On Fools' Day, 1st April, the disputed match between Postboy and T r u m p was decided at the same place, and it proved the most sensational of any of the races yet run. T h o u g h the day was fine, the course was deep and slushy in consequence of recent heavy rain. Preliminary differences sprung up at the post which it took two hours to adjust, and, at length, when the people in attendance were putting it down as " a sell," the horses were started. Postboy, in thefirstheat, did not take kindly to the four leaps, and had to negotiate each of them several times. H e managed two by the help of steel and whalebone, but at the third fell heavily, shooting his rider upon his head so violently, that blood spirted through his nostrils. Yet, singular to say, he rallied sufficiently to be able not only to ride, but to win the second and third heats. Meantime, T r u m p took all the leapsflying,and w o n in fine style. After the lapse of some three-quarters of an hour Postboy's rider was firmly re-mounted, and the horses went away on the second heat, but T r u m p became unmanageable, and so Postboy, evidently improved by his late reverse, scored an easy victory. T h e golden rule, Palman qui meruit fierat, was never so capriciously reversed by chance as on this occasion, as there could be no comparison between the horses. T r u m p was the favourite, as was also his owner, w h o had incurred m u c h trouble and outlay in promoting the success of the past race meeting, and the public would have been better pleased if victory had declared herself on his side. Preparations for the next year's gathering (1840) were commenced at a mere seasonable time than hitherto, for a public meeting to arrange for the ensuing races was held on the 9th October, at the Lamb Lnn, with Mr. H . F. Gisborne presiding. This Mr. Gisborne had just arrived from England with the appointment of Commissioner of Crown Lands, and was not only the best amateur sportsman of those times, but as ready with pen as whip, and some very smartly-written turf notices of his appeared occasionally in the newspapers. T h e Stewards nominated were Messrs. H , F. Gisborne, W . H . Yaldwyn, J. D. Baillie, and John Hunter; Secretary and Treasurer: Dr. Barry Cotter; and Messrs. Salmon and Hawkes, Clerks of the Course. It was decided that the races should take place on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th of March, 1840, over a course to be selected by the Stewards; and the regulations were substantially similar to those of the previous meet, with the addition that horses imported after date from V a n Dieman's Land or N e w South Wales, and which had w o n any stake or plate, shall carry 7 lb. extra. A private match had been some time before run at Flemington between two mares belonging to Messrs. John Brown and John Highett, and the superiority of this place for a race-course suggested itself so forcibly that it was determined that the coming race meeting should be held there. This, therefore, was the first time that the since far-famed Flemington was so utilized. Country visitors flocked into Melbourne before the races, and the inns, now increased in number and superior in accommodation, were crowded.
THE FIRST RACE MEETING AT FLEMINGTON.
First Day, 3rd March, 1840. The new course had been put to rights as far as limited means and appliances would permit. The Grand Stand was a rough scaffolding near the river side. T h e winning-post was planted close by, and a short space of the run h o m e was staked and roped. Ranged near the Stand, between the course and the river, were four publicans' booths, kept by Messrs. Lewis Pedrana, T h o m a s Halfpenny, J. Moss, and William Sidebottom. Pedrana's was the Grand Stand Refreshment mart, a sort of bower of Bacchus, fabricated out of ti-tree with the foliage left on. Moss and Sidebottom had small tents ; but Halfpenny's was a substantial, commodious, weatherboard three-roomed structure, partitioned with Chinese curtains. H e had as head-waiter, for ,£1 I0S. per diem, an individual w h o afterwards became a wealthy publican, was an Alderman of Fitzroy, with a street of that city called after him. H e could reckon his annual income during the gold fever, by thousands; but, getting entangled in commercial shoals, he ultimately sank in lower water than ever. O n thefirstday the Grand Stand booth (never the best paying one in the old times) took about , £ 3 0 ; Halfpenny's, ,£80 • and the others, some ^ 4 ° each-large pickings considering the people present; but wages were high, and employment brisk.
