Volume I: The Beginnings (1987) (continued)

We look at the earliest jockeys, owners, tipsters and touts, trainers and vets, gentleman and rogues and the almost forgotten colonial champions – Jorrocks, Petrel, Alice Hawthorn, Veno, Flying Buck and the first Melbourne Cup winner, Archer himself.

Following the pattern of the mural, the book looks back on the remote origins of racing in the ancient world, and to the creation of the thoroughbred in England. New Zealand, with its special racing links to Australia, is given special attention. There are glorious paintings of early champions and their forebears in England. The text has been elegantly integrated with images from the racing mural which lines the roof of the Hill Stand at Flemington. In this volume, scenes from the first two murals are reproduced, augmented by a host of contemporary drawings, paintings and archival material.

Quite simply The History of Australian Thoroughbred Racing is unique. A beautiful blend of art and history, it has delighted those who love the horse and the sport of horse racing. But, more that this, it places racing in a broad historical context and gives a new insight into a sport at the core of the Australian heritage.