Kogarah once had a racecourse . Its story is soon to be told by Anne Field in an online publication. A hard copy of Anne’s book titled , Moorefield Racecourse Kogarah (1888-1951) will be released at a later date.
Anne aims to launch her online book on July 14 , 2016 at James Cook Boys High School , Kogarah, Sydney. This launch will be an important historical occasion, as it will be 65 years to the date of the last Moorefield race meeting. This meeting was transferred from Canterbury Racecourse to Moorefield Racecourse.
Moorefield racecourse had a 9 hole golf course in the middle of the course and the 9 holes were played twice by the members of Kogarah Golf Club.
Some jockeys, who rode at Moorefield, were in fact international jockeys. They went on to ride in Ceylon , India, Singapore, Ireland and in England. In the 1950’s, a boat journey to Ceylon would take 6 weeks.
Cavedweller was the Moorefield specialist, who held course records until the course closed. His defeat of the 1929 Melbourne Cup winner, Nightmarch in 1930 , in the 10 furlong Autumn Handicap, was legendary. Some of the other significant horses ,who also raced at Moorefield were Brazier, Magnificent , Grey Nurse, Columnist, Nizam’s Ring, Formosa, Journalist Grey Boots and Hiraji , trained by Jim Mc Curley, won the 1947 Melbourne Cup .
Moorefield had its personalities whether they be ,golfers , local residents, jockeys or trainers . The local school boys knew the stormwater channel, which passed under the race course fence and ended up at a grating . It was then possible for them to sneak out into the race day crowd .
A jockeys strike took place at Moorefield on November 29, 1930. The jockeys refused to ride when the field numbered 22 horses. They claimed that it was unsafe. This action was the forerunner of limits being imposed on the size of race fields .
There are photos, maps, sections of Moorefield Race books, newspaper articles as well as many anecdotes in Anne’s book . A list of all the Moorefield Racecourse meetings will be included in the hard copy .
An important part of our horse racing history will finally be recorded with Anne’s work . Kogarah’s social history will be added to with this colourful story of our past .
Anne Field
March 17 2016
