For the first 50 years the roads were barely more than tracks through the scrub and so horses were vital to the settlement and development of the district, for transportation, in agriculture and industry and for communication. The early squatters, droving sheep and cattle, were the first to introduce breeding stock to the river. Horses were utilized in the first mail runs from the Clarence to the Richmond. Clydesdale horses replaced bullocks on dairy farms and were used to pull sleds, drays and ploughs. The settlers became highly proficient in the handling and breeding of horses and this naturally evolved into equine sports.
In the sport of horses, track racing success meant great prestige within the community and involvement was right across the valley population. The first racecourse was established in 1850 in Casino and the early squatters provided most of the stock used in the first race meeting. People came from miles around to attend with the cedar cutters keenly interested in racing, even if it was just as punters. There were no book-makers but that did not stop the betting.
Courtesy of Trove The Land 27 July 1938
When a boy (around 1850s), William Yabsley junior helped for a fortnight to clear the first racecourse at Casino, and subsequently he rode up from Coraki for the first races, for which the squatters had subscribed so liberally that the big event was worth £200 and the Maiden Plate £80. He was booked to ride a big grey called Whalebone for George Sparkes, manager of Wooroowoolgen, but at the last moment Sparkes decided that he was too small to manage the grey, and gave the mount to another boy.
Young Bill, as he was called, was annoyed, and as nobody else required a very small jockey he entered his own hack, Charlie, for the Hurry Scurry. The nomination cost him 5/- and he had then 5/- left. As there was another day’s racing to see and board and lodging to pay, he felt a bit anxious. However, he rode the horse himself and won.
Next he nominated for the Hack Race, for which Whalebone was a competitor. Jockeys were required to wear colors, but the only colors Yabsley had were in a regatta shirt that he was wearing. After some argument, Henry Barnes, of Dyraaba, said, “Let the boy start; his color’s strawberry.”
“They let me start,” said Yabsley afterwards, “because they thought I couldn’t win.”
But Sparkes’s big grey, which was regarded as a certainty, fell at the turn, and to the surprise of everybody Yabsley won.
He went to Casino with 10/- and returned home with £30—a budding Croesus immensely proud of his achievements.
Coraki Race Course
Coraki’s first racecourse was situated behind the police station in 1850. William Yabsley Junior was a very keen on horse racing and gave quite a large part of his land to establishing a Jockey Club and race course. The new track was constructed in 1886 in paddocks adjoining Lagoon Road, and from then on racing in the town began to flourish.
New Year’s Day was traditionally race day in Coraki and people came from near and far. The course was regarded as one of the best in the country. “Every convenience is made for both horse owner’s and the general public. Situated as Coraki is in the very centre of this vast district, it acts as a huge octopus, drawing with its immense feelers the residents from far and near. The meeting just concluded has far eclipsed any preceding one. Fully 1,500 people were present, this being the largest gathering ever assembled on the Coraki racecourse and indeed we think we might safely say on any course in the district.” Trove
In 1933, the grandstand at the Coraki racecourse was demolished and that was the beginning of the decline of horse racing in the town. The course closed in 1935.
Picnic races
Picnic races, for amateur jockeys and breeders, were also very popular and often the beaches were used for these.
One beach was the long Seven Mile Stretch at Lennox Head. In early days the beach-sands went further out to the water-line so there was a good width for racing as well as for spectators, although most spectators remained on the high banks above to avoid getting run over by straying animals. The wreck of the brigantine Sarah-Ann, which was perched high in the sand, became an excellent “grandstand” for onlookers.
Ballina racetrack
The Ballina Racecourse was built in 1895 on very low lying land at the confluence of the newly dug canal and North Creek. Large piles of sand were excavated from the canal construction and this was used to fill the mangrove swamp and create the track. All of the buildings were located on the northern side of the track, because it was the only high ground in the area. In the early thirties, it was decided to remove the course buildings to the southern side. Further mangrove swamp had to be filled to accommodate the changes. To do this work, the Jockey Club had to borrow a considerable amount of money and many prominent people responded. It was only shortly after the work was completed that the depression came on and racing went into the doldrums. The Club went further into debt and racing almost ceased. There seemed that there was no way out of the financial mess until the buildings, which were well insured, caught fire and were totally destroyed. The insurance money was sufficient to clear the debt at the ban. Source
The day Darcy rode the killer stallion
DARCY POWELL, of Disputed Plains, once described by Lance Scuthorpe as ‘the greatest buckjump rider in the world’, was buried at Casino this week.
Darcy often delighted children by telling them the story of one of his memorable rides, and his great friend, the late Tom Somerville, put it to verse.
THE SEA HORSE
Bush bred on the Sandon River,
Where the headland met the sea,
Just sixteen hands of coal black sin,
He had no pedigree.
There wasn’t a man could ride him,
Tho’ many said they tried,
The fame of the killer stallion,
Was talked of far and wide.
Then came one Darcy Powell,
From up at Coraki,
He said ‘I’ll ride this outlaw’,
Or one of us must die.
And people came from near and far,
To see the youngster ride,
‘Twas a dreadful thing they said,
And surely suicide.
They corralled the horse at Yamba,
In a rope yard by the sea.
Each vantage point was taken,
From ringside, dune and tree.
Well, Darcy rode the demon,
Three times around the ring,
When a mug from up at Grafton,
Gave the gate an open swing.
The mustang went for the river.
Each buck was ten feet high,
He spun and squealed but couldn’t shift,
The lad from Coraki.
They never touched the oyster wall,
Just took it in their stride,
Into the foaming torrent,
Against the swirling tide,
The sea was getting rough,
But Darcy said ‘I’ll stay with you’
Till you’ve had e’bloody ‘nough’
Unmouthed this demon stallion.
No answer to the rein.
He’d learned to swim in the Sandon,
He was going home again.
Out on the blue horizon,
The outlaw’s mouth was sore,
Ere Darcy turned him homeward,
And headed back to shore.
The sea was rising from the south,
The storm was getting worse,
But never a moment ceased the fight,
‘Tween Darcy and the horse.
Then the rider in amazement saw,
The black ball come in view,
They turned again to seaward,
The stallion and his crew.
They beached at length ten miles away.
At a place called Woody Head.
The man collapsed upon the sand.
The stallion, he dropped dead.
Now ever since when breezes blow,
Across the restless sea,
The crested snow-white horses play,
To that stallion’s memory.
Very little information could be found about the history of Casino and Lismore racing.
Casino had races in the 1850s and moved their track to its current location in 1881.
Lismore Turf Club was established in 1873 and the new racecourse built in 1882.
Contributions welcome if anyone has further information about equestrian events in these towns or anywhere else on the Richmond River.
Showjumping, steeplechase, rodeo etc can be found on the Shows page.
J. McLennan, Dr. Bernstein, N.J. Simmons, T.C. Lodge,
E.W. Bentley, G. Larkin, G. West, S. Garrard, C. White.
At Rear. – T. Exton and F. Fredericks.
