INFLUENCE OF AUSTRALIAN RACING 47 



Chapter XV. 

 The Influence of Australian Racing. 



Racing is a conservative pastime. Necessarily this is so, for, as everyone 

 knows, it is the "Sport of Kings." But w^hen this huge continent, this "giant 

 Ocean Isle," was first thrown open for colonisation, the most independent, 

 the most adventurous, the most audacious, and those most full of initiative, 

 left their homes for the yet unknown lands across the seas, and their characters 

 came with them. And the colonists' manner of life tended to foster the pro- 

 clivities which Nature had implanted in their hearts. The wide, open spaces; 

 the long distances between town and town, neighbour and neighbour; the 

 free, healthy, open air, stimulating to body and soul; necessity, and the 

 desire to help oneself — all these factors moulded our Australian character, 

 and forced us not to be satisfied with the things which were good enough 

 for our forefathers, but to develop, improve, and sometimes to strike out on 

 new lines altogether. Therefore in all our work, and perhaps more so in our 

 play, when something obviously required change, we did it without hesitation, 

 and we are continuing to do so to this day. 



And that is how we have introduced some reforms into our horse racing 

 which, after having been tested here, and found good, have penetrated into 

 the older countries, and have ultimately been adopted there. "The Gate" 

 is one of these changes which has revolutionised the whole art of starting. It 

 used to be a pretty, yea, verily, a wonderful sight, to watch old Mr. George 

 Watson despatching a big Cup field. Mr. Watson was a genius, and he was 

 possibly the most efficient starter that ever held a flag. But, in spite of him, 

 delays occurred nearly every day, horses went mad with the fret and turmoil 

 of it all, and false starts were horribly frequent. It was neither good for man 

 nor beast. Then someone thought of a barrier, behind which the field had 

 to stand. Previous to this, there had sometimes been an imaginary obstacle 

 in the shape of a white chalk line painted across the course, but if horses 

 did not ignore this, they often jumped it as they galloped past the different 

 starting places during the course of a race, and that was no good. The 

 Romans, however, had started their chariot races during the Empire from 

 behind barriers, and the knowledge of this may have given the hint to Mr. 

 Poulain, who, I think, first brought into notice a workable machine which 

 would fly out of the way on the official starter pulling a lever. After numerous 

 private trials, Poulain's machine was adopted for the first time, I believe, on 

 The Harvester's Derby day. It was a magnificent success, and I remember 

 being so impressed with the idea that I at once dashed off home to the country, 

 and induced the Racing Club, of which I had the honour to be the Honorary 

 Secretary, to adopt the affair. There had been a few fiascos on the Metro- 

 politan courses, and one or two races had to be run twice over in consequence. 

 Sternchaser's Winter Handicap at Caulfield was one of the cases which comes 

 back to the mind most vividly. The "Register" remarks that "This race was 

 run twice. On the first occasion the barrier went up of its own accord, and 

 all the horses, with the exception of Sternchaser, ran the full course (a mile). 

 The stewards declared the event no race, and the horses returned at once to 

 the starting post." Sternchaser, a New Zealand colt, the property of Mr. 

 Spencer Gollan, by Nordenfeldt out of Crinoline, had no difficulty in winning 

 the run off. 



We had several misadventures in the country when we first took up the 

 notion, and of course there was an outcry from the public, and from owners, 



