Historical information

This book, written by Melbourne barrister, Mark McNamara, gives details on the history of horse racing in Warrnambool. The first race meeting was held in Warrnambool in 1848, only eight months after the establishment of the new settlement. The Warrnambool Racing Club was formed in 1873 and the first race meeting at the present-day Warrnambool Racecourse was held in 1858. Horse racing has always been a prominent and popular sport in Warrnambool. The best-known race held annually in Warrnambool is the Grand Annual Steeplechase, run as part of the three- day May Racing Carnival, a major event in Warrnambool.

Significance

This book is of major interest as it documents the history of the Warrnambool Racing Club, an organization that has operated in Warrnambool since 1873. The annual Warrnambool May Racing Carnival is one of the premier jumps racing events in Australia. The book will be very useful to researchers.

Physical description

This is a soft-cover book of 409 pages. It has a multi-coloured photograph on the front cover showing Galleywood leading the field in the 1986 Grand Annual Steeplechase. The printing on the cover is black. It has a foreword, 23 chapters of text and several appendices. It contains many black and white photographs and has the signature of the author on the first page.

Inscriptions & markings

‘Mark McNamara 4/5/18’