22 RACEHORSES IN AUSTRALIA 



Chapter IX. 

 The Great Men of Old. 



And now that we have these accurate records to our hands of all our turf 

 history since 1865, and with the Stud Book giving us the family tree of our 

 thoroughbreds, so far as it can be obtained, from the present day back to the 

 times of King Charles the Second, we can so easily, from that high perch or 

 knowledge, take a quick, bird's-eye view of the happenings of our own brief 

 days in Australia. Shortly before this era of historical accuracy dawned upon 

 our thoroughbred history, certain importations of blood stock took place which 

 have left a deeper mark upon our annals than any other events since the arrival 

 of the mare Manto. 



It was in 1 860 that Mr. Hurtle Fisher procured, from England, a stallion 

 and several brood mares, and formed a breeding establishment at Maribyrnong. 

 This is an estate composed of flats and rising ground, hill and dale, on the 

 banks of the Saltwater River, within an easy morning's ride from the main 

 streets of the Victorian capital. Here Mr. Fisher built, high up upon a 

 convenient and commanding eminence, excellent stabling for his valuable 

 imported stud, and a house for his manager. It was an ideal spot, beautifully 

 laid out, and so substantial that the main buildings stand to-day with every 

 appearance of having only been erected yesterday. The mares which Mr. 

 Fisher imported were from the bluest blood of the day, carefully chosen, with 

 the soundest judgment, and regardless of expense. His stallion was one of the 

 best-known horses in England, a mighty winner, a great stayer. This was 

 Fisherman, a brown horse, by Heron out of Mainbrace, by Sheet Anchor out 

 of a Bay Middleton mare. He had won upwards of sixty races, most of them 

 over a distance of ground, and although, when you trace his blood lines care- 

 fully out, you might be led to believe that they are scarcely those of a stayer, 

 yet he undoubtedly did possess that quality in a marked degree, and so, too, 

 did the stock which he left behind him. 



The names of the mares which accompanied Fisherman on his long 

 voyage conjure up to every turfite a vision of romance, recall the time when our 

 best turf traditions were in the making, and bring back to the memory hundreds 

 of races lost and won. Gildermire, Marchioness, Juliet, her daughter 

 Chrysolite (foaled after landing). Rose de Florence, Coquette, Cerva, Night- 

 light, Gaslight, Omen and Sweetheart formed the kernel of the stud. The last- 

 named mare, by the way, was dropped in Victoria, her dam, Melesina, having 

 been imported by Mr. Rawdon Green, who sold her to Mr. Fisher. She was 

 but a short time in the possession of the latter, but it was whilst the mare was 

 at Maribyrnong that she produced Mermaid to Fisherman, and Mermaid was 

 the dam of Melody, the dam of Melodious, the mother of the immortal 

 Wallace. Unfortunately, times then became bad for Mr. Hurtle and his 

 brother, Mr. C. B. Fisher. Many people were speculating heavily in land 

 during the 'sixties, and, as is usual in all booms, the few who were lucky 

 became rich very quickly, whilst the great majority whom fortune did not 

 favour went to the wall. 



The entire Maribyrnong Stud came to the hammer on April 1 0th, I 866, 

 the sale realising nearly £28,000. Prices were considered high, but were such 

 lots with the same reputation put up to auction to-day, say, by the Messrs. 

 Tattersall at Newmarket, England, probably a couple of them alone would 

 bring in that sum. As it was, the two-year-old Fishhook fell for three thousand 

 six hundred guineas. Seagull for nineteen hundred, and Lady Heron for 



