FIRST MELBOURNE CUP.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 259, 1 November 1928, Page 21

FIRST MELBOURNE CUP.

FACTS AND STORIES.

AUSTRALIA'S MOST FAMOUS BAGS.

(By STEVIE.)

Racing in Australia is well over a •entury old, for despite the absence of trustworthy chronicles we find that in 1805, and probably a year or two earlier, meetings were held on the Officers' Race,«ourse, Hyde Park, Sydney.

However, the first event of importance was held on Anniversary Day, 1824, at Penrith, N.S.W. Its originator was Sir John Jamieson, an enthusiastic sportsman, of Penrith, and the handsome competition oup donated by him afforded fine sport in the principal race of the day, the Champion Cup. The raoa was run through the town of Penrith and was won by Lane's horse Hector, the favourite, Sir John'i flyer Binnalong, and four others being easily beaten. The trophy was conveyed in a cart, followed by a host of thirsty sports, to Lane's place, some five miles distant, where it was set between two casks of beer, each of which was adorned with numerous tin P °On March 6, 1838, Victoria's first race meeting was held on Batman's Hill, now the site of the Spencer Street railway station, where to-day we take the train from Melbourne to Flemington.

In those days the start of the race was what is now the site of the North Melbourne station, and the horses, olten traversing rough country, finished on Batman's Hill, where a bared sapling, flying a bit of bunting, served as a winning post. The services of six special constables were secured, and they were all "time-expired" men. Two bullock drays lashed together served as a grandstand, while two trucks enclosed by old sack? did duty as refreshment booths The only racing dub in Melbourne in those early years was the Victoria Turf Clu?, and this body in 1840-acquired tajd on the banks of the Saltwater River (the Flemington of to-day). A practic able, if rough, racecourse was formed, while a crude'grandstand was.erected near the riverside. The only 'rails to the course were some roped posts_ along part of the run home. The refreshment booths were merely small tenU >, but ware certainly an improvement on the trucks and old sacks of Batman's Hill. One booth, however, was of quite a £**?"£ ous scale, and this was kept by one Tom Halfpenny, a well-known locall publican. In those early days the chief event _ was the Town Plate, ssovs with SOsovs added, weight for age, two miles and a distance. . This race, as was usual, was.notrun in h t eat8 ' b if Stt£ZS&& *.*£*£» big Australian events of to-day are older These are the Victoria|l»J2*J*SJK Champion Stakes and the St. wger 1859, and the South Australian Derly,

In 1867 another racing club arose under the style and title of the Victoria Jockey Club, and naturally there was a little jealousy between that body and the pioneer association, the Victoria Turf Club. Both clubs were in full swing when in 1861 the V.T.C. decided to include an event known as the Melbourne Cup. which was destined to become in its way, next to the English Derby, the moat famous race in the world.

The first historic race was run on Thursday, November 7, 1861, and the conditions were as follow: "Melbourne Cup. A handicap of 20aovs, lOsovs forfeit, or 5 if declared, with 200aovs added. Two miles. The winner of the 2000gns to carry 51b extra; winner of any handicap race of advertised value of lOOsovs, after declaration of the weights, 31b extra. Winner of two or more such races 51b extra. Penalties not accumulative beyond 71b." The Two Thousand Guineas referred to was a Jockey Club event worth 1500 sovs and run in October, 1861, over 2* miles.

Forty-five entries were received for the first Melbourne Cup, the weights being declared on July 6, beginning with two nominations, J. Henderson's Mormon, a six-year-old gelding, who won the Guineas three months later, thus including the 51b impost, 10.1, and OtVllo, an aged horse, but still a flyer, can,nig the weight of 9.8. The next in.weight was Archer, a great bay, son of Wilha-.a Tell and Maid of the Oaks an animal standing 17 hands high and with an unbeaten record in NS.W. ffis owner was Mr. Etienne de Mestre, a well-known sportsman of the day. After the Two Thousand Guineas fiaa been won by Mormon, this horse and Archer (winner of three races m N.S.W. to May and June) became favourites at in to 1 Twenty-two acceptances were S£* L rt «. J— »** »-3 Street Melbourne, on Octobfc. 30, ana everything pointed to a most successful withering for the first Melbourne Cup. g tS ist Thursday in November, 1861, proved to be a delightful spring sample, and records show that over 4000 we?e present at the meeting, which may r«K be the only Australian horse raoe in which the outside world takes Many of those amending came by steamer along the Yarra ana Saltwater Rivers, this method of getSXthe «"»«• bem & tnuch favoured Thf ground was dotted with various Se shows, freaks of nature,, two-headed sheeTeTc, while gaudy nigger mjnsSeb added a bit of colour with their long-tailed coats, bones and tamthe first Oup partook fully "nickine 'em." Seventeen went to tne uostSe top weights being Henderson's Sr contestantsV the weights ranged from 9.3 to 6.4. The race, which was run in So2 >J?** -Jn ftasilv br Archer, Mormon being

The race itself was somewhat marred by a bad accident, three jockeys being badly hurt, while two horses, Despatch and Medora, had to be shot. It may be interesting to note some "Cup crowd" figures.

The attendance is said to have been up to 143,000 in the exhibition year of 1888, while four times prior to that date they have exceeded 100,000. Today the fixture would probably attract the largest outdoor gathering south of the line. In reference to the recorded time of the race, 3.52 (there were no infallible electric clocks in those days), this was not a bad performance, considering the rough, slow track. It is also to be noted that Archer won the second Melbourne Cup with an additional impost of 91b in Bj*7, while Sheet Anchor, in 1885, was the first to record less than 3.30 for the distance. Taking weight with time, tihe fastest Oup is still the 3.28} with 10.5 up of the New Zealand-bred and Victorianowned Carbine of famous memory. It was of Carbine that it has been said he had the temper of a lamb, the heart of a lion, the_ intelligence of a man and the endurance of a camel. "He ain't a horse at all, he's a steam engine," said Kamage, his rider, at the end of his famous gallop of 1888.

The first Melbourne Cup was worth £900 and in those days the stakes for the three-day meeting totalled about £2275. By 1890 the added money was increased from £5000 to £10,000, but this amount has fluctuated from time to time. The first Oup did not get much paper publicity, the "Sydney Morning Herald," of November 8, 1861, only according the event one inch of space.

The origan of the name Flemington is not generally known, but it has a simple explanation. Among the scattered hamlets on the Mount Macedon Road, near Melbourne, there resided an early colonist, one "Bob" Fleming, a butcher by trade. A genial, good-hearted fellow, he won his way to the hearts of the people, and doubtless was in his day the most popular man in the district. So it came about that as a token of esteem and regard, the little hamlet became known as Flemington and incidentally made the popular butcher's name familiar all over the world.