24 RACEHORSES IN AUSTRALIA 



and the Randwick Handicap, each a mile and a quarter. Races certainly were 

 not run out from pillar to post in the 'sixties as they are to-day, and it would 

 be not only impolitic, but impossible, to race a three-year-old in 1922 as John 

 Tait used his Fireworks. Nevertheless, the three-year-old career of the colt 

 must for all time be considered a very marvellous one. In the Cup of '69 The 

 Barb was allotted the handsome weight of eleven stone seven, his stable mate 

 (Glencoe) was eleven stone, Mr. Fisher's Ragpicker was set to carry seven 

 seven, whilst the minimum of the handicap was his filly. The Fly, with five 

 stone seven. The handicappers of the day were Captain Standish, Mr. William 

 Leonard and Mr. Hurtle Fisher himself. This could not occur to-day. If it 

 were possible, and the handicapper's horse came home a winner, the vast 

 crowd in its indignation would throw down everj^thing and would not leave 

 one stone standing upon another. But the circumstance remains an ever- 

 lasting memorial to the unimpeachable integrity of the gentlemen who 

 officiated in an honorary capacity in those times. 



Of the three, Mr. William Leonard is still with us, and still continues to 

 watch a race with the enthusiasm of youth. But this ancient history is altogether 

 too absorbing. Were our pen to have its head, it would most assuredly bolt 

 with us, and we would career round the course until sundown, and therefore 

 we must pick up our reins and proceed more steadily upon our way. We 

 were arguing that the different decades were dominated by groups of sports- 

 men, certain breeds of horses, and we have not yet definitely left the starting 

 barrier of '66. 



From 1866 until well into the 'seventies, the same group of sportsmen 

 were still ruling the roost, the same breeds of horses were carrying on their 

 respective lines. The stock of Fisherman, through Maribyrnong, of Sir 

 Hercules, through Yattendon, and of Kelpie, through Fireworks, were even 

 yet the mainstay of the breed. But fresh names, both of men and steeds, 

 were, of course, creeping in. Old Mr. James Wilson, with his Dinah and 

 Musidora lot, came, held sway for many years, and is succeeded by his son, 

 young James. The Chirnsides, too, stepped forward, and did an immense 

 deal for the turf when they brought out three shiploads of blue-blooded mares 

 and young ones, straight from the breaking-up sale of old Sir Tatton Sykes' 

 stud at Sledmere. Many of the mares are landmarks in the modern stud 

 book, but the purchases of Mr. Tom Chirnside might have even been more 

 successful had they been effected at another time. Old Sir Tatton had his own 

 ideas on breeding, and he indulged more in the rearing of the thoroughbred 

 horse itself than in the racehorse pure and simple. The comments of the Press 

 of the day, made upon the arrival of the ships bearing their precious burdens, 

 inferred that the mares landed were very good looking indeed, but that most 

 of them w^ere more like weight-carrying hunters than racers. Unconsciously, 

 the critic was paying them the highest compliment which was possible. The 

 blue jacket and black cap of the house of Chirnside are still carried to victory 

 every now and again by the horses owned, and, for the most part, bred by 

 Mr. Andrew. The colours are a symbol of everything that is fair and square. 

 The period extending between 1875 and the early 'nineties is brilliantly 

 illuminated by the name of the Hon. James White. 



No one in Australia has ever carried on his racing business with the same 

 amount of success. He was a keen student of breeding. He gave his stud his 

 personal supervision. He was served by trainers of the greatest ability and 

 integrity, and his head jockey was second to none. Mr. White was almost 

 invincible in the great two-year-old and classic races of his day, and many of 

 the great handicaps also fell to his string. You have only to read the long 



