompson) and Eugenie (Bishop). The former, who was favourite, won
the run off. The Derby Stakes went to Mr. T. Ivory’s Regno (Higgerson).
The winner was a half-brother to Tarragon, who was beaten by Traveller
in the Innkeepers’ Purse on the last day, but had previously won his
first race—Metropolitan Maiden Plate—on the first day. The added money
to the meeting was £940, while that to the Autumn Meeting of 1862 was
£1,130. At the last-mentioned meeting the St. Leger was won by Mr. de
Mestre’s Exeter.
The Hon. John Eales. Judge Cheeke’s St. Leger. Champagne and Derby Wins.
Tarragon in Form.
The racing in 1864 practically concluded what may be termed the second
racing period in this colony, as in the following year the A.J.C.
altered the title of the Randwick Derby Stakes to the more high-sounding
name of the “Australian” Derby Stakes, increased the sweepstakes fee,
and cut out the added money to both it and the St. Leger. In connection
with the opening event of the Autumn Meeting of 1864 appears the name,
as owner of the winner, Mr. John Eales, the popular owner and breeder of
Duckenfield Park. He won the Autumn Metropolitan Maiden Plate with The
Dutchman, ridden by Moore, beating Sir Patrick, owned by Judge Cheeke,
who on the second day of the meeting won the St. Leger Stakes with
Ramornie. Mr. de Mestre’s Deerfoot second, and Mr. Massey’s Mavourneen
third. Both second and third were by New Warrior.
That year the Champagne Stakes—a sweep of 16 sovereigns—with 80
added, was won over a mile, in heavy rain, by Yattendon (Sir
Hercules—Cassandra), ridden by Sam Holmes. Time, 1 min. 58 sec.
At the spring meeting in September he won the Spring Maiden Stakes, 1½
mile, in 2 min. 52 sec., and on the third day beat Colleen Bawn in the
Randwick Derby Stakes, 1½ mile, 150 sovereigns.
At the Autumn Meeting in April, Tarragon, ridden by Johnny Higgerson,
won the Randwick Grand Handicap of 300 sovereigns (2 miles) in 3 min. 48
sec., and on the third day took the Queen’s Plate of 200 sovereigns (3
miles) in 6 min. 20 sec.
In the following Spring (1864) Meeting Tarragon, 10st. 1lb., beat
Volunteer, 8st. 9lb., by a length in the Cumberland Handicap of 150
sovereigns (3 miles) in 5 min. 57 sec. On the third day, in the
Metropolitan Cup of 200 sovereigns (2 miles), Tarragon, 10st. 4lb.,
defeated Ramornie, 7st. 12lb., with Ben Bolt third. Tarragon was by New
Warrior from Ludia.
The year 1865 witnessed the first Australian Derby Stakes, won by Judge
Cheeke’s Clove. From that year the Australian Jockey Club has made
extraordinary progress. At Homebush, in 1842, the added money for the
meeting held in the spring was £245.
In the first season at Randwick (1860) the club distributed in added
money £2,327. In 1870 it handed out £3,140. For the season ended 1880
the added money had increased to £6,792, and in 1890 the A.J.C. balance
sheet showed that it had distributed £24,450 in added money. Still going
strong, and despite the hard times during the following ten years, the
club contributed in stakes during the season of 1899 and 1900 the sum of
£23,475, which had increased to £44,950 in 1910. In the season of
1919–20 the A.J.C. treasurer was signing cheques to the amount of
£80,560, and for the season ended July, 1922, the added money amounted
to £111,200.
A.J.C. History. Winners of the Randwick Derby. St. Leger. Champagne
Stakes Winners. Zattenden Wins the St. Leger and Sydney Cup. Western
District Performers. First Sporting Calendar. Earliest Stud Book.
In the preceding chapters we have given, not perhaps a detailed report
of racing affairs in the colony, but a fairly full history up to the
establishment of the Australian Jockey Club’s first Spring Meeting at
Homebush in 1842.
As a matter of course much racing has been passed over. No space can be
devoted to details of the sport at such places as Barwon Park (a small
track near St. Peters), Cook’s River, Parramatta, Five Dock, Cross
Roads, Ashfield, or the meetings promoted by a syndicate at Homebush
after the A.J.C. had located at Randwick. Perhaps the most notable of
the meetings carried out while the A.J.C. were racing at Homebush were
the yearly fixtures at Liverpool. For instance, at the Autumn Meeting in
1857 the Liverpool Derby of 200 sovereigns, with a sweepstakes of 15
sovereigns for starters, was won by Lauristina, and the Liverpool Town
Plate by that famous performer—Dora, by Camel. The Liverpool Club’s
Members’ Plate was won by Mr. G. T. Rowe’s Planet, by Waverley. His
rider was the owner’s son-in-law, the late Mr. Ettie de Mestre.
Undoubtedly the old order of racing passed away in 1864, as the A.J.C.
then drew up the conditions of their now classic events, the Australian
Derby and St. Leger Stakes, as they were then termed. Some years ago the
word “Australian” was changed to “Australia” Jockey Club Derby, which
has been shortened to A.J.C. Though Clove is given as the first Derby
winner at Randwick, this is hardly correct. Certainly she was the winner
of the first Australian Derby Stakes. There were, however, four Derbies
even prior to Clove’s win in 1865.
At the Autumn Meeting of 1865 the Western district horses Pasha (De
Clouet’s), Union Jack and Alphonse were in great form. Union Jack, by
St. John, who raced in the name of Mr. Gregory, won the Randwick Grand
Handicap of 200 sovereigns (2 miles), and Alphonse, owned by Mr.
McGregor, claimed the Waverley Stakes. Maid of the Lake won the All-Aged
Stakes, and Tamworth defeated Sir Soloman in the Autumn Metropolitan
Maiden Plate Stakes. There is no reason to give further details of
racing at Randwick.
It is stated in the club’s annual report of 1869 that the general
improvements during the year cost £390/1/6. In buildings and fencing
they spent £352/7/9. Members on the roll numbered three hundred and
fifteen. The committee reported an increase in entries for coming
events. Those for the Sydney Cup numbered forty-eight, against forty-one
for the previous year, while there were twenty-eight in the coming
Derby, twenty-seven for the St. Leger, fifteen stallions were put in for
the Sires’ Produce Stakes, one hundred and thirty-two entries for the
Mares’ Produce Stakes, and thirty-three for the Champagne Stakes. It is
interesting to compare these figures with the entries for similar races
run off in 1921. For the Derby of that season there were four hundred
and thirty-three nominations, one hundred and eighty-five in the
Metropolitan, three hundred and seventy-one in the Sires’ Produce
Stakes, and three hundred and eighty-four for the St. Leger, while for
the Champagne Stakes of 1922 the entry list totalled four hundred and
fifty-two. How the members have increased is told by a resolution passed
in 1921, when it was decided to limit the number to one thousand five
hundred.
During the last forty years several proprietary race clubs have come
into existence. They race at Rosehill, Canterbury Park, Moorefield and
Warwick Farm. Racing under the rules and regulations of the Jockey Club
they have done well. In addition to these, four other clubs were racing
in the metropolitan area in 1921, under what was termed Associated Club
Rules—Ascot, Victoria Park, Kensington and Rosebery Clubs. They raced
ponies and horses (all heights), and for the above year paid out in
prize-money £106,646.
Past and Present New South Wales Riders.
During the past hundred years or so there have been a number of most
proficient horsemen. In the early days the riding was principally done
by members of the military forces stationed in the colony. Since then
our riders have achieved fame, not only on the Australian race tracks,
but also in England, Germany, Austria, Russia, India, China, Japan and
the East India Islands.
Early racing reports are very brief, and rarely is the rider mentioned.
However, as the sport increased in popularity, the Press gave details,
which mentioned the names of the winning riders. Thus we read Mr.
Broughton and Mr. Rouse, two of the early owners, rode their own horses.
Among the early professionals were Dunn, Badkin, Hedly, Marsden,
Cashman, Ford and John Higgerson.
The most remarkable of those old-time jockeys was John Higgerson who, in
his 95th year, met with fatal injuries through the accidental discharge
of a gun. Higgerson commenced riding in races when about seventeen years
of age, and in his fifty-fifth year won the Champion Race at Flemington
after a dead heat between Tarragon and Volunteer; time, 5 min. 47 sec.
As the principals could not agree to divide, mainly owing to Tarragon’s
owner, Mr. Town, not being present, the dead heat was run off, when
Tarragon won in 5 min. 58 sec. In October of 1857, at Flemington,
Higgerson rode Veno, when he beat Alice Hawthorn (S. Mahon) in the great
match for £2,000 (3 miles). The same afternoon, on Cooramin, he beat
Tomboy (R. Mitchell) in a match for £200 aside, 1½ mile, and two hours
after winning the match against Alice Hawthorn, Veno saddled up again
and beat Van Tromp (S. Mahon) over three miles. The stakes in this last
contest were £700, Mr. G. T. Rowe, who owned both Veno and Cooramin,
laying £500 to £200. Higgerson also won the match on Ben Bolt, beating
Lauristina. A complete history of Johnny Higgerson’s career in the
saddle would fill a volume.
John Cutts was one of the best of our old-time riders. He won the first
two Melbourne Cups on Archer, also the first St. Leger, at Homebush, in
1847; on Whalebone and the Queen’s Plate at Homebush in 1851. He was the
mount on Lady Morgan in the Champion Race at Randwick in 1860.
James Ashworth, who was principally connected with the Byron Lodge
stables, had a remarkable riding career. Some of his notable wins were
on Zoe, Talleyrand, Glencoe, Goldsbrough and The Barb. During the latter
period of his life he acted as Clerk of the Course at Randwick.
Contemporary with Ashworth was John Driscoll, who, in 1857, won a race
at Parramatta on Blue Bonnett. Ten years later he won the Melbourne Cup
on Tim Whiffler. In after years he became landlord of the Blind Beggar
Hotel, at the corner of Liverpool and Oxford Streets, Sydney.
Joseph Kean, like Ashworth, finished up his days as Clerk of the Course
at Randwick. He was on Javelin when that colt won the A.J.C. Derby, and
was the rider of Kingsborough for the late Sir Hercules Robinson when he
won the A.J.C. Champagne Stakes, and landed O’Mera home for O’Brien’s
Cup at the meeting held by Tattersall’s Club in 1867. He also rode
Yattendon in his last two races.
In the ’sixties there were a number of well-known riders—“Bricky”
Colley, John Ramsay, P. Piggott, Donald Nicholson, Charley Stanley, Dick
Snell, William Yeomans, Thomas and John Brown, Joseph Burton, Michael
Bryant, Arthur Battye, and that fine old Englishman—Sam Holmes. W.
Yeomans, who only died recently, amongst other events won the V.R.C.
Oaks three times with Formosa, Mileta and Petrea; Ascot Vale Stakes on
Newminster and First King, also the Australian Cup and V.R.C. St. Leger
on the First King, and A.J.C. Derby on Wheatear. Yeomans put up a
remarkable riding performance at Wagga on St. Patrick’s Day, 1870, when
he rode the winners of six races, and was second and third in two
others. The programme consisted of eight events.
Samuel Holmes was an Englishman. A most able rider. After retiring from
the saddle he became host of the Cottage Inn at Parramatta. Many an
afternoon have I put in with him chatting over old times. His most
memorable winning ride was on Tomboy, in a sweepstakes of 25 sovereigns,
with 100 sovereigns added, w.f.a. (3 miles), which took place at
Flemington on the third day of the Melbourne Jockey Club’s Spring
Meeting, 1857, a week after the great match between Veno and Alice
Hawthorn. Included in the field of six was the champion Veno, ridden by
Higgerson. Sam Holmes, on Tomboy, decided that he would make the field
travel all the way. He was the first to show in front, where he
remained, winning easily by twenty lengths from Moss Trooper, with Veno
two lengths away third. The time, 6 min. 16 sec., tells that Veno had
gone off. There was great cheering at the defeat of the Sydney champion,
and to commemorate the victory Holmes was presented with an engraved
silver watch.
John Ramsay was an able horseman who won, among other events, a Wagga
Cup on Janitor, A.J.C. Champagne and St. Leger Stakes on Lecturer and
Moselle, respectively. He is still alive, as also is P. Piggott, who
landed the double for the Hon. J. White, V.R.C. Derby and Melbourne Cup
on Chester in 1877. Donald Nicholson, who was killed in the Caulfield
Cup accident in 1885, was undoubtedly the cleverest lightweight rider
ever seen in Australia. Piggott, Nicholson and T. Bennett were
associated with the late Mr. T. Ivory. Bennett won the first
Metropolitan Stakes at Randwick (1866) on Bylong. He now receives a
pension from the A.J.C. Dick Snell was another valuable old-timer, who
won the Victoria Derby on Tricolor in 1857, and the St. Leger at
Homebush in 1855 and 1857. Charles Stanley did most of his riding for
the late Mr. John Tait, in whose “yellow and black” livery he won the
Champion Race on The Barb, the Melbourne Cup with Glencoe, Victoria
Derby with Fireworks and Florence, who also won the Oaks, and the A.J.C.
Derby on The Barb, Fireworks and Florence. For years he was an
hotelkeeper at Campbelltown. George Donnelly won many good races for the
late Mr. de Mestre, among them the A.J.C. Champagne Stakes on Chester.
Perhaps his most notable ride was on Dagworth in the Queen’s Plate (3
miles) at Randwick, when he ran a dead heat with Reprieve, and beat him
on the run off.
The brothers John and Thomas Brown, of West Maitland, were able
horsemen. The latter did best in important events, as he won the
Melbourne Cup on Calamia, Victoria and A.J.C. Derbies with Loup Garou,
Standish Handicap Duration, and A.J.C. St. Leger on Commodore. Later on
he trained principally for the late Hon. William Long. His best horse
was the unbeaten Grand Flaneur. Mention of Grand Flaneur reminds me of
his rider, Tom Hales, in his day termed the “Grand Horseman.” For the
late Hon. J. White, Hales rode in three hundred and two races, of which
he won one hundred and thirty-seven, winning in stakes £75,944. In the
course of his twenty years in the saddle, Hales had one thousand six
hundred and forty-five mounts, winning four hundred and ninety, three
hundred and twenty-six seconds, and third in one hundred and ninety.
Value of stakes won by him was £166,770.
In later days perhaps the most distinguished of our riders were James
Barden, now a leading trainer at Randwick, Matt Harris, who died a few
years ago, and James and John Gough. T. Clayton was mostly associated
with Poseidon, winner of the double Caulfield and Melbourne Cups in
1906. John Delaney and William Delaney were also much in demand. Perhaps
the former was the more able rider. In the lightweight division the late
Cecil Parker was at the top of his class. He was a pupil of a famous old
rider—Samuel Lovell, who was tutored in his young days by Johnny
Higgerson. Unfortunately Parker died at an early age, but Samuel Lovell
is still hale and hearty, living at Camden.
Other prominent riders of the old school were Martin Gallagher, admitted
to be the most skilful with the whip in the left hand that we ever had;
Edward M’Grade, who lost his life in the wreck of the “Ellen Nichol”; L.
Kuhn, W. and E. Huxley, T. Nerricker, John Gainsforth, the Brothers
John, Frank and Fred Fielder, John Hincks, C. Pearson, F. M’Grath and W.
Kelso. Quite a number of these are now leading trainers.
Present-day Riders.
During the last decade race riding has undergone a complete change. The
old-time seat has passed away in favour of the “Tod Sloan” position.
Races are differently run, and the training of horses has altered. So
far as jockeyship is concerned, the new style has its advantages over
the old, as this style enables the escape of wind pressure, and the
placing of weight more on the withers. Those who shorten their leathers
within reason have a fair command of their horses, but the majority ride
so short that the power to guide or control their mounts is often lost.
The most skilful of our riders of this State during the last twenty
years are W. H. M’Lachlan, Myles Connell, Albert Wood and K. Bracken.
Prominent Gentlemen Riders.
In the racing history of the colony gentlemen riders have played a
prominent part. At the time of writing the oldest of those is the Hon.
James Gormly, who finished fourth in the memorable Ten Miles Race at
Wagga in 1868 on his own horse, Camel, and won many races in his
youthful days. The late Mr. Phil Glennister was a noted horseman in his
day, as was also Mr. W. P. Bowes. Captain Airey was a very fine
horseman, also Messrs. W. Fowles, Harry Haines, Edward Terry, G. Mason,
Coyle, W. Gosper, T. West, G. M. Bailey, W. Acraman, E. and A. Weston,
M. Millen, Benson, A. Batty, G. Fagan, W. H. Pye and Dr. Cortis. Then in
later days, at the Bligh and Tirranna Meetings, and at times at
Randwick, we have seen some excellent riding performances accomplished
by Messrs. E. M. Betts, A. M. Cox, S. B. Rouse, F. Nivison, H. Brown, E.
A. Blomfield, F. Blomfield, Dowling, W. Beaumont, W. E. Manning, C.
Stephen, W. E. White, Justine M’Carthy, K. Austin, C. R. Halloran, W. E.
White, also Mr. Tom Watson prior to his settling in Sydney as our
leading starter. The Watson family were all famous horsemen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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The highest priced Yearling for 1922.
]
Our premises at Newmarket, Randwick, are the most extensive and up to
date in the Commonwealth. They cover seven acres and comprise some 400
Yearling Boxes, numerous exercise sand yards and paddocks, and include
the magnificent training stable formerly the property of the late T.
Payten.
William Inglis & Son Ltd.
“The largest firm of Blood-Stock Salesmen in Australia”
28 O’Connell Street, Sydney
[Illustration: FACTORY, HOSKING PLACE. (AT REAR OF 88 PITT STREET.)]
The highest ambition of a printer is attained when a publication such as
Racehorses in Australia, calling for the exercise of all that is best in
the art of printing is placed unreservedly in his hands, his customers
knowing that the result will justify their faith.
¶ This has been our experience on many occasions, as in addition to this
volume we have printed a large number of Art and other works bearing the
impress of that high quality which we have made our standard, and which
have been favourably commented on by the world’s press.
¶ Would it not be wise to send for one of our representatives next time
you are needing printing of any kind, for we carry the same high
standard of quality through all orders, be they large or small, our
prices are reasonable, and we feel sure that you would soon join our
very large circle of satisfied customers.
Phones B6464 4 Lines W. C. Penfold & Co. Ltd. Established 1830
Printers, Stationers and Account Book Makers
88 Pitt Street, Sydney
H. Chisholm & Co.
(HARRY CHISHOLM) (KEN AUSTIN)
Bloodstock Salesmen, Pedigree Experts, Property Salesmen
Sydney, N.S.W.
Cable Address: Chisholms, Sydney Codes Used: A.B.C. 5th Ed. and
Bentley’s
[Illustration:
VIEW OF SALE RING
]
Annual Sales of Thoroughbred
Yearlings, Racehorses in Training,
and Breeding Stock held every
Easter. Sales of Thoroughbred
Breeding Stock and Racehorses in
Training held monthly or by
arrangement. Sales of Polo Ponies
held during Sydney Tournaments.
=Branch Managers: The Yorkshire Insurance Company Ltd. Specialists in
Live Stock Insurance.=
All classes of Pedigree work undertaken. Sale Catalogues, Private Stud
Books, Stud Circulars. Tabulations compiled at short notice. Agents for
shipping and transporting of Live Stock.
Sole Agents The Bolinda Vale Shorthorn Stud Herd, Victoria.
(The property of Sir Rupert Clarke, Bt.)
English Representative, Mr. C. C. Edmunds, Manager of Lord Rosebery’s
Stud, Mentmore, Leighton Buzzard, England. Purchases of Thoroughbred
Horses and Cattle can be completed in the English market on the most
advantageous terms.
During past years we have sold by auction a large number of English
Thoroughbred Horses consigned to us by the well-known Breeders and
Owners, Lord Dewar, Messrs. Brice Bros., Rundle Brendon, E. de Mestre,
the late E. Kennedy Jones, etc.
STUD DISPERSALS
We have wholly or partly conducted
practically every important Stud
Dispersal Sale held in the
Commonwealth and New Zealand during
recent years. These include the
Merton, Shipley, Chatsworth Park,
Eumaralla, Ellerslie (N.Z.), Highden
(N.Z.), and St. James (U.S.A.)
Studs.
Racehorses, Stallions, Brood Mares, Polo Ponies, etc., for Private Sale.
Correspondence invited.
Head Office: 16 Spring Street, Sydney, N.S.W.
[Illustration:
VIEWS OF RANDWICK STABLES
]
[Illustration: _Two Champions_ POITREL—& STETSON HATS]
Pedigree!
Eighty-seven years of study and experience is behind the products brewed
and bottled by Tooth & Co. Ltd. Kent Brewery Sydney
⧈
The Winning Double
Your money is well invested on either—
K.B. Lager
or
T.B. Light Ale
Wherever you dine and whenever you do call for K.B. Lager or T.B. Light
Ale. You will appreciate the flavor
[Illustration: _Tattersall’s Hotel. 259 Pitt Street, SYDNEY_]
Adams’ (Tattersall’s) Hotel
259 Pitt Street, Sydney
One of the most Comfortable
Residential Hotels in Sydney
Cuisine Unsurpassed Four Large Public Dining Halls
_For appointments or particulars write, wire or phone The Manager_
Conducted by the Trustees of George
Adams’ Estate who maintain the
standard set by the late Mr. George
Adams
Phones City 9738 & 728 Every visitor to Sydney should see =The Marble
Bar=
------------------------------------------------------------------------
“_The Book on the Table_”
[Illustration: ART IN AUSTRALIA A QUARTERLY MAGAZINE AUGUST 1922
PUBLISHED BY ART IN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SYDNEY ——LONDON: CONSTABLE AND
CO.—— PRICE 6⁄⁰⁰ PER COPY:ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION 24 THIRD SERIES NUMBER
ONE]
“_Better than anything we have here._”
_Frank Brangwyn,
R.A. London._
A Symbol of Culture in Your Home
AT ALL THE BEST BOOKSELLERS
SIX SHILLINGS EDITIONS LIMITED
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration: WARRIGAL TRADE MARK]
The House of Peapes
and its “WARRIGAL” Trade Mark
Australians with their intense love of sport have so made England’s
“Sport of Kings” a part of their national existence that to-day the
annual number of race-meetings at any Australian course greatly exceeds
that of all the English courses combined.
A parallel case where Australia has made English precedent her own is
that of the history of woollen articles. Originally Australia depended
entirely on the mother country for these. To-day Peapes can offer a
range of woollen articles for men’s wear and use made wholly in
Australia from the finest Australian wool. These have proved through
years of experience to give equal wear and comfort, while being
considerably less expensive than the imported variety. Included are
Underwear, Jacket Sweaters, Rugs and Suitings—all sold under the
“Warrigal” Trade Mark—Peapes’ guarantee of the highest quality and
purely Australian production.
_Catalogues and Literature on request_ _Peapes pay postage_
=Peapes & Co. Ltd.= ——Men’s Outfitters——
309–311 George Street, Sydney
Pottie’s
Laxative Drench
Can be given in Sickness or Health
As a Tonic and Regulator it improves the Health and Condition of Horses.
Unequalled as an improving Drench for Horses out of condition,
Hidebound, Worms, etc.
For Colic and other Bowel Troubles this is a splendid medicine to give
at first; afterwards, if pain continues, give =Pottie’s Colic Drench=.
=Pottie’s Laxative Drench= should be given to all Horses affected with
Worms or Bots.
DIRECTIONS
For Yearlings and Small Ponies half
a bottle is sufficient. Horses over
three years may be given the full
bottle as a dose.
In all instances administer via
mouth as a drench.
=John Pottie & Sons= ——Veterinary Surgeons——
154 Castlereagh St., Sydney
[Illustration: BY APPOINTMENT TO HIS MAJESTY THE KING The Old Blend
Whisky of the WHITE HORSE CELLAR Estab. 1742 DALGETY & Cᴼ. Lᵀᴰ., Bent
St. Sydney. _Sole Agents for New South Wales._]
[Illustration: _Sydney Cup, 1921_ _Sydney Cup, 1920_ _Prince of Wales
Gold Cup_]
_Notable Cups._
_The_ SYDNEY CUP, 1921 _Presented by_ THE AUSTRALIAN JOCKEY CLUB.
_Won by_ Mr. E. LEE STEERE’S “EURYTHMIC”
Distance: 2 miles. Time: 3 min. 24¼ secs.
Jockey: F. Dempsey, 9st. 8lb.
_The_ SYDNEY CUP, 1920 _Presented by_ Right Honorable Sir ADRIAN
KNOX, K C M G, P.C. _Won by_
“KENNAQUHAIR,” _the property of_ Messrs.
W.M. BORTHWICK _and_ J. LAYCOCK Distance:
2 miles. Time: 3 min. 22¼ secs. Jockey: A.
Wood, 9st. 5lb.
_The_ PRINCE _of_ WALES GOLD _Presented by_ THE AUSTRALIAN JOCKEY CLUB,
CUP _in honour of the visit of_ H.R.H. THE
PRINCE OF WALES, JUNE, 1920 _Won by_ Mr.
H. W. MORTON’S “PARKDALE” Dead Heat with
Mr. T. HICKEY’S “SILVERTON” (Two Cups
presented) Distance: 1 mile 5 furlongs.
Time: 2 min. 46¾ secs. Jockeys: A. Wood
8st. 2lb.; J. Simmons, 6st. 11lb.
_The three Cups illustrated were executed in Solid Gold by_
HARDY BROTHERS Lᵀᴰ.
13 HUNTER ST., SYDNEY.
118 Queen St. : 298 Collins St.
Brisbane. : Melbourne.
LONDON.
[Illustration: GAELIC SPECIAL · RESERVE Highland Whisky STIRLING BONDING
COMPANY—STIRLING, SCOTLAND & CRAIGELLACHIE DISTILLERY. GLENLIVET. NET: 1
PINT 6 FLD OZS. Red White & Blue Whisky]
Orme, Keigwin & Co. Ltd., Sydney
[Illustration]
Mark Foy’s for Racing Jackets and Riding Breeches
RACING JACKETS, in Foy’s well-known High-grade Satin, all the
registered jockey colors. These Racing Jackets are Foy’s own
celebrated make, the same as have been before the racing public
for years. Price complete, with Cap to match =50/-=
RIDING BREECHES—Jockey’s Riding Breeches made in our usual Heavy
Quality Special Silk. Cut, Style and Fit the same as already
known to the racing public. Cut to personal measurements in our
High-grade Tailoring Department. Price =50/-=
Mark Foy’s, Limited, The Home of Good Values,
:: SYDNEY ::
RESCH’S BREWERY
[Illustration:
DOWLING STREET, REDFERN, SYDNEY
]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
WHERE
=RESCH’S=
AUSTRALIAN
LAGER
PILSENER
DINNER ALE
STOUT
&
XXX ALE
(BULK)
ARE BREWED AND BOTTLED
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in
spelling.
2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.
3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
4. Enclosed bold font in =equals=.
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