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    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911)",
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    "chunk_id": "1911:australia:cd6d07ca1e98",
    "title": "AUSTRALIA",
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    "verified_text": "racing in australia has its headquarters at sydney, under the government of the australian jockey club, the principal course being at ranwick; and at melbourne, where the victoria jockey club is supreme, the principal course being at flemington. in new zealand sport is carried on under the authority of delegates from the chief racing clubs, who meet in conference. there is a sydney derby and a victoria derby, and a notable event at flemington is the champion race, weight-for-age, for three-year-olds and upwards, which usually attracts the best horses in training, as the fee at which a sire stands depends in a great measure on his success in this contest. this race is over a distance of 3 m., and to ensure a good pace there is a regulation that the time in which it is run must not exceed 5 minutes 40 seconds, though the stewards have power to extend this in case the ground should be made exceptionally heavy by rainy weather. the melbourne cup is regarded as one of the most important races in the state. this is a handicap, and in comparison with english races may perhaps be ranked with the cesarewitch. the birth of horses dates from the 1st of august, which corresponds as nearly as possible to the 1st of february in england, so that the australian horses are practically seven months younger than the english--a matter of some importance in the case of those sent to run in england. there are few races which close long before the date of decision, and practically all the good animals run in handicaps. the five- and six-furlong races for other than two-year-olds, so common in great britain, are extremely rare; and it is asserted by colonial sportsmen that their horses stay better than those bred in england, a circumstance which is largely attributed to the fact that mares and foals have much more liberty and exercise than is the case in the mother country. united states horse-racing was indulged in to a limited extent in maryland and virginia as early as the middle of the 17th century, particularly in the latter colony. most of the inhabitants of both were either from the british isles or were descended from parents who had immigrated from them, and they inherited a taste for the sport. the animals used for this purpose, however, were not highly prized at the time, and the pedigree of not even one of them has been preserved. a horse called bully rock by the darley arabian out of a mare by the byerly turk, granddam by the lister turk, great-granddam a royal mare, foaled 1718, is the first recorded importation of a thoroughbred horse into america. he was imported into virginia in 1730. in 1723 the duke of bolton bred a mare named bonny lass by his celebrated horse bay bolton out of a daughter of the darley arabian. she became celebrated in england as a brood mare, and was the first thoroughbred mare, according to the records, that was carried to america. this is supposed to have been in or after 1740, as the _stud-book_ shows she produced in england after 1739 a filly by lord lonsdale's arabian, and subsequently became familiar to the public as the granddam of zamora. the importations increased very rapidly from this period, and many valuable shipments were made before the war which resulted in a separation of the colonies from the mother country. this acquisition of thoroughbred stock increased the number and value of racing prizes, and extended the area of operations into the carolinas in the south, and new jersey and new york in the north. the first race run in south carolina was in february 1734 for l20. it took place over \"the green,\" on charleston neck. this shows that the earlier races in america were actually on the turf, as they have always been in england. the next year a jockey club was organized at charleston (1735), and a course was prepared, such as those which came later into general use throughout the states, the turf being removed and the ground made as level as possible. after 1776, when the united states declared their independence of great britain, the importation of thoroughbred horses from england became quite common, and selections were made from the best stocks in the united kingdom. this continued and even increased as the country became developed, down to 1840. the following derby winners were among those carried into the states: diomed, who won the first derby in 1780; saltram, winner in 1783; john bull, winner in 1792; spread eagle, winner in 1795; sir harry, winner in 1798; archduke, winner in 1799; and priam, who won in 1830. the most important and valuable importations, however, proved to be jolly roger, fearnought, medley, traveller, diomed, glencoe, leviathan, tranby, lexington, margrave, yorkshire buzzard, albion and leamington. the best results were obtained from diomed and glencoe. diomed sired one horse, sir archy, who founded a family to which nearly all the blood horses of america trace back. he was foaled in 1805, in virginia, and became celebrated as a sire. the superiority of his progeny was so generally conceded that they were greatly sought after. from this period, too, the number and value of races increased; still they were comparatively few in number, and could not compare in value with those of great britain. up to 1860 the value of racing prizes was quite inadequate to develop large breeding establishments, or to sustain extensive training stables. then the civil war between the north and the south broke out, which raged for four years. breeding establishments were broken up during that time; the horses were taken by the armies for cavalry purposes, for which service they were highly prized; and racing was completely paralysed. it took some time to regain its strength; but an era of prosperity set in about 1870, and since then the progress in interest has been continuous. in the united states interest in trotting races more than rivals that felt in the contests of thoroughbred horses. this interest dates back to the importation to philadelphia from england, in 1788, of the thoroughbred horse messenger, a grey stallion, by mambrino, 1st dam by turf, 2nd dam by regulus, 3rd dam by starling, 4th dam by fox, 5th dam gipsey, by bay bolton, 6th dam by duke of newcastle's turk, 7th dam by byerly turk, 8th dam by taffolet barb, 9th dam by place's white turk. he was eight years old when imported to the united states. he was at the stud for twenty years, in the vicinity of philadelphia and new york, serving a number of thoroughbred mares, but a far greater number of cold-blooded mares, and in the progeny of the latter the trotting instinct was almost invariably developed, while his thoroughbred sons, who became scattered over the country, were also noted for transmitting the trotting instinct. the first public trotting race of which there is any account in the united states was in 1818, when the grey gelding boston blue was matched to trot a mile in 3 minutes, a feat deemed impossible; but he won, though the time of his performance has not been preserved. from about that date interest in this gait began to increase; breeders of trotters sprang up, and horses were trained for trotting contests. the problem of breeding trotters has been necessarily found to be a much more complex one than that of breeding the thoroughbred, as in the latter case pure blood lines of long recognized value could be relied upon, while in the former the best results were constantly being obtained from most unexpected sources. among the leading families came to be the hambletonian, of which the modern head was rysdyk's hambletonian, a bay horse foaled in 1849, got by abdallah (traced to imp. messenger on the side of both sire and dam) out of the charles kent mare, by imp. (i.e. imported) bellfounder, with two crosses to imp. messenger on her dam's side; the mambrinos, whose modern head was mambrino chief, foaled 1844, by mambrino paymaster, a grandson of imp. messenger; the bashaws, founded by young bashaw, foaled 1822, by grand bashaw, an arabian horse, dam pearl, by first consul; the clays, springing from henry clay, a grandson of young bashaw through andrew jackson; the stars, springing from stockholm's american star, by duroc, son of imp. diomed; the morgans, whose founder was justin morgan, foaled 1793, by a horse called true briton, or beautiful bay, who was probably thoroughbred; the black hawks, a branch of the morgan family; the blue bulls, descended from doyle's blue bull, foaled 1855, a pacer, sired by a pacer of the same name, dam by blacknose, son of medoc; the canadians, whose best representatives were st lawrence and pacing pilot, horses of unknown pedigree; the gold dusts, another branch of the morgan family; and the royal georges, springing from tippoo, a horse who was probably by ogden's messenger, son of imp. messenger. but trotters of great speed have been produced which do not trace to any of the sources mentioned. very large prices are paid. steinway, a three-year-old colt, was sold in 1879, to go to california, for $13,000; and in 1878 $21,000 was paid for the four-year-old filly maud s., after she had trotted a mile in public in 2 m. 17(1/2) s. much larger sums have been paid, however, for matured trotters, such as $40,000 for the stallion smuggler, $38,000 for pocahontas, $35,000 for dexter, $36,000 for rarus, and long prices for many others; st julien, the trotter with the fastest record at the close of 1879, was held at $50,000, while rysdyk's hambletonian, messenger duroc and volunteer were valued, in their prime, at $100,000 each. compared with the early days of american trotting, the advance has been rapid and the changes marked. after the performance of boston blue, mentioned above, more attention was paid to the gait, but for a long time the races were generally under saddle, and at long distances, 3 m. being rather the favourite. the best of the old time trotters were edwin forrest, who trotted a mile in 2 m. 31(1/2) s. in 1834; dutchman, who did 3 m. under saddle in 7 m. 32(1/2) s.; ripton; lady suffolk, who trotted a mile in 2 m. 26(1/2) s. in 1843, and headed the list of performers; mac, tacony, &c. after 1850, however, the taste of the people settled upon the style of race called \"mile heats, best three out of five, in harness\" as the favourite. by \"in harness\" is meant that the horse draws a sulky, a light two-wheeled vehicle in which the driver sits close to the horse, with his legs on each side of his flanks. these sulkies often weigh less than 40 lb. the driver is required to weigh, with the blanket on which he sits, 150 lb., while for saddle races the regulation weight is 145 lb., or 10 st. 5 lb. each heat of a mile is a separate race; 20 minutes is allowed between heats; and the horse that first places three heats to his credit wins the race. there are various penalties imposed upon a horse that breaks into a run in a trotting race. the driver is required to pull him to a trot as quickly as possible; if the horse gains by running, the judges set him back at the finish twice the distance he has gained, in their estimation, by running; and for repeated \"breaks\" they can declare him distanced. the first-class tracks are of oval shape, with long stretches and easy curves, measuring 1 m. at 3 ft. distance from the \"pole,\" as the inner railing of the track is called. the time in which the leading horse trots each heat is accurately kept, placed on a blackboard in front of the judges' stand for the information of the public, and also placed in the book of the course. the fastest time that any trotter has is thus entered as his \"record.\" this is one of the distinctive features of trotting in america. prior to 1866 purses for trotters were small; match races were more in vogue, and the trotting turf was in bad odour. in that year an association was formed at buffalo, n.y., which inaugurated its efforts by offering the then unprecedented sum of $10,500 for a trotting meeting of four days' duration. the experiment was successful; other cities followed the example of buffalo; larger and larger purses were given; and at buffalo in 1872 the prizes amounted to $70,000. since then the amount offered in the united states and canada, during a single year, has reached $1,500,000. individual trotters, in the course of a long turf career, earn enormous amounts. a remarkable instance of this was the mare goldsmith maid, by alexander's abdallah (a son of rysdyk's hambletonian), out of an abdallah mare. she began trotting in 1866, and left the turf in 1878, when twenty-one years old, and her winnings amounted to over $200,000. in 1869 the national trotting association was formed, under which an elaborate code of rules has been published. in trotting races, it will be noted, the time test is supreme, differing from running races, in which time is of comparatively little consequence. the animal which has the fastest record for 1 mile in harness is, until deposed, the king or queen of the trotting turf. lady suffolk, with her record of 2 m. 26(1/2) s., in 1843, held this honour until 1853, when tacony trotted in 2 m. 25(1/2) s. under saddle; flora temple wrested it from him in 1856 by trotting in 2 m. 24(1/2) s. in harness. this latter mare, in 1859, trotted a mile in 2 m. 19(3/4) s., a feat which the best horsemen thought would never be repeated, but since that time forty-two trotters have beaten 2 m. 20 s. dexter's record was 2 m. 17(1/4) s. in 1867, and goldsmith maid's in 1871 was 2 m. 17 s., which she reduced, by successive efforts, to 2 m. 16(3/4) s., 2 m. 16 s., 2 m. 15 s., 2 m. 14(3/4) s., and finally, in 1874, to 2 m. 14 s. in 1878 rarus trotted a mile in 2 m. 13(1/4) s., and in october 1879 the bay gelding st julien, by volunteer, son of rysdyk's hambletonian, dam by henry clay, trotted a mile in california in 2 m. 12(3/4) s. other notable performances reducing the record were maud s. in 1881, 2 m. 10(1/4) s.; maud s. in 1885, 2 m. 8(3/4) s.; sunol in 1891, 2 m. 8(1/4) s.; nancy hanks in 1892, 2 m. 4 s.; alix in 1894, 2 m. 3(3/4) s.; cresceus in 1901, 2 m. 2(1/4) s.; lou dillon in 1905, 1 m. 58(1/2) s. improved times have doubtless been the result of improved methods, as well as of care in the breeding of the trotter. some very severe training rules used to be sedulously observed; about 1870, for instance, a horse never had water the night before a race, and the system generally appears to have overtaxed the animal's strength. a prominent consideration in trotting races is the adjustment of toe-weights, which are fastened on to the horses' feet to equalize their action, and it is found that horses improve their time to the extent of several seconds when properly shod. pacing races are also frequent in the united states. in trotting the action may be described as diagonal; the pacer moves both legs on the same side at the same time, and both feet stride as one. a similar \"gait,\" to employ the american term, was called in england some centuries ago an \"amble.\" the pacer moves more easily and with apparently less exertion than the trotter, and the mile record (made by prince alert in 1903) stands at 1 m. 57 s. owing to the vast size of the country there are various centres of sport, which can be classified with reasonable accuracy as follows: the eastern states, dominated by the jockey club, founded in new york in 1894, and recognized by a state law in 1895; the middle western states, under the control of the western jockey club, whose headquarters are in chicago; the pacific coast, with san francisco for its centre; and the southern and south-western states, with louisville as the most important centre. the passage of the racing law in new york state marked the opening of a new era. supreme even over the jockey club is a state racing commission of three, appointed by the governor of the state. while the jockey club is only recognized by law in its native state, it has assumed and maintains control of all racing on the eastern seaboard, within certain lines of latitude and longitude, extending as far north as the canadian border and south to georgia. there is small question that other states, both east and west, will follow suit and enact similar laws. the western jockey club, though not recognized by law, controls practically all the racing through the middle west, south-west and south; but the racing associations of the pacific coast have maintained a position of independence. what new york is to the east, chicago is to the middle west, and a very large proportion of american racing is conducted close to these centres. in new york state the coney island jockey club, at sheepshead bay; the brooklyn jockey club, at gravesend; the westchester racing association, at morris park; the brighton beach racing association, at brighton beach; the queen's county jockey club, at aqueduct; and the saratoga racing association, at saratoga, are the leading organizations; and all these race-courses, with the exception of saratoga, are within a radius of 20 miles of the city. the empire city jockey club, near yonkers, and another club with headquarters near jamaica, long island, have also become prominent institutions. the washington park club, at chicago, is the leading turf body of the west, and the only one on an equal footing with the prominent associations of new york state. with this single exception the most important and valuable stakes of the american turf are given in the east; and so great has the prosperity of the turf been since the jockey club came into existence that the list of rich prizes is growing at a surprising rate. in this respect the principal fault is the undue encouragement given to the racing of two-year-olds. at the winter meetings held at new orleans and san francisco, two-year-olds are raced from the very beginning of the year; and under the rules of the jockey club of new york they run as early as march. the westchester racing association, with which are closely identified some of the principal members of the jockey club, gives valuable two-year-old stakes in may. the futurity stakes, the richest event of the year--on one occasion it reached a value of $67,675--is for two-year-olds, and is run at sheepshead bay in the autumn. the institution of races, either absolutely or practically at weight-for-age, and over long courses, has engaged much attention. the coney island jockey club has the leading three-year-old stake in the lawrence realization, over 1 mile 5 furlongs, with an average value of about $30,000. the westchester racing association's two principal three-year-old stakes, the withers, over a mile, run in may, and the belmont, 1 mile and 3 furlongs, run later in the same month, are of less value, but are much older-established and have a species of \"classic\" prestige, dating from the old jerome park race-course in the 'sixties. the coney island jockey club's century and the annual champion stakes, both for three-year-olds and upwards, over a mile and a half and two miles and a quarter respectively, are fair specimens of the races the associations have founded. at saratoga a stake of $50,000 for three-year-olds and upwards, distance a mile and a quarter, was opened, and run for first in 1904. the hope is to wean owners from the practice of overtaxing their two-year-olds, which has resulted practically in a positive dearth, almost a total absence, of good four-year-olds and upwards of late years. handicaps play a more important part than in england. the principal events of this character, such as the brooklyn handicap at gravesend and the suburban at sheepshead bay, have for years drawn the largest attendances of the racing season. practically all flat racing in the united states is held on \"dirt-tracks,\" i.e. courses with soil specially prepared for racing, instead of turf courses. at sheepshead bay there is a turf course, but it is only used for a minority of races. dirt-tracks, which are, like many other things in american racing, a legacy from the once hugely popular harness-racing, are conducive to great speed, but are costly in the extreme strain on horses' legs. steeplechases are run on turf. this branch of the sport in the east is now flourishing under the administration of the national steeplechase and hunt association, a sister body of the jockey club. comparatively few races are, however, run under these rules, as the weather conditions render it impossible to have a separate season for cross-country sport and steeplechases, and hurdle races are incorporated in programmes of flat racing held through the spring, summer and autumn, though the ground is frequently so hard as to be unsafe. since the national steeplechase and hunt association assumed control, regulation courses, practically similar in every respect to those used in england, have been insisted upon in the east, the \"open ditch\" figuring under the name of the \"liverpool.\" in the west and south there is not the same uniformity, and so far the sport has not flourished.",
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