Racehorses in Australia

by Unknown

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.