Racing WA Harness History

Prior to 1910, when a group of harness racing enthusiasts met to form the WA Trotting Association in September of that year, the only organised events were at the annual Perth Show, run by the Royal Agricultural Society.

Since 1887 events had been included for roadsters and the first classes for trotters appeared in 1890. These first trotters appeared in a category of "Trotters by Bay Shales". Bay Shales was an English bred Norfolk Trotter imported to Western Australia in 1886 by John Liddelow.

At the 1896 Show a trotting contest was held between two former Victorian trotters in Palo Alto and Oakleigh along with a son of Childe Harold called Harold and a local horse called Dick. Dick, driven by a Mr. Hummerston won the event from Oakleigh.

The number of trotters exhibited at the annual Royal Show grew slowly until by 1905 there were more than 40 horses entered in the various classes including a horse called Castlecomer in the name of James Brennan..

By 1910 the number and quality of horses had improved to the point where it was announced, in The West Australian newspaper on 2nd September 1910, that James Brennan would guarantee prizemoney of 50 pounds for two events at that year's Show and that an attempt would be made to form a trotting association.

The trotting events at the 1910 Perth Royal Show were run jointly by the WATA and the Royal Agricultural Society using the rules of the Victorian Trotting Association and on 3rd November 1910 Big Ben, a giant gelding of unknown pedigree, trotted a mile in 2:30 to become the State's first official Standardbred performer.

On Christmas Eve 1910 the WATA held its first race meeting at the Belmont Park racecourse which at the time was owned by WATA committeeman Albert Cockram.

In March 1913, an agreement was negotiated for a five year lease of a trotting track on the perimeter of the Western Australian Cricket Association Ground and three months after signing the lease agreement the WATA began racing on the WACA Ground track, on 28th June 1913.

The Association's timekeepers D C Braham and W McNamara had the idea of trotting under lights to avoid clashes with gallop' meetings.

On 24th January 1914 Australia's first complete meeting under lights was held at the WACA with the running of five races. On 23rd April 1914 James Brennan reported to the WATA Committee that the WA Cricket Association was prepared to sell 17 acres of land on the northern side of their ground – that piece of land became the site of Gloucester Park.

On 1st March 1917 the Racing Restriction Act was introduced in the State's Legislative Assembly. When it was passed later that year, the Bill provided for all trotting meetings to be held under a licence issued by the WATA.

The first race meeting at the track was held on 26th December 1929 and a crowd of some 17,000 people saw Alween, with F Mackander at the reins, win the opening event at the track named Brennan Park, in honour of the man to whom Western Australian trotting owed its existence.

Completed at a cost of 200,000 pounds at the time of The Great Depression, the track was variously described as the best in the Southern Hemisphere and the equal of any in the World. Its first class facilities included the latest Julius "Premier" totalisator capable of handling 3000 pounds per minute in pound units. It provided 86 windows for punters and was able to automatically display win and place odds for each horse.

In the 1920s a group of local enthusiasts formed the Fremantle Trotting Club and approached the WATA with a view to the construction of a racetrack in Fremantle on land the Association owned opposite.

The first meeting on the track, originally called Richmond Park and later Richmond Raceway, was held on 28 September 1928 and was used as a racetrack until it was closed in 1991.

Racing was suspended between 1942 and 1949 when the track and the adjacent East Fremantle Oval were used by the US Armed Forces as a military base and by the Australian services as an anti-aircraft defence facility.

In its first season of operation at Gloucester Park, the WATA held 52 meetings and paid £33,365 in stakes. By 1940 the figures had increased to 53 meetings for £122,289 as the Association continued its steady progress despite the interruption of World War II.

During the war years racing was held on Saturday afternoons and at times only held fortnightly, due to a sharing agreement over dates with the WA Turf Club which raced alternate Saturdays.

Technological change in society has also been reflected in the many changes made in harness racing over the years.

Photo finish facilities were introduced to Gloucester Park in August 1949, and used for the first time to decide the outcome of a race on 20th August 1949.

Currently Western Australian harness races feature a mix of standing and mobile starts. The rubber strand method of starting horses from a stand was brought to Western Australia in 1935 by a 70yo Victorian called H Brenning. Previously races had been started by pistol shot.

A mobile barrier was used at Gloucester Park for the first time on 24th May 1958. The winner of the race was the notoriously unruly Edward Scott. The machine was consigned to the scrap-heap after a short period of use and was not re-introduced until January 1972.

Television came to Perth in the late 1950’s and on November 4, 1960 the £5000 Anniversary Cup was replayed to Perth television audiences on the ABC's Sports Cavalcade programme.

A decade later, on February 28, 1970, the WATA held a seven race programme at Gloucester Park but only six were run at the track. The seventh race was a live telecast of the Inter Dominion Final from Melbourne featuring the local idol Dainty's Daughter.

Television came to the assistance of stewards on October 1, 1971 with the introduction of race patrol films.

A little over a year later, on October 21, 1972, metric race distances were introduced and while the WATA resisted the dropping of mile rates and for a period both mile rates and kilometre rates were used. When the Metric Conversion Board went into mothballs, so too did kilometre rates.

On May 3, 1985 the Gloucester Park track changed dramatically when the old circuit was torn up and a new half-mile oval was put in its place.

In the 1960's harness racing in WA was at its peak and crowds thrilled to the clashes between Radiant Oro, Dainty's Daughter, Binshaw, Blue Pennant and Renaud.

Never in 85 years of trotting in this State has there been a depth of fast class talent to match that of the years 1967 - 1970.

The first 2:00 mile at Gloucester Park was recorded in this period by the champion mare Daintys Daughter who became a crowd favourite through her habit of nodding her appreciation to her fans upon her return to salute the judge.

To that talent was added the sensational speed machine Mount Eden.

A horse that was years ahead of his time, Mount Eden remains the fastest horse seen in Australia. The times that he recorded in 1971 gave him the status of the best pacer in the World and crowds flocked to see him.

As Gloucester Park approaches the 115th Anniversary of the running of its first harness meeting in Perth, it is time to reflect on how strongly the course has become part of the Perth landscape and the culture of the city.

With its magnificent entrance, the course remains unique in Australia as a leader for others to follow.