Australia’s first race meeting re-enacted

Press, 2 November 1984, Page 37

Australia’s first race meeting re-enacted

At Australia’s first race meeting, held in Hyde Park, Sydney, in 1810, the punters bet in rupees, pagodas, ducats, Dutch guilders, and English shillings.

When the re-enactment of the meeting was held last month there was, officially, no betting at all. New South Wales licensing laws forbade it. But rumour suggests a few modern Australian dollars might have changed hands on the course.

The re-enactment was held at Old Sydney Town, near Gosford, about 50km north of Sydney, exactly 174 years after the original event. Racing for the first meeting was spread over a week. This time, events were compressed into a day. The occasion was so successful that the organisers are hoping to make it an annual event.

Old Sydney Town is a recreation of Sydney as it was between 1788, when the first fleet of convict ships arrived, and 1810. Old Sydney is being carefully reconstructed round a lake that has the same shape as the stretch of Sydney Harbour that was settled — the area now round the ferry wharves just east of the Harbour Bridge. For the re-enactment, three races were run, each with a field of five. Horses on the day carried the names of the original starters and were provided by the Australian Stock Horses Association and the local Zone 24 Pony Club. In a happy burst of authenticity the first race was won by the horse renamed Gig for the day. In 1810 D’Arcy Wentworth’s horse Gig easily won a

number of races during the

In 1810 Gig was ridden by W. C. Wentworth. This time the rider was Libby Flakelar. But the historical connection was maintained. The prize, the Subscribers Plate, was presented by the Hon. W. C. Wentworth, a former member of the Australian Parliament and a direct descendant of the successful team from 1810. Once the horse races were over spectators were

also treated to a re-enact-ment of one of the highlights of the original meeting — the Richard Dowling footrace. In 1810 Dowling bet all comers that he could run 50 yards carrying a man, faster than any challenger could run the distance twice backwards. The re-enact-ment was declared a tie. Mark Brassel, a Sydney racing writer, ran carrying Mr Neil Paine. Kerry Ternan ran backwards twice. All

three suffered a series of tumbles, but no broken bones.

Old Sydney Town, an ambitious recreation of Sydney nearly 200 years ago, is struggling for funds to expand its amenities. Rerunning the first race meeting, with fields including such once-notable runners as Strawberry, Rattler, Tipsy, and Tickle Toby, has given a new lease of life to an ambitious historical reconstruction.