Ozzie Harness History

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Came across this and thought it would be good to share

Some of the key points along the way in the Australian harness racing history:

• The first harness race in Australia was held in Parramatta in 1810. The race was won by a horse named ‘Miss Kitty’
• The first Western Australian harness race was held at Fremantle, in 1834.
• The Tasmanian harness race was held at Launceston, in 1844.
• The first organised harness meeting in Australia was held on Flemington Racecourse in 1860, with the feature event offering a purse of 100 sovereigns.
• The first dedicated harness racing club in Australia was formed in 1861 – the Ballarat and Creswick Trotting Club in Victoria.
• The first dedicated harness racing track in Australia was opened in 1882 at Elsternwick Park in Melbourne.
• The first harness racing meeting under lights was held all the way back in 1890, at the site of Harold Park Paceway in Glebe, New South Wales. It was hugely successful and paved the way for more night meetings, which enjoyed strong attendances. Australian harness racing has had a strong night racing presence since.
• The New South Wales government banned unorganised racing in 1902, leading to the establishment of the New South Wales Trotting Club to oversee the sport in the state. The club’s first meeting was held that year, also at the site of Harold Park Paceway.
• The first pacer to break the two-minute mile mark in Australia was Avian Derby, in 1952.
• The mobile barrier was introduced at a Harold Park meeting in 1956, however was ruled unsafe after just two races. It would take a further nine years of development before it was reintroduced successfully in 1965.
• Maori’s Idol became the first trotter in Australia to break the two-minute barrier in 1977, at a meeting at Moonee Valley.
• In 1977, 1978 and 1980, Pure Steel became the first Australia pacer to win the AG Hunter Cup three times, and would go on to become the first horse to win $500,000 prizemoney in Australia.
• In 1983, Gammalite Australia-bred horse to win $1 million in prizemoney.
• The horse with the most wins in Australian history remains Can Smoke, with 120 wins during the 1980s and 1990s.
• New Zealand horse Our Sir Vancelot was the first to win three straight Inter Dominion Pacing Championships, triumphing in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
• Blacks A Fake became the first four-time Inter Dominion Championship winner, in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010.