Horse racing
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Postcard of Flemington racecourse, c 1906 -
Toryboy, winner of the 1865 Melbourne Cup, by Samuel Salkeld Knights, 1865 -
1889 painting of Carbine, by Frederick Woodhouse Jnr -
Wood engraving of the Melbourne Cup 1884, from the Illustrated Australian News -
Melbourne Cup poster, 1950s -
Tamarisk row, by Gerald Murnane, 1974 -
Wood engraving of the Melbourne Cup 1865, from the Illustrated Australian News
The Library's resources on horseracing include general race histories, biographies of jockeys, and books on famous trainers and champion horses. You can search indexes for individual jockeys and well-known racehorses. Our Manuscripts Collection includes the early ledgers of the Victorian Turf Club, dating from 1854, and the Victorian pocket racing companion, which dates from 1861, is among our rare books.
Paintings and photographs of notable Melbourne Cup winners including Malua (1884), Carbine (1890), Phar Lap (1930) and Makybe Diva (2003–05) can be found in our Pictures Collection, which includes the wonderful Rennie Ellis archive with many images of the Victorian Spring Racing Carnival.
Our extensive collection of sporting and illustrated newspapers can be searched in conjunction with the Victorian racing calendar for reports on major races and race results.
We also hold a wide variety of horseracing–related fiction, from Nat Gould's prolific popular fiction of the 1900s through to Arthur Upfield's Depression-era novel The great Melbourne Cup mystery and, more recently, the evocative novels of Gerald Murnane, winner of the 2009 Melbourne Prize for Literature.
Students of horse breeding will also find material of interest. The Library's collection of Victorian and Australian stud books dates from 1859, and while not as comprehensive, our collection also includes international stud books.
