THE MELBOURNE CUP CAVALCADE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23181, 29 October 1938, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE MELBOURNE CUP CAVALCADE

The grandstand remained on the river Bide of tin course for about 20 years, and was then transferred to the present site at the foot of the lull. During the first two years, racing was carried on in a haphazard manner, hut toward the end of 1840 it was decided to put the sport 011 a more solid basis, and that led to the formation of the Port Philip Turf Club at a meeting held 011 December 12. IS-IU. The club, however, had a short and chequered career. It was replaced bv the Victoria Turf Club in the early 'fifties but the new club failed to give satisfaction, and the racing world was divided into two factions. Two Rival Clubs Until 1848 Flemington was held on no stronger tenure than sufferance, but the Government was induced to issue a lease to W. F. Stawell-who was afterwards Chief Justice—.l. G. Riddell and J F L. Foster, as trustees for the public When the dissatisfaction with the management of the Victoria lurt Club culminated in the formation of a rival club known as the Victoria Jockey Club, a strong effort was made by the Turf Club to induce the trustees to refuse permission to the new club to race nt Flemington. They were unsuccessful, and the two clubs raced 111 opposition for several years. The antagonism of the two clubs gave racing a great setback, and neither club prospered, but the J urr Club appears to have been the more solid In 1864 it was apparent that some change would have to be made, and after much preliminary discussion it was decided to disband both clubs and form the Victoria Racing Club. That was dono at a meeting held at Scott's Hotel on March 9, 1864. The chairman of the meeting at which the V.R C. was formed was Air. Hcnrv Creswick, whose son, Mr. A. 1. Creswiek, has been one of the best supporters of racing in Victoria of recent years. The first Melbourne Cup was promoted bv the Victoria Turf Club eurlv in 1861.' The race had a very modest beginning, and it was surprising that it should have attracted such widespread interest. The added money was only £2OO. There was a sweepstake of £2O for starters, and heavy forfeits; consequently owners contributed most of the stake, which amounted to £'JIO. Fntries wero taken at the Bull and Month tfotel by Mr. William Levey on May 1, 1861. . The response was amazing, and the race seemed to have caught the fancy of the racing world, because there were 57 entries. Nominations were received in largo numbers from New South Wales and South Australia, as well as from all parts of Victoria. Carbine's Cup There is no need to dwell upon how the race has continued its hold on the Australian racing world. It has become the most famous of all races in the Southern Hemisphere, and the stake has increased more than ten-fold, as the added money this year is £IO,OOO. When the New Zealand horse Carbino won the Melbourne Cup in 1890 the added money was £IO,OOO, but in those days the club did not retain the payments by. owners, and there

THERE is not much about current racing that the average racegoer does not know, but when it comes to the history of the eport most of them are very hazy. ]f you asked racing men to-day who founded the Melbourne Cup, it is safe to say that almost without exception they would reply: The Victoria Racing Club. They would be wrong. Tho first Melbourne Cup was run several years before tho V.R.C. came into existence. Whether any particular individual wa« primarily responsible tho it is more likely that, like ffopsy, "it just growocl. , Lee meetings wew heltl n Mclj bourne on Batman s Hill m 18J8 an 18159, and the site of tho racecourse embiaced tho area on which the bpen cer Street station and railway yards Zl the Genera! Post Office "9 w stand ffh'e second meeting was a great sue cess, but at it the limitations of the course became apparent, so one « as sought elsewhere. The sintabihty of the flats along the Saltwater River for racing had been demonstrated when two mares belonging to John Brown and John Highett ran a private match On |October 9, 1839. a meeting was called! at the Lamb Inn by Mr. H., 1. Cibsoo, who had recently arrived from England to fill the position of Commia-i

sioner of Crown Lands. It was decided to hold a race meeting at Flemington on March 3, 4 and 5, 1840. With so much dry land available close to Melbourne, it was surprising that the swampy stretch along tho Saltwater River should have been chosen for the new racecourse. There was a penchant in the old days for transforming swamps into racecourses. There were snake-infested swamps in tho middle of the Caulfield course. In later years the late Mr. .J. R. C'rooke established —on what was known as part of the Carrum swamp—the Aspendale Park course, which was closed a few years ago. Duck-shooting on Course Tho late Mr. G. 0. Ross Fenncr, who knew Flemington from tho earliest days, used to recall that there was a huge swamp in the middle of Flemington on which wildfowl abounded, and that ducks were often shot there when the ranger happened not to be about. Tho grass on tho course was in places a foot high, so a more unpromising site for a great racecourse could hardly be imagined, although it possessed great natural advantages from the point of view of the spectators. The first grandstand, which was a primitivo affair, was erected on the banks of the Saltwater River, and in the early davs visitors to Flemington were conveyed to the course by boats, ■which left the city at a spot near where the Customs House now. stands,

History of Most Famo in the S

COLOURFUL FLEMINGTON ON NOVEMBER'S FIRST TUESDAY

By R. S. RIDGWAY—(WorId Copyright Reserved)

was a sweepstake which brought the total value of the stake to £13,230, iuid there was a gold cup worth £'lso. The owner of Carbine collected £10,2.'50 and the cup as his share of the stake. Archer won the first two Melbourne Cups for New South Wales, he being owned bv Mr. E. de Mestre, who has the distinction of having trained more winners ot the race than any other man. He also won with Jim Whitfler and C'alamia. who were both owned by hint, and lie trained Chester for Mr. James White, of Kirkham, when the son of Yattendon narrowly defeated Savanaka in the 1877 Melbourne Cup. Walter Hiekenbntham had lour training successes iu the Melbourne Cup, as he prepared Mentor, Carbine, Ncwhaven and Blue Spec. James Scobio has a similar record, as he sent out Clean Swoop, King lngoda, Bitalli and Trivalve to win the race. Richard li rail field, who, like Scobie, is still training with success, prepared four Melbourne Cup winners—Patron, The Victory, Nightwatch and Backwood. It is the ambition of every owner in England to win the Derby, but Australians and New Zcalanders are just as keen to achieve success in the Melbourne Cup. E. de Mestro was able to win it four times with his own horses, but his record was equalled by another New Sou til Welshman, "Honest" John Tait. who began lifo in Tasmania as a

jeweller, and afterwards became famous as an owner and trainer. John Tait gained his first Melbourne Cup success with 1 lie Barb in 1866, but ho nearly lost the horse soon after he purchased him from his breeder, Mr. John Lee, of Larras Lake. The Barb, then a young two-year-old, was stolen with several brood mares by a young horse-breaker who had been employed by Mr. fzee at Larras Lake. He was easily traced, and when Mr. Lee and his men overtook the thiet at Mensira, lie bolted, but was afterwards caught and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. Early Winners The Barb won the Melbourne Cup as a three-year-old in 1860 with 6.11, but later on lie was successful in tho Sydney Cup carrying 10.8, and ho enjoys the distinction of carrying the heaviest weight in the history of the Melbourne Cup. as in 1860 lie was given 11.7. The handicapping that year was done by three men, one ot them being the late Mr. William whose son, Clive, is chairman of the V.A.T.C. .John Tait's other three Melbourne Cup winners were Glcncoe, Tho Pearl, and The Quack. Mr. James White won two Melbourne Cups with Chester and Martini Henry, and Mr. Donald W a I lace was twice successful with Mentor and Carbine, tho greatest of all Melbourne Cup winners.

Mr. \V. T. Jones bad two successes in ilio race with Bravo and Newhaveu, but Mr. William Cooper was a partowner of Newhaven. William Forrester would have won three Melbourne Cups bad lie not bad the misfortune to meet Carbine with Highborn in 1890. He thought Highborn with 6.8 next door to a certainty, but ho was 110 match for Carbine, who bad no difficulty in conceding him s.'Jlb. and defeating him. Forrester, however, came into bis own seven years later when bis horses Gaulus and The Grafter ran first and second in the Melbourne Cup, and The Grafter was successful the following year. The late Mr. Leslie Macdonald bad an experience similar to that of Mr. Forrester, as he won the i;aeo twice, with Revenue and Nightwatch, and his great mare Wakeful was second to Lord Cardigan. Mr. R. R. Da 11 gar has two Melbourne Cups to his credit through the agency of Peter Pan. who is the only horse to win two Melbourne Cups since. Archer accomplished that feat in 18(31 and 1862. Hut there was an interval of two years between the successes of Peter Pan. First Secretary The experience of the V.R.C. indicates that racing experience is not an essential qualification of a club secretary. Since 18G4 the V.R.C. has had only three secretaries, and in the generally accepted sense of the term none was a racing man. The first secretary, Robert Cooper Bagot, was an architect and surveyor by profession. He was born at Kildare, in Ireland, and came from a long line of churchmen. His grandfather and his father were rectors of the parish, and so was his brother. When the V.R.C. was formed the new club decided that Mr. Bagot should be its secretary. When the position was offered to him ho protested that he was not a racing man, and did not possess tho necessary qualifications for the position. His objections were brushed aside, and he finally agreed to accept the position. It was a lucky day for Australian racing when Mr." Bagot became chief executive officer of the club. His training as au architect and civil engineer proved an invaluable asset, as he transformed a bleak, miserable, swampy river flat into one of the finest racecourses in the world. His monument at Flemingtori is Ate mm pu.bMc stand,

an old bluestone structure which he designed and had erected in the early 'seventies. It is utilitarian rather than ornamental, and in the early days it was often referred to as Bagot's Cowshed. He planned and made the old Fleming ton, which made the course known from one end of the world to the other. Ho died in April, 1881. His memory is perpetuated by the Bagot Handicap, which is ran at the New Year's Day meeting. No Interest in Racing The antithesis of Mr. Bagot was his successor, the late Mr. H. Byron Moore, who had not the slightest interest in racing until he was appointed to succeed Mr. Bagot. He was a remarkable man. endowed with great business and organising ability, which he combined with a most charming personality. Like Mr. Bagot, he was a surveyor. The earlv years of his life were spent in the civil service, and in' 1873 he was appointed assistant surveyor-gen-eral. Five years later he retired from the civil service and founded the Melbourne Exchange, and had the distinction of introducing telephones to Melbourne. When applications were called for the position of secretary of the V.R.C. after the death of Mr. Bagot, nothing was further from Mr. Byron Moore's intention than being the secretary of a racing club. Mrs. Moore, however, induVed him to send in an application, which he did. It was brief, as it contained only 12 words. Then he forgot' all about it. One day Jonathan Brown, a quaint character who .was then ranger at Flemington. dropped into Mr. Moore's office and said, "They've guv it you." "Guv what?" asked Air. Moore. "The secretaryship of the V.R.C.replied Jonathan. That was the first intimation Mr. Moore had of his appointment. Flemington in the spring is a huge flower garden, and the fame of the Flemington roses, introduced there by Mr. Moore, is world-wide. Mr. Moore carried on from 1881 until he retired in May, 1925. He died a few months after his retirement. Mr. Arthur Kewney succeeded Mr. Moore, and, like him, was not a racing man, although he took au interest as a spectator in the Bport s

An "exiled" Victorian,-writing from New Zealand the other day, said: . It is indeed hard on one not to be home for the first Thesdav in November, the date of the Melbourne Cup. There are too many upsetting things this year to allow me to join the hundreds of lucky ones who even now are gradually wending their way to Sydney and Melbourne, but on that first Tuesday it will be only my body that is in Auckland. My spirit will be happily jostled by the thousands being disgorged by the trams, trains and cars outside Flemington. It will be bumped by people from all parts of Australia, from New Zealand, from India, from England; and there will be Frenchmen, Italians, Greeks and even Chinese among the throng. Scotsman's Hill Inside the turnstiles it will see the gently rising hill which provides _ a natural amphitheatre, the lawn with its crowds of women in gay Cup frOeks nearly as colourful as the_ well-tended flower-beds, and the men in their taphats and bowlers. Behind will be the tightly-packed stands, -tier upon tier of horse-lovers, and further in the background the Hill, nature's grandstand gift to Flemington. At the other sido of the course, on the banks of the river, will be seen another crowd —on Scotsman's Hill. This high bank is outside the course, so free to all, but it gives a commanding view of Hie back of the course and the start of the straight six. Just beloro throe a' hand will piny "God Save the King." There will be a lifting of bats and a rising of the seated as the Governor with liis escort of Lancers drives up the straight and is received with ceremony. Governor's aides and consuls, generals and judges, and officers of the Navy (important manoeuvres are always conducted in Port Philip Bay about "Cup time) will soon he lost in the crowd of civilians and men from the bush; The scratching* will go up. There will be hustling either to the raucous shouts of the bookmakers, or to the clicking totalisators. Mv spirit will try to push its way back to a vantage post. There will be one long roar from 100,000 throats, and the greatest three and a-half minute thrill of the Australasian .turf year .will i be begun,