South Australian Jockey Club is the principal race club in South Australia .
51-469: The Goodwood is a South Australian Jockey Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three years old and older, run at set weights with penalties, over a distance of 1200 metres at Morphettville Racecourse , Adelaide , South Australia in the SAJC Autumn Carnival. In 2007 the race conditions were set weights and penalties after previously being a handicap race throughout its 121-year history and
102-507: A consortium of businessmen. The Club was re-formed in 1875 with Stewards: Sir John Morphett , Sir Henry Ayers , John Crozier M.L.C. , W. Cavenagh , MP., and Philip Levi . The Committee consisted of: G. Bennett, W. K. Simms, MP. Judge: Mr. E. M. Bagot. Starters: Henry Hughes and G. Bennett. Clerk of the Course: J. Boase. The first handicapping committee consisted of W. B. Rounsevell , G. Bennett and H. Hughes. Longtime handicapper Henry Hughes
153-715: A different one of Gordon's relatives. In spite of short sight, he was becoming very well known as a gentleman rider, and on 10 October 1868, actually won three races in one day at the Melbourne Hunt Club steeplechase meeting. He rode with great patience and judgment, but his want of good sight was always a handicap. He began riding for money, but was not fortunate and had more than one serious fall. He sold his business and left Ballarat in October 1868 and came to Melbourne, and eventually found lodgings at 10 Lewis Street, Brighton. He had succeeded in straightening his financial affairs and
204-406: A fresh start in 1853 to join the mounted police with a letter of introduction to the governor. Gordon had fallen in love with Jane Bridges, a girl, aged 17 who was able to tell the story 60 years afterwards to his biographers. Gordon did not declare his love until he came to say good-bye to her before leaving for Australia on 7 August 1853. "With characteristic recklessness, he offered to sacrifice
255-529: A girl of 17. In March 1864, Gordon bought a cottage, Dingley Dell, near Port MacDonnell , and in this same year, inspired by six engravings after Noel Paton illustrating "The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow", Gordon wrote a poem "The Feud", of which 30 copies were printed at Mount Gambier. In July 1864, Gordon performed the daring riding feat known as Gordon's Leap on the edge of the Blue Lake . A commemorative obelisk erected there has an inscription which reads: This obelisk
306-581: A monument was erected over his grave at the Brighton General Cemetery by his close friends. His wife went back to South Australia, married Peter Low, and lived until November 1919. In the decades following Gordon's death, his work continued to draw increasing praise from literary figures and the public at large, and especially in Melbourne, he was exalted as a genius and a national poet. Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde counted among his admirers,
357-835: A precarious state, in desperation ran the 1885 Adelaide Cup at Flemington . The Company was then forced to relinquish the Morphettville property to the Queensland Mortgage Company and the Club was defunct. The S.A.J.C went into recess and held no meetings for four years. Barnard acted as honorary secretary. In 1888 Parliament reversed its ban on the Totalizator. The property was then purchased for £8,000 by T. F. Wigley , R. B. Pell , and Sylvester Browne . Browne subsequently purchased Pell's interest and in July 1889 Wigley and Browne placed
408-607: A rental of 6 per cent. on the outlay. Their first race meeting was held there on 23 September 1875? 3 January 1876? Due to the track being waterlogged their May 1875 meeting had to be held at the "Old Adelaide Racecourse" (later known as Victoria Park ), hired from the Adelaide City Council at a cost of £40. The sum of £1,000 was found to be inadequate and the Company decided to increase the capital to £7,000. The Company then sought from Sir Thomas Elder, and received, conversion of
459-487: A splendid horseman". In this year, his father died and he also lost his mother about two years later. From her estate, he received £6944–18–1 on 26 October 1861. He was making a reputation as a rider over hurdles, and several times either won or was placed in local hurdle races and steeplechases. On 6 August 1859, the ship Admella ran aground on the Cape Northumberland shoals, not a great distance from where Gordon
510-615: A year, he was sent to a school kept by the Rev. Samuel Ollis Garrard in Gloucestershire. He attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich , in 1848, where he was a contemporary and friend of Charles George Gordon (no relation, later Gordon of Khartoum) and Thomas Bland Strange (later known as Gunner Jingo). There, Gordon appears to have been good at sports, but not studious and certainly undisciplined, and like Richard Henry Horne , he
561-586: Is a list of group races conducted by the SAJC. Adam Lindsay Gordon Adam Lindsay Gordon (19 October 1833 – 24 June 1870) was a British-Australian poet, horseman, police officer and politician. He was the first Australian poet to gain considerable recognition overseas, and according to his contemporary, writer Marcus Clarke , Gordon's work represented "the beginnings of a national school of Australian poetry". Though commonly cited as having been born in Fayal in
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#1732868774544612-560: Is a poet of importance, who on occasions wrote some magnificent lines. Douglas Sladen , a lifelong admirer, in his Adam Lindsay Gordon, The Westminster Abbey Memorial Volume , made a selection of 27 poems that occupy about 90 pages. His life was dramatised in the 1947 radio drama A Horseman in Arcadia and 1948 radio drama Adam Lindsay Gordon in which Peter Finch played the title role. Gordon's works have inspired numerous works in other artistic mediums. The Australian impressionists of
663-510: Is known to have been staying. The ship broke up, many perished (see main article ), and many heroic feats were attempted, including an epic horse ride to Mount Gambier to summon help. Some 10 years later, Gordon wrote a poem "From the Wreck", probably inspired by this story, but somehow the popular imagination put Gordon in that saddle, and a number of newspaper articles were written to debunk the myth. On 20 October 1862, he married Margaret Park, then
714-569: The Azores , where Captain Gordon had brought his wife for the sake of her health, Gordon's birthplace was the small English village of Charlton Kings near Cheltenham , where he was baptised. He was the son of Captain Adam Durnford Gordon and Harriet Gordon, his first cousin, both of whom were descended from Adam Gordon of Auchindoun , of the ballad " Edom o Gordon ". Captain Gordon had retired from
765-489: The Buonarotti Club illustrated studies of his poetry. Film director W. J. Lincoln based two films on poems by Gordon: The Wreck (1913) and The Sick Stockrider (1915). He also directed the 1916 biopic The Life's Romance of Adam Lindsay Gordon , starring Hugh McCrae in the title role. Unlike many other early Australian silent films, much of the film survives today. One of Gordon's poems, " The Swimmer ", forms
816-663: The 160 acres (65 ha) property on the Glenelg railway (later tram) line, near the Morphett Arms Hotel, to be known as the "South Australian Course" or "Elder Course" (and to the less charitable, the "Bay of Biscay course"), to the Company. The directors elected at the first general meeting of the Company were Sir Henry Ayers , Sir John Morphett , Thomas Elder , John Crozier, R. C. Baker, Philip Levi , Joseph Gilbert , E. W. Pitts , and H. B. Hughes , all highly influential gentlemen and racing enthusiasts. The Company promptly spent
867-530: The 1880s and 1890s were said to fuel the "Gordon craze", titling a number of their landscapes after lines from Gordon, including The Dawn Faintly Dappled ( Charles Conder ), Above Us the Great Grave Sky ( Arthur Streeton ) and Whisperings in Wattle Boughs ( Frederick McCubbin ). In 1886, inspired by a paper titled "The Open Air Elements in Gordon's Poems", members of the Melbourne bohemian artists' society
918-515: The Bengal cavalry and taught Hindustani. His mother's family had owned slaves in the British West Indies until the abolition of slavery in the 1830s, and had received significant financial compensation for the loss of their property. Gordon would in 1859 inherit some £7,000 from his mother's estate. Gordon was sent to Cheltenham College in 1841, when he was only seven, but after he had been there
969-690: The East Parklands (the " Old Adelaide Racecourse ") and Glenelg . Following several successful race meetings organised by E. M. Bagot and Gabriel Bennett on their grazing property south of Henley Beach Road , Thebarton (where Mile End is today), the first being 6–8 January 1859, and a series of preliminary discussions held in June and July 1861, a new committee was formed, whose members included Sir James Fisher (president), E. M. Bagot, Gabriel Bennett, W. K. Simms , P. B. Coglin (starter) and William Blackler , with James Chambers as judge. They settled on
1020-554: The S.A.J.C. In 2008, firstly Victoria Park , and then in 2009 Cheltenham Park were discontinued as racing facilities in South Australia, and now races are conducted at one metropolitan course: Morphettville . Major races include the Group 1 Goodwood Handicap (1200m), Group 2 Adelaide Cup (3200m), Group 1 SA Derby (2500m) and the Group 1 Australasian Oaks (2000m). The following
1071-504: The Thebarton track as their racecourse, with the first Club programme held 1–3 January 1862. The Thebarton course, dubbed the "Butchers' Course", grew increasingly unpopular with both the racing fraternity and the racegoing public. It was difficult of access compared with the "Old Course" on the East Parklands; moreover it could be unpleasant (depending on wind direction) on account of smells emanating from nearby animal processing industries on
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#17328687745441122-453: The banks of the Torrens . It was, however, supplied gratis by Bagot and Bennett, whereas P. B. Coglin , who had the lease for the "Old Course", demanded £1,500 for its use. A notable race held in this period was the 1865 Grand Steeplechase won by the horseman-poet Adam Lindsay Gordon on Cadger. The Club folded in 1869 through bankruptcy then was revived in 1873 after its debts were paid by
1173-402: The course until 1895 when, thanks to "the tote" and Whitington's careful stewardship, the S.A.J.C. was able to exercise its "right to purchase" from Browne the freehold was acquired by Sir R. C. Baker, W. B. Rounsevell, William Pile, H. Chambers , P. F. Bonnin , Fred Ayers (son of Henry Ayers ), and J. A. Ellery, who constituted the S.A.J.C. committee, so at last the course was the property of
1224-785: The first steeplechase event ever held in South Australia. Various racing events (including match races) continued throughout the 1840s, but without a regulating body. The first incarnation of the South Australian Jockey Club (S.A.J.C.) was in 1850, when it ran a race programme at Brighton on 14 February. Thomas Shayle was the Hon. Sec. and Edward Strike the Clerk of the Course . Many variously named clubs were subsequently formed and folded, and races were run under Jockey Club rules within and outside these organisations at various locations: Dry Creek ,
1275-507: The latter hailing him as "one of the finest poetic singers the English race has ever known". Gordon's reputation peaked in the 1930s, during which time statues and monuments to his memory were erected throughout Australia and Britain. On 30 October 1932, a statue of Gordon by Paul Montford was unveiled near Parliament House, Melbourne, in a garden now known as Gordon Reserve; and in May 1934, his bust
1326-544: The libretto for the fifth movement of English composer Sir Edward Elgar 's song cycle Sea Pictures , and Elgar also set to music another of his poems, " A Song of Autumn ". Composer Varney Monk set three of her songs to Gordon's poems. After a particularly trying year for the British Royal Family, Elizabeth II quoted from one of Gordon's more famous poems in her Christmas Message of 1992, "Kindness in another's trouble, courage in one's own..", but did not mention
1377-416: The meeting was that Whitington was appointed Club Secretary, Baker, Rounsevell, Wigley, Pile, Chambers, Bonnin, and Ellery were appointed committee members, and agreed to lease the Morphettville course from Browne for £900 per annum with a right to purchase after four years for £12,000. Racing by the S.A.J.C. was revived at Morphettville on 1 January 1889, despite a downpour. The S.A.J.C. continued to lease
1428-569: The passage he had taken to Australia, and all his father's plans for giving him a fresh start in life, if she would tell him not to go, or promise to be his wife, or even give him some hope." This she could not do, though she liked the shy, handsome boy and remembered him with affection to the end of a long life. It was the one romance of Gordon's life. That Gordon realised his conduct had fallen much below what it might have been can be seen in his poems ... "To my Sister", written three days before he left England, and "Early Adieux", evidently written about
1479-453: The peppercorn rental to freehold purchase of the Morphettville land so they had the ability to borrow against the value of the land. In 1880 use of the totalizator on South Australian racecourses was legalized (or more correctly exempted from certain provisions of the Gaming Act), and Barnard and R. C. Baker introduced a simple totalizator, which was conducted on a large sheet of cardboard in
1530-543: The poet's name. The same, full poem was also quoted by Diana, Princess of Wales during a speech in Washington, D.C. in 1996. Dingley Dell, Gordon's property and home from 1862 to 1866, are preserved as a conservation park and as a museum . The museum houses early volumes of his work, personal effects, and a display of his horse-riding equipment. In 1970, Gordon was honoured on a postage stamp bearing his portrait issued by Australia Post . On 20 September 2014, Gordon
1581-489: The proof of the favourable review he had written for the Australasian but Gordon had just asked his publishers what he owed them for printing the book, and realised that he had no money to pay them and no prospects. He went home to his cottage at 10 Lewis Street Brighton carrying a package of cartridges for his rifle. Next morning, he rose early, walked into the tea-tree scrub by the beach, and shot himself. In October 1870,
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1632-585: The race who have gone on to win overseas. Two horses have won the race twice with Mostyn (1894–95) and Musket Belle (1911–12). Aurie's Star which won the race in 1940, had in previous seasons taken out the Oakleigh Plate twice and the VRC Newmarket Handicap . The leading trainer with five wins is Walter Hickenbotham and they were achieved in the first decade of the twentieth century (1901, 1902, 1906, 1909, 1910). South Australian jockey John Letts holds
1683-918: The racecourse on the market in order to close the partnership; it was purchased by Browne. A. O. Whitington , who had previously had a supervisory role at race meetings, and whose employers John and William Pile were prominent racegoers, was approached by T. F. Wigley to help revive the Club, and Whitington convened a meeting in the arbitration room of the Stock Exchange in Pirie street on 19 September 1888, presided by Sir Richard Baker . Those present included Sir Richard Baker, Tom Barnfield, William Blackler, Irwin A. Bleechmore, P. Frederick Bonnin, Dr. Thomas Cawley, Hugh Chambers, John Deeney, Daniel Dunlevie, James A. Ellery, William Filgate, James Hay, Ernest W. Howard, Henry Hughes, Philip Lee, W. B. Rounsevell , A. Simms, H. Simms, W. K. Simms and T. F. Wigley. The outcome of
1734-585: The record with five wins in the event (1961, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1984). The race record time was set by Spectrum in 1998 in a time of 1:08.33. Note: † Race not held due to a ban on war time racing in the state. ‡ Race not held due to the Totalizator Repeal Act 1883. South Australian Jockey Club The first horse racing events in South Australia took place at a well-attended picnic meeting held over 1 and 2 January 1838. In August 1838, riding his grey gelding Charley , Fred Handcock won
1785-527: The same time. Gordon was just over 20 years old when he arrived in Adelaide on 14 November 1853. He immediately obtained a position in the South Australian mounted police and was stationed at Mount Gambier and Penola . Adam Lindsay Gordon also acted as groom for a period to senior South Australian Police Officer Alexander Tolmer . On 4 November 1855, he resigned from the force and took up horse-breaking in
1836-425: The secretary's office. A commercial totalizator, from Hill & Schinnerling of Melbourne, was trialled in 1879, but appears to have gone no further. After a problem which arose in 1881 when a winning horse, Dan O'Dea's D.O.D., paid out £836/16s to its only backer, a Woolford totalizator (for Adelaide inventor Robert Woolford) was installed. It worked admirably until 1921, when it was replaced, and whose only drawback
1887-529: The severe South Australian drought of 1884–1886 and a consequent financial downturn. In December 1884 the South Australian Jockey Club Company (Limited) was voluntarily wound up, with Barnard appointed liquidator, and carried out the secretarial duties of the S.A.J.C. in an honorary capacity. Morphettville racecourse was placed in the hands of the Queensland Mortgage Company, and fell into a state of disrepair. The Club, whose finances were in
1938-616: The south-eastern district of South Australia. The interest in horse-racing, which he had shown as a youth in England, was continued in Australia, and in a letter written in November 1854, he mentioned that he had a horse for the steeplechase at the next meeting. In 1857, he met the Rev. Julian Tenison Woods , who lent him books and talked poetry with him. He then had the reputation of being "a good steady lad and
1989-515: The subscribed money establishing racing facilities at Morphettville. The course was laid out by R. C. Bagot , first secretary of the Victoria Racing Club . The course was partly walled in, a ladies' lawn laid, and a grand stand, judge's box, stewards' stand, telegraph office, loose boxes erected. On 7 August 1874 the Club signed the lease of the course from the Company for one year, with a right of renewal from year to year for five years at
2040-430: The venture was a failure. In March 1868, he had a serious accident, a horse smashing his head against a gatepost of his own yard. His daughter, born on 3 May 1867, died at the age of 11 months, his financial difficulties were increasing, and he fell into very low spirits. Dna evidence revealed a possible child of Gordon's that was adopted by his good friends, however it is possible this child was an illegitimate offspring of
2091-535: Was asked to leave. Gordon was again admitted a pupil at Cheltenham College. He was not there for long; he appears to have left in the middle of 1852, but the story that he was expelled from Cheltenham is without foundation. Then, Gordon was sent to the Royal Grammar School Worcester in 1852. Gordon began to lead a wild and aimless life, contracted debts, and was a great anxiety to his father, who at last decided that his son should go to Australia and make
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2142-723: Was contributing verse to the Australasian and Bell's Life in Victoria and doing a fair amount of riding. He bought some land in Western Australia, but returned from a visit there early in 1867 and went to live at Mount Gambier. On 10 June 1867, he published "Ashtaroth, a Dramatic Lyric", and on the 19th of the same month, "Sea Spray and Smoke Drift". With his failures behind him, Gordon turned to Victoria, not to Melbourne, which had ignored his poetry, but to Ballarat. In November, he rented Craig's livery stables at Ballarat in partnership with Harry Mount, but he had no head for business and
2193-638: Was elected by three votes to the South Australian House of Assembly on 16 March 1865 for the district of Victoria . In politics, Gordon was a maverick. His semiclassical speeches were colourful and entertaining, but largely irrelevant, and he resigned his seat on 10 November 1866. He found a good friend in wealthy fellow parliamentarian John Riddoch of Penola, and was a frequent guest at his grand residence "Yallum". There he wrote "The Sick Stockrider". Gordon's time in politics stimulated him to greater activity – poetry, horse racing, and speculation. He
2244-538: Was erected as a memorial to the famous Australian poet. From near this spot in July, 1864, Gordon made his famed leap on horseback over an old post and rail guard fence onto a narrow ledge overlooking the Blue Lake and jumped back again onto the roadway. The foundation stone of the Gordon Memorial Obelisk was laid on 8th July 1887. On 11 January 1865, he received a deputation asking him to stand for parliament and
2295-480: Was heir to the estate of Esslemont in Scotland , but there was a flaw in the entail, and in June, he learnt that his claim must be abandoned. He had seen his last book, Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes , through the press, and it was published on 23 June 1870; it was not successful at the time, but is now regarded as one of the most important pieces of Australian literature. Gordon on that day met Kendall, who showed him
2346-427: Was littered with dips and gulleys, but both problems could be overcome with earthworks and there was no shortage of sand nearby, and in other ways was an ideal location. In March 1874 the South Australian Jockey Club Company (Limited) was founded with Simeon Barnard as secretary and share capital of £1000; Ferry was one of the original purchases of a £5 or £10 share. Elder leased at peppercorn rental , later donated,
2397-470: Was more cheerful. He made a little money out of his racing and became a member of the Yorick Club , where he was friendly with Marcus Clarke , George Gordon McCrae , and a little later Henry Kendall . On 12 March 1870, Gordon had a bad fall while riding in a steeplechase at Flemington Racecourse . His head was injured and he never completely recovered. He had for some time been endeavouring to show that he
2448-517: Was placed in Poets' Corner , Westminster Abbey , and he remains the only Australian poet commemorated there. Over time, the praise he received resulted in a backlash. George Bernard Shaw jokes about Gordon's verse in his 1949 play Shakes versus Shav , a dialogue between Shakespeare and himself during which Shakespeare laughs at a line attributed to Gordon. Critics dismissed some of Gordon's poetry as careless and banal, but conceded that, at his best, he
2499-458: Was renamed The Goodwood from Goodwood Handicap. The event is the richest sprint race in autumn in Adelaide with $ 502,250 in prize money. The race was a principal race until 1980 when it was granted Group 1 status. In the years between 1881–1885 the distance was one mile. The race has always attracted high calibre sprinters. Recently such champions as Black Caviar and Takeover Target have won
2550-416: Was succeeded by his son William Charles Hughes. Seth Ferry and W. H. Formby (c. 1818–1892) were commissioned to investigate the suitability of (later Sir) Thomas Elder 's property at Morphettville , then marshland known as "Bay of Biscay Flat" (alluding to its unpleasant clay soil ), for a racecourse. They reported that the area was susceptible to flooding from the nearby Brownhill Creek , and that it
2601-544: Was that it did not show the grand total invested for each race. The "tote" was a success but the S.A.J.C. did not prosper as expected, largely due to competition from the Adelaide Racing Club. Then in 1883 Parliament passed the Totalizator Repeal Act , which had the immediate effect of making South Australian racecourses much less profitable. The Club continued to lease the course, and to conduct meetings, but with reduced prizes, patronage and profits. This coincided with
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