14 RACEHORSES IN AUSTRALIA 



And now the course itself, at Flemington, became firmly and thoroughly 

 established when, in I 844, plans were submitted to the Town Council, and 

 that body approving of them, the place was declared to be a reserve for the 

 purposes of racing. Five trustees were appointed, in whose name the ground 

 was held, these including the Crown Commissioner of the day, the Surveyor- 

 in-Charge, Mr. J. C. Riddel, Mr. Dalmahoy Campbell and Mr. William J. 

 Stawell. Shortly afterwards the Superintendent of Port Phillip declared this 

 transaction not to be legal, and a new grant was completed on October 22nd, 

 1847. The land included those portions of the Parish of Doutta Galla from 

 23 to 28 inclusive, beside the Saltwater or Maribyrnong River, the trustees 

 being Mr. Riddel, Mr. Stawell, Mr. Dalmahoy Campbell again, and Mr. Colin 

 Campbell. The term of years was subsequently increased from ten to 

 twenty-one, which, on the latest renewal of the compact, was finally extended 

 to ninety-nine, at the rent of one peppercorn per annum. The spot was then 

 known to the inhabitants as "The Racecourse," but a little village now began 

 to grow up in the neighbourhood, and this was soon christened "Flemington," 

 in honour of a genial butcher who supplied meat to the hamlet, and whose 

 name was Bob Fleming. In those early days everyone went to the races, 

 and the route to and from the course w^as either by river-steamer or by road. 

 The boats left the wharves at eleven o'clock and returned at sunset, and you 

 may be sure there were hot times in the town o' nights after the races. Bands 

 and Christy minstrels enlivened the voyage by water. Passengers on the trip 

 home not infrequently toppled overboard, and one or two were actually 

 drowned. Accidents by road were common. At one meeting alone three 

 men were killed, two being run over by vehicles, and one by a runaway horse. 

 Assaults were common, and fighting very popular. Mr. O'Shanassy — who 

 afterwards became Sir John — was attacked whilst taking a meditative canter 

 round the course, and struck over the head very viciously by a ruffian armed 

 with a heavy hunting crop. It was proved to have been a premeditated crime. 

 Not being disabled by his injuries, and being a man of much determination 

 and courage, O'Shanassy turned upon his assailant, pursued and captured him, 

 and had the satisfaction of seeing him receive a sentence of six months' 

 imprisonment. 



The winning post stood alongside the river bank somewhere between 

 the present mile and seven furlong barriers. It was a handy spot at which the 

 steamers could tie up to gum trees on the banks, and could disembark their 

 passengers, but it had the disadvantage of being a considerable distance from 

 the top of the steep, rising ground which soon became known as Picnic Hill. 

 It was not, however, until the sport had been in existence for some twenty 

 years that it was found advisable to change the winning post to its present site, 

 thus converting the Hill into a permanent, convenient and commodious stand. 

 By the year 1846 racing had taken a very firm hold of the light-hearted com- 

 munity, and already a public idol had been discovered and worshipped, spoken 

 about and written about, much in the same way as the public and the press 

 magnify our idols the Carbines, the Poitrels, the Artillerymen, and the 

 Eurythmics of our own times. This golden image which the folk had set up 

 on the Flemington Flats was a dark chestnut horse called Petrel. The reports 

 concerning his paternity and his adventures before he became a racehorse 

 varied considerably. By some he was considered to be by Rous' Emigrant, 

 whilst a sporting writer of the period maintained that he was "by Operator or 

 Theorem from a Steeltrap mare." The most authentic story concerning his 

 origin seems to have been that, in 1841, an overlander between Sydney and 

 Adelaide arrived at a station near the Grampians, bringing along with him 



