Chapter XVI: The Gist of it all (2)

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.

General View of Randwick Racing and Training Tracks and Flat taken
during Steeplechase.
]

Randwick Weighing Yard, Official and other Stands, and Judge’s Box.
]

The Flat at Randwick, with Betting Ring in foreground, St. Leger (on
left), Members’, Grand, and Official Stands.
]

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.

The Lawn and Stand at Flemington.
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Flemington Course from the Air, showing Maribyrnong River in the
foreground.
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Projected Improvements to Flemington Racecourse.
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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.