Page "Hyde Park, Sydney" Paragraph 8

Seven Arab horses taken on board the First Fleet at the Cape Colony ( now South Africa ) were the first horses to be brought to Australia.

The first thoroughbred to be brought to Australia was Rockingham in 1799.

By 1800 there were 200 horses in the colony which grew to 1100 by 1810.

A race ground on the Hawkesbury River near Richmond was probably Australia's first racecourse being used as early as 1806.

Match races were run there as part of a holiday at Parramatta in April 1810.

Only two days after Governor Macquarie dedicated Hyde Park for ' recreation and amusement ' it became the site of Australia's first official horse race meeting organised on 15, 17 and 19 October 1810 by the officers of the 73rd Regiment ( Macquarie's regiment ).

The meetings to devise the rules and organise the event were held in the officers ' mess and many of the horses were owned by the officers.

The race meeting consisted of a series of heats with weights set depending on the sex and age of a horse.

There were also a number of match races between two horses and sweepstake prizes offered.

Governor Macquarie himself attended each day of the meeting.

This format for race meetings was followed in the colony for the next 50 years.

Owners mostly rode their own horses and the courses were marked by flags and posts.

Novelty events were often included.