Having categorised the racetracks of Victoria into two main sections : Metropolitan Melbourne and Country (regional) Victoria, this particular review will look at earlier tracks in the Melbourne metropolitan area. A complete rundown will appear of tracks that were only utilised during the 1800’s while those that continued into the 1900’s/2000’s will be referenced with full details appearing in later reviews.
Melbourne’s metropolitan track development can be broken down into six stages : formative (American Trotting races); second Samuel Cox Moonee Valley 1890’s; third John Wren at Ascot; fourth Showgrounds; fifth Moonee Valley; sixth and current TABCorp Park, Melton.
MELBOURNE METROPOLITAN RACETRACKS : MID 1800’S – LATE 1880’S
The Melbourne metropolitan area had the first all trotting meeting (Flemington 1860) and the first purpose built trotting track in Australia and the first two and three year old trotting races at Elsternwick (1882).
Due to the popularity of horseracing, racecourses were established throughout the expanding metropolis. Although Caulfield and Flemington are well known thoroughbred tracks there were also Williamstown, Croxton Park in Northcote, Kensington Park, Brighton Park and Elsternwick and the new and larger Moonee Valley in 1883.
A number of proprietary racecourses opened before the end of the nineteenth century including Oakleigh Park (1888, renamed Sandown Park in 1892), Mordialloc, Mentone (1888), Epsom (1889), Maribyrnong and Aspendale (1891) with pony tracks at Thornbury (called Fitzroy), Oakleigh (1891) and Ascot (1893).
Over the 160+ years from 1859 onwards with the exception of TABCORP Park Melton the majority of Melbourne’s trotting tracks were located within the City of Essendon. Of these properties, none were owned by harness racing authorities with the exception of Melton.
As with all Australian states, especially pre and often post 1860, many match races were contested. Examples included a match race on 16 March 1841 between two horses from the middle of Little Flinders St to the flagstaff as reported. “On Wednesday last, a match came off between two horses which was remarkable only from the fact of the streets forming a portion of the course. The race was, from the middle of Little Flinders Street to the flag-staff; and if these things be permitted, we see no objection to form the course for the April meeting from the Police office to Mr La Trobe’s residence”. Other venues utilised for match races included St Kilda Road, Flemington, Eltham, Melbourne CBD streets, Campbellfield, Heidelberg, Prahan, Kellor, Northcote and Emerald Hill. Numerous match races continued in areas such as Moonee Ponds, Essendon through until the late 1880’s.
The first recorded trotting race took place on 3 February 1847 as part of a mixed race meeting at Kinlochewe (later known as Kalkallo) for a stake of ten sovereigns, one sovereign entrance fee. Trotting races were occasionally included at meetings especially on the Melbourne racecourse (later became Flemington) such as a three heat contest on 24 May 1849 between Baron and Wallaby, Baron winning the first and Wallaby the match by taking out the second and third heats. The now heritage precinct of St Vincent’s Place in Albert Park was also briefly used as a race track in mid-1850s.
The Victorian Jockey Club (VJC) conducted a trotting race at Melbourne racecourse in 1857 worth £150 with further races in 1858 and 1859 both worth £100. These were the precursor to the first organised all trotting meeting to be held which was promoted as the American Trotting Races held at Melbourne racecourse on Saturday 21 January 1860. The Melbourne (Flemington racecourse) had held its first galloping meeting in 1840 on its now 2,312m grass track.
Programme for American trotting races at the Melbourne Racecourse on Saturday, 21st January 1860 :
“Day after day the American Trotting Races were more and more talked of, and towards the close of last week there was nearly as much interest shown in the doings of Saturday, as in those of the last November meeting. Had not the terrible north wind intervened to spoil the sport, there would have been, we venture to state, a larger attendance at this gathering, than on any other occasion since the Champion Sweepstakes; as it was, those that did brave the pitiless blast deserved all the enjoyment they obtained … the racing was conducted without any serious barneying, and indeed everything passed off amicably.”
Bells Life, Victoria – “No sooner had the program for these sports published in our columns, than the whole racing world in Melbourne expressed ….
Further editions of the American Trotting Races were held in January 1861 and 1862 (featuring first ever Australian form guide) at Melbourne racecourse before moving to Emerald Hill, a suburb south of the Yarra known as South Melbourne for the running of the fourth edition on 30 May 1863, racing was conducted on a one mile circular track. A further meeting was held at Flemington promoted as the “Great Metropolitan Meeting” on 16 April 1864 where Ballarat horseman Robert Orr’s Sir William Don won the feature Albion Cup in three straight heats (miles in 2:59.0, 2:53.0, 2:59.0) and a three mile race; four of six victories for Orr on the day.
Only on one other occasion would trotting make an appearance at Flemington and that was for the visit of the American fleet on 2 September 1908. The Fleet Trotting Cup was part of a mixed programme of galloping, hurdle and steeplechase events. The race conditions stipulated :
“Trophy value 50 sovs (presented by the Victorian Trotting Association) for Trotters and Pacers (without hopples), to be handicapped to do 2min 25 secs to the mile or better. Harness only. One mile and a half”.
The winner of the Fleet Trotting Cup was Dixie Alto, 3 secs behind from Vaunt and Mauritius with the other starters in finishing order being Emulator, Dan Patch and Taibragar (pulled up).
Another all trotting meeting was held at Emerald Hill in 1865, the last in Victoria for eleven years although proprietary tracks offered monthly opportunities and Emerald Hill held a feature trot in both 1866 and 1867.
Croxton Park was a multi-purpose sports venue located in present-day Northcote and Thornbury, Victoria. Whilst Croxton has never been a suburb in its own right, the locality in northern Northcote and southern Thornbury remains known as Croxton and has had its own train station by that name since 1889. The original Croxton Park track located between High Street and St Georges Road operated between 1865 and 1873 although the earliest instance of a trotting race in the area was May 1857.
Croxton Park’s history began when the Pilgrim Inn was first licensed in 1844 on Plenty Rd, in what became the township of Northcote in 1853. In 1865, new licence holder Josiah Goyder painted the building red, renamed the venue the Red House Inn and developed the private paddocks behind the hotel into a sports venue for horse racing and other events. It was the first privately owned racetrack in Melbourne with the inaugural meeting at the Red House Racetrack (1200m) taking place on 28 October 1865. This first meeting included a handicap steeplechase, handicap hurdle, a three mile trotting race and a hack race. The trotting race worth £16 was won by Dusky, owned by famed Cobb and Co driver Henry Hoyt. Regular horse racing meetings, walking, running races and pigeon shooting events were held at Red House during Goyder’s proprietorship.
In 1869, the licence and lease for the hotel and grounds passed to a four man syndicate headed by champion billiards player Charles Hitchen, who renamed the venue Croxton Park (24 May 1869) and the hotel the Croxton Park Hotel was named after an English sporting pub. Posts, rails and grandstands were erected to mark out the 10-furlong racecourse between High St and St Georges Rd (extended course through Job Smith’s paddocks used for steeplechases; 1200 metre course with one turn only remained).The new course named the Croxton Park Racing Club operated under Victorian Racing Club rules as the first privately owned commercial track in Victoria.
Winner of the four mile Trotting Handicap at the 24 May 1869 meeting was Mr Finlay’s Clodhopper in 12 mins 8 seconds. A second match between Clodhopper and runner up Whitefoot resulted in an easy win for Whitefoot who had conceded Clodhopper 250 yds in the first but only 100 yards in the second.
A judge at the Croxton Park track was Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Frederick Charles Standish, a notorious gambler. The quality of racing at the venue was not strong and the racecourse’s short existence came to an end with the final meeting held on 12 July 1873 when the lease expired and much of the land was sold for housing. Less than twenty trotting races had been held in this time. Racing didn’t return to the area until almost 20 years later. By 1874 the grandstand had been moved to the new Kensington Park racecourse.
Matters of interest concerning the short period of racing at Croxton Park racecourse include
- Longest handicap conceded in a match race over four miles – 1320 yds by Babtie’s gelding Clodhopper to Poole’s pony gelding Jumbuck (winner) on 10 July 1869.
- Longest handicap mark won from over four miles – 900 yds by P Dixon’s gelding Wanderer on 15 June 1872 winning by fifteen lengths
- Sir William Don (aged thirteen) after being sold by Ballarat horseman Robert Orr to Melbourne’s James Thompson won brilliantly after being handicapped off 750 yds over four miles in June 1871
Croxton Park also featured a grassed oval used for Australian rules football, cricket and other sports such as running, hunting, pigeon shooting until the late 1910s. Unlike most major sports venues in Melbourne, which were council owned, Croxton Park was privately owned by the proprietors of the adjoining Croxton Park Hotel which proved controversial for its proximity to alcohol service and for the behaviour of its patrons. Croxton Park’s playing days ended at the conclusion of the 1918 season following the deaths of two of the Randall brothers and the transfer of the hotel’s licence to Grace Hardess. The venue was closed and the land sold and subdivided for housing in 1918.
The Croxton Park Hotel continues to operate as a licensed venue to the present day. A ballroom was constructed on the rear of the hotel during the mid-20th century and it became a major venue for live music in the 1970s. The live music facilities at the venue reopened in 2015 as the Croxton Bandroom.
The Caulfield thoroughbred track hosted two trotting races in the 1870’s. In the first in 1873 Clansman defeated Tom Sayers and Lady Lightfoot and in 1874 Lady Lightfoot defeated Wanderer with the advantage of 500 yards start. The half mile Agricultural Showgrounds (later home to Victoria Barracks including Police Horse Academy) on St Kilda Road operated 1872 – 1881.
The second proprietary track to host trotting races was Kensington Park (formerly Cox’s Paddock), an area just north of Kensington railway station and an inner suburb of Melbourne four kms north-west of the CBD. William Samuel Cox opened the course on 10 October 1874 and later opened the larger Moonee Valley track, the WS Cox Plate (first run in 1922) being named after him.
The near one mile circuit (7½ furlongs) had a steep uphill finish with a large grandstand in place. The inaugural meeting consisted of a maiden race, hurdle race, Kensington Park handicap, steeplechase and trotting race. Cox acted as programmer, secretary, publicity officer and starter on race day. The approx. 2½ mile trotting event (sweepstake of three sovereigns with twenty sovereigns added) was won by Mr Barnard’s Whitefoot.
There were over fifty meetings held at Kensington Park where trotting races were run as part of combined galloping and trotting programmes prior to the final meeting on 6 January 1883. Champion trotter Wanderer established a new Australian mile/race mile record of 2:50.0 at Kensington Park in September 1879 (winner of seven races at Kensington). Cox sold the land for subdivision in 1882 and after missing out on a track in St Kilda where the Army barracks are located leased Feehan’s farm near Deans Hotel at Moonee Ponds. This is where he established the Moonee Valley racecourse that commenced operations in 1883 (refer later article for information regarding Moonee Valley).
The Boccaccio Park (1250m) meetings held near James Albert Roberts Bronte property on land leased by him operated in 1881 prior to Elsternwick Park opening. The course adjoining Retreat Hotel (now Hampton Hotel) about one mile from Royal Terminus Hotel and Brighton Beach Hotel conducted only three meetings. Brighton is an affluent coastal suburb of Melbourne 11kms south-east of the CBD. Its local government area being the city of Bayside.
The Melbourne Argus on Monday 15 Aug 1881 reported on :
“TROTTING RACES AT BOCCACCIO-PARK.
A Trotting Race meeting was held on Saturday afternoon on a piece of ground near the Brighton beach, which has been dubbed “Boccaccio-park.” The proceedings were opened with a parade of trotting horses, in which most of the public performers took part. The draft race was advertised to take place at a quarter to 2 pm., but it was fully half past 2 p.m. before the secretary attended at the weighing scale.
The Maiden Plate resulted in a match between Mr G. Millsom’s George and Mr. F. Hobbin’s Marmaduke, none of the other starters being in it. The former appeared to have the race in hand a quarter of a mile from home, when he suddenly seemed to lose his pace, and was
easily caught and passed by Marmaduke, who won easily; Mr. J. A. Rae’s Explorer was
third. The two miles were done in 6m 28s.
In the first heat for the Handicap Trot, Mr.C. Colbath’s Von Moltke, 250yds. behind scratch, proved the winner : Mr. F. Robbin’s Captain Darborn, 200yds. behind scratch, was second; and Mr. T. Arnott J Rambler, at scratch, was third; Mr. P G. Dixon’s Master George, 100yds behind scratch, fell. The Heat (one mile) was done in 3m. 30s.
The Boccaccio Park Open Handicap Trot resulted in a close finish between Mr. J. Clarke’s Nellie, 323yds behind scratch, and Mr. G. Colbath’s Von Moltke, 450yds. behind scratch, the former being the winner. A protest was entered against Nellie for breaking, but was dismissed by the stewards, the race (two miles) was run in 9m. 27s.
The second heat for the Handicap Trot was won by Captain Darborn, with Rambler second.
A Pony Plate followed, in which Master George proved the victor, Mr. K. Falkiner’s Dolly was second. The third heat for the Handicap Trot was won by Von Moltke, who, having gained two heats out of three, won the race, Captain Darborn was second.
Owing to the absence of any other outdoor sport of general interest there was a large attendance on the ground, but the arrangements were not such as to give satisfaction to the visitors. Trotting races will have to be carried out in a very different style from that adopted at Boccaccio Park on Saturday before they will come into favour with the public.”
Elsternwick Park (currently known by its sponsored name Sportscover Arena) is an Australian rules football and cricket stadium in Brighton, a suburb of Melbourne. The name also refers to the wider parkland in which the main oval is located. The ground is the administrative and primary central playing base of the Victorian Amateur Football Association. The main oval is located in the north-western corner of the wider Elsternwick Park reserve, which covers 90 acres between Glenhuntly Rd, Head St, New St and St Kilda St. The wider reserve served as the Elsternwick Racecourse from 1882 until 1891, the first dedicated harness racing track in Australia and Melbourne’s chief trotting track in 1880’s.
The State Government approved a ten year lease of the grounds to the Victorian Trotting Association at an annual rental of £45. The total cost of developing the trotting track and facilities (grandstand, judge’s box, entrance gate) at Elsternwick Park was ten thousand pounds which included reclamation of the swamp land on which it was located and providing a one mile dirt track that was later sown with couch grass in 1885.
The inaugural meeting held on 1 April 1882 featured a Maiden Plate (best two of three mile heats; winner Fright); VTC Trotting Stallions Race consisting of best of three mile heats – Startle won first in Australian record time of T2:38½; Vermont Junior second in new Australian mile record time of 2:34½; third heat won by Vermont Junior over Startle who was awarded the race on protest; Purse of 100 sovereigns (best three of five mile heats for horses yet to better 2:40; winner of three heats Brown Hawk).
Elsternwick Park was the scene of the first two year old trot, Boccaccio Two Year Old Trot, 65 sovs, 1 mile on 26 January 1884 won by King Bronte (4mins 23 secs) and first three year trot, Australian Sires Produce, 150 sovs, 1 mile won by Garfield (3 mins 3¼ secs) on 14 October 1885. The Australian Sires Produce provided five of the ten richest races at Elsternwick Park ranging from 150 – 205 sovereigns (ten races ranged from 130 – 500 sovereigns). Honesty set Australian mile (T2:30¾) on 17 March 1883 and two mile records (T5:13.0) fourteen months later. In total 215 trotting races were held at Elsternwick Park, most as part of mixed programmes following the first year of operation.
On 16 June 1886 Blossom had to contend with a field of twenty starters to win at Elsternwick Park. The field included Moss Rose ridden by British born George Millsom, father of future Victorian Hall of Fame driver Gus Millsom. Born in 1874, Gus was recognised as Australasia’s first harness racing star. He won eight metropolitan driving premierships – four in Melbourne and four in Sydney – and later became the first horseman in Australia or New Zealand to win more than 400 races.
Closed due to political decisions brought about mainly by a small group who urged the Government not to allow a betting sport to conduct meetings on Crown land, the Government eventually bowed to this pressure with Elsternwick Park holding its final regular meeting on 17 September 1891 and a special farewell meeting on 24 September 1891 honouring retiring racing official Alf Francis Bradshaw. A poll of ratepayers in 1893 resulted in 572 of 784 residents favouring a return to racing there. After its closure the track fell into disuse and disrepair – to the point that it was known colloquially as “no-man’s land” in the district. The grandstand was dismantled, sold to and re-erected at the Junction Oval for the St Kilda Cricket Club where it remains today.
A non-permanent track of one mile’s circumference at Fishermans Bend, Port Melbourne was used only in 1884 and 1885. Fishermans Bend is a precinct within the City of Port Phillip and the City of Melbourne, located on the south of the Yarra River in the suburb of Port Melbourne and opposite Coode Island, close to Melbourne city centre. Fishermans Bend originally included the area now known as Garden City, which was renamed in 1929.
Other tracks operating at the time included a) Rosstown (near Carnegie) b) the Oakleigh and Mulgrave Racing and Trotting Club which operated on the racecourse adjoining Mr Ford’s Springvale Hotel on the corner of Dandenong and Springvale Roads. A one and only mixed programme meeting being held on 29 January 1887 with J Clark’s Dixie winner of the three mile Trot and c) Richfield Racecourse at Mordiallic, a ten furlong twenty yard track with a straight track section of 5½ furlongs. This old proprietary racecourse was the home of the Mordialloc Racing Club established in 1887 by Alfred Bradshaw and known as Richfield in an area near present-day Boundary and Springvale roads in Braeside. The first meeting was run on 12 May 1887, however the course was not a financial success and despite a spate of meetings held there it closed following its final meeting on 16 February 1893.
Melbourne saw a rapid increase in the number of proprietary tracks in its suburbs in the late 1880’s/early 1890’s. These tracks all continued racing into the twentieth century and will be reviewed in future articles.
Next Time : Melbourne Metropolitan tracks : 1890’s – mid twentieth century.
Peter Craig
1 September 2021
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
