Almanac Poetry: Two Odes to the Joys of Going Racing…55 Years Apart
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE RACECOURSE
On race-days from the city far,
I’d travel with some dear old cronies,
All eager as true sportsman are,
To win a fortune on the ponies.
My cobbers talked of naught but horse,
Of horse at Redfern, horse at Mascot,
Nor ceased they till we reached the course,
To revel in the joys of Ascot.
Ascot racecourse Sydney in 1917
Thus did a journalist with an ear for verse, writing for the Sydney Sportsman, eulogise the delights of travelling by tram to Sydney’s old Ascot racecourse in 1918.[i] Perhaps he had been away to the War, as his appreciation of this simple pleasure seems particularly acute. But it is often said of travel that getting there is half the fun. Fifty-five years later, in the 1970s, the trams were gone but the joys of travelling to the course, carrying a wallet not yet ravaged, and the pleasure of good company, were just as delightful. The sensibilities of the racegoers of the 1970s, I believe, were much closer to those of their counterparts immediately after World War I, than to those of the 2026 variety. Here is a 1970s take on that 1918 Sportsman verse:
THE ROSEHILL RACE-TRAIN
On Sat’days from the suburbs south,
We gathered without word of mouth,
With form guides and the tips essential,
To join the race-train fast at Central.
As we flew through stations, with voices ‘poly’,
On what day-out ‘certs’ is most jolly,
We all concurred, without a spill,
That ‘tis a race-day at the ‘Hill.
[i] Sydney Sportsman, 5/1/1918, p. 6.
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About Wayne Peake
Dr Wayne Peake was born in Sydney in 1960. He was educated at East Hills Boys High School, The University of Sydney and the University of Western Sydney. He began going to the Sydney races each Saturday in 1975, and on Wednesdays whenever he could sneak away from school sport. He was a successful punter (by his own estimation) until, co-incidentally, about the time he met his future wife, when his form began to taper off. He is still happily married to his 'first selection'. He says: 'there was never anywhere I would rather have been than at a racecourse, from Randwick to Murwillumbah and Broken Hill and anywhere in between. But I love a country race meeting best of all - the rougher the better. You can't beat an Australian 'picnic' bush meeting, especially one that has a race ball before or after it.'
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