A brand new permanent gallery dedicated to thoroughbred racing has been developed at the National Sports Museum.
With impeccable timing, the Champions – Thoroughbred Racing Gallery opened on September 30, 2010 on the eve of the Spring Racing Carnival and the celebrations surrounding the 150th running of the world famous Melbourne Cup.
The new gallery marks the completion of the third phase of the National Sports Museum, which opened to great acclaim in March 2008.
As Australia’s only multi-sport museum, the outstanding National Sports Museum provides the perfect home for the amazing collections and displays of the Australian Racing Museum, whose previous home - at Melbourne’s Federation Square - closed its doors in November 2009.
“The coming together of a world class sporting museum and a world class sporting collection is a perfect fit for both," said National Sports Museum general manager Margaret Birtley.
"However, the real winners will be the museum’s many visitors who will be able to enjoy an additional gallery and the rightful inclusion of one of the nation’s oldest and most important sports.”
The Champions gallery features some of the most beautiful and important horseracing treasures imaginable, as well some “gems” that have never been displayed before.
In addition, it features a suite of multimedia experiences, including some of the oldest racing footage from around the country and the opportunity for visitors to design their own racing colours.
Ten key objects
1. The racing colours (or “silks”) worn by Phar Lap's jockeys in 1929/30 during his period of race track domination.
2. The skeleton of Carbine, winner of the 1890 Melbourne Cup and later an influential sire. Museum Victoria kindly agreed to a long term loan of the articulated skeleton so that the great champion could take his place as the centrepiece of the new gallery.
3. The bridle and a racing plate worn by Phar Lap when he won Mexico’s Agua Caliente
Handicap, 1932 – his last ever race.
4. The 12 Melbourne Cup trainer’s trophies won by Bart Cummings.
5. The heart of Tulloch - a champion thoroughbred of the late 1950s. Whilst the average racehorse heart weighs 4.5kg, Tulloch’s tips the scales at 6.1kg.
6. A pair of spurs worn in 1861 at the very first running of the Melbourne Cup.
7. The Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane Cups won by Reckless in 1977.
8. Various examples of trackside fashions from the 1890s to the present day.
9. A selection of wonderful nineteenth century artworks.
10. Objects related to the greatest Australian horses, jockeys, trainers, race callers.
Five quirky objects
1. An umbrella that used to be opened and closed quickly by Carbine’s trainer, Walter Hickenbotham, to move him on when he lingered in front of crowds, lapping up the applause.
2. A 1950s picnic set, as seen at racecourses around the country during the middle of last century.
3. A set of jockey scales.
4. An original 1960s racetrack Totalisator board.
5. A set of late nineteenth century betting tickets.
The coming together of a world-class sporting museum and a world-class sporting collection is a perfect fit for both. However, the real winners will be the museum’s many visitors who will be able to enjoy an additional gallery and the rightful inclusion of one of the nation’s oldest and most important sports.