Smithfield Race Meeting
Boxing Day, Thursday 26 December 1877.
The residents of Cairns and Smithfield made the most of the Christmas festivities, hosting the Queensland Attorney-General on an official visit, and then holding a race meeting at Smithfield on Boxing Day.1 There was a good attendance, with visitors coming from Cairns and the Hodgkinson, and even a few from Cooktown.2
Six races were held, with Sub-Inspector Douglas, winning the £10 prize in the first race, the Maiden Plate, on Inspector Thomas Clohesy’s horse ‘Chance’ with ‘Old Loiterer’ coming second.
Only two horses were entered for the second race, the £20 Smithfield Handicap – James Burke’s horse ‘Blue Peter’ and ‘Old Loiterer’ now renamed ‘Warhawk’. The stewards insisted there be three starters, so a donkey named ‘Captain Cook’ was pressed into service. It is not recorded whether the donkey finished the race, but unsurprisingly the fresh mount ‘Blue Peter’ was victorious.
There were six starters in the third race, the £12 Hurdle Race, which was won by Mining Warden William Mowbray, riding ‘Chance’.
The £8 Boxing Day Handicap was a splendid race contested by packers and their mounts, with ‘Playboy’ first across the line in a very exciting finish.3
‘Oscar’ won the Forced Handicap, and the final race of the day, the Consolation Stakes, was won by ‘Little Charley’ whose owner walked away with a new saddle and bridle.4
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This webpage is an excerpt from the upcoming book Old Smithfield: Barron River township (1876-1879) by Dr Dave Phoenix. Find Out More Here |
Featured Artefacts from Old Smithfield:
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1. The Queensland Attorney-General from 1874 to 1878 was Samuel Walker Griffith (1845-1920). ↩
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2. Hodgkinson Mining News, 2 [sic 5] January 1878: 2,
D2108, Cairns Historical Society. ↩ -
3. Telegraph (Brisbane), 29 December 1877: 2. ↩
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4. Hodgkinson Mining News, 2 [sic 5] January 1878: 2,
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D2108, Cairns Historical Society.