Second Day.—7th March, 1838.
If the first day was a comparative failure, the second was almost a total one. The Hunter Stakes came to an utter fiasco. The five gum-tree leaps were so clumsily constructed that their outre appearance, frightening the horses, caused some of them to refuse absolutely, whilst another topped the eminence, and one of his forelegs slipping through the branches, both man and beast were so securely trapped as to be extricated with danger and difficulty. Mr. Wood's horse, ridden by Mr. De Villiers, subsequently an Officer in the Black Mounted Police, pulled off the prize, after one spill. For the Beaten Horse Stakes no one offered, probably because they were so beaten up by their previous efforts that they were reluctant to stake any more, post or no post entry. Besides, there was not much inducement, for the winner would fob nothing but the entrance money, and therefore no glory, and but very little of anything else was to be gained. The club dinner at Fawkner's, to which some outsiders were admitted, was a great success, considering the numerical strength of the company, and the excessive compotation indulged in. There was such a run on the landlord's limited stock of bad champagne, that it lasted no time, when the diners turned to hot toddy, and from that to brandy neat, and thenceforth straight drinking was the order of the night until the following morning, when there was scarcely a man amongst them who was not what is technically known as "suffering a recovery." Betting was very little indulged in at this meeting, and, as far as it went, it was even wagering. Some of the swells staked bell-topper and Manilla hats with each other, and gloves with the very few ladies in attendance. The mechanic, or the bush hand, ventured as far as bottles of rum, which were not only freely paid, but more freely drank, and the only casualty was a wretched member of the demi-monde, which even then had made its appearance, who rushing, about daybreak, in a state of delirium tremens, from a disreputable den in Flinders Lane, jumped into the river near the "Falls," and was drowned before any effectual assistance could be rendered.
The next year's meeting (1839), exhibited a marked advance upon its predecessor. A superior class of horses was being imported, and the advertisements in the two regularly printed weekly newspapers included notices of several well-bred stallions for stud purposes. The population was also rapidly increasing, and the consequence was the manifestation of greater interest in the fostering of the principal national sport. The races were taken in hand with much more spirit, but this ought not to lessen the credit due to the few plucky pioneers of 1838. On the 9th February, 1839, a meeting was held at the Lamb Inn (on the site of the now Scott's Hotel), "for the purpose of electing Stewards for the Melbourne Races." Mr. W. D. G. Wood was installed as Chairman, and the following appointments were made for the current year, viz.:—Stewards: Messrs. W. D. G. Wood, Thomas Glass, Anthony Cottrell, and John Aitken; Secretary and Treasurer, Mr. John Wood; and Messrs. E. D. Wedge and John M'Nall, Clerks of the Course. Resolutions were passed:— (1). That the races be run over the Melbourne Course on the 15th and 16th March, each day at one o'clock; half-hour between starts. (2). The rules of the English Jockey Club to be observed, and no horse to be allowed to run unless the bona-fide property of a subscriber of two sovereigns to the Race Fund. (3). No horse to be allowed to run if imported after date. (4). Entries to be made between 8 and 10 p.m. on 14th March. (5). All matches to be entered by the Secretary; and (6). The winners of stakes or match to pay one sovereign to the Race Fund. The movement having now assumed more pretentious and methodical proportions, some sort of system, though of a rude kind, was introduced. It was resolved to have an all-round or circular course about a mile in extent, and for the Grand Stand, instead of spliced drays, a small stage or platform was erected, not at all unlike the scaffold on which the first blackfellows were hanged in Melbourne, as uncouth-looking, insecure, and even more shaky.
On the eve of the battle all the entered horses were required to appear on view at Batman's Hill for the gratification of the connoisseurs and gossips of the day, and though there had been but brief time for preparation, the turn-out was better than expected.
