In This Months Edition
Champions Australian Racing MuseumThe keeper of our racing HistoryChampions - Australian Racing Museum is the feature article in this month's newsletter. InForm takes a special tour of the museum and reveals what it takes to run a unique racing museum and major tourist attraction.  Australian Racing Museum - impressive display of
rare racing memorabilia One of the most popular destinations in Melbourne's striking Federation Square is Champions - Australian Racing Museum (ARM) & Hall of Fame. It is fitting that Australia now has a dedicated racing museum, given its love affair with racing since settlement. But how did the idea come about for the racing museum and who were the people driving it? The decision to open the Museum in 1974 was born out of discussions with a number of committeemen from the leading Melbourne Clubs that every attempt should be made to preserve Victoria's racing heritage and display it in a museum environment. The main person driving the project then was J D MacDonald, father of Ian MacDonald, later chairman of the ARM and on the committee of the Melbourne Racing Club. In 1981 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Museum during her visit to Caulfield Racecourse. The Queen as most racegoers would be aware is an avid racing enthusiast and is patron of the ARM. In the early days the museum relied heavily on Victoria Amateur Racing Club (now Melbourne Racing Club) staff and volunteers to attend to its daily running and exhibition programs. Those arrangements changed when Annette Shield was appointed director in 1995, signalling the first appointment of a museum-trained professional. In 1996 the museum was renamed the Australian Racing Museum in an attempt to broaden the museum's focus to encompass the nation's rich racing heritage. As the collection grew it became obvious that the facilities at Caulfield were unable to cope with the space and conditions required to ensure a stable environment for objects of historical significance and a new home for the museum was considered essential. In 2002 Racing Victoria embarked upon an ambitious project to broaden the appeal of racing to the general public, in particular women and children. They sought to create a focal point for the sport off-course and within the Melbourne CBD. At that time Federation Square had just been launched and one of the buildings within the square was for commercial hire which Racing Victoria was able to secure. The use of the Federation Square site was prescribed as being for cultural and arts-based projects and as such, the Racing Museum was deemed an ideal medium. By early 2003, all Metropolitan Clubs and Country Racing Victoria signed a memorandum of understanding handing over governorship of the museum to RVL. In Oct 2003 the ARM at Caulfield closed to the public, reopening in August 2004 at its new site. Federation Square owns the building, which is leased to the museum. The total cost of the three-story climate controlled development was $7million. In doing so it has become the country's first national racing museum. Today the ownership of the museum is shared by Racing Victoria Limited, the three metropolitan racing clubs and Country Racing Victoria.  Display of silks - Champions
Kathy Peters, Curator & Exhibitions Manager says the decision to create a state-of-the-art museum complex in the CBD was a Racing Victoria initiative. "The name Champions was adopted as part of the original business plan recommendations. The concept underpinning the development of Champions was to provide a unique opportunity to 'touch' the consumer off-course, in an environment that would be controlled by racing that did not involve gambling and invited the interaction of youth, children and families." she said. Peters stresses that, the foundation principle was and remains about 'taking racing to the people'. "Federation Square in central Melbourne was selected as the best opportunity for racing to engage with the community." It's hard to argue with the location. Right opposite Flinders Street Station, it's about as close to the heart of the city as you could find. Perhaps the greatest challenge for racing is consumer relevance and participation growth. There are so many other things for people to do these days, that a day at the races has become almost a rarity. Champions wants to change this, by providing an off-course community touch point, which allows the racing industry to engage and educate future and potential racing supporters. It aims to do this by ensuring that the nation's rich and colourful racing heritage is displayed, preserved and studied. "It's important that the history and culture of thoroughbred racing is recorded, interpreted and preserved for future generations of Australians." says Peters passionately.  Champions - located in the heart of Federation Square
Federation Square has attracted somewhere in the order of 8 million people per annum in the relatively short period that it has been open. This has had a flow on effect for the museum too. Over the last three years of its operation, the ARM has averaged over 95,000 visits per year, healthy figures by anyone's reckoning. In addition to the core museum activities, there are other reasons that visitors come to Champions. Their function centre hosted 153 corporate functions attracting over 18,000 people last year and the museum's ground floor space is often used for public events including school holiday program activities and special events such as millinery workshops.  Visitor numbers to Champions - averaging
95,000 per annum Champions is a specialist museum, which focuses solely on racing. "To our knowledge there are only five other national horseracing museums in the world: National Horseracing Museum in the UK, National Museum of Racing in the USA, Japan Racing Museum, Hong Kong Racing Museum and the Horse Racing Museum, Ireland" said Peters. When it come to acquiring racing items and rarities, just how does the museum go about it? Peters says that most objects are donated. "There is a small acquisition budget, but the museum relies heavily on donations and loans. There is an active donor program in place, linked to the tax incentives for the arts program." Speaking of acquisitions, Peters was asked what the most valuable item was in the museum. "Probably Carbine's skeleton." she said. But Champions is also home to Phar Lap's saddle and bridle, Tulloch's heart and Bart Cummings' prized 11 trainer's Melbourne Cups and hundreds of items of early racing footage, art and fashion.  Skeletons of gallopers past
Champions has an established donor program. As part of this program the museum is a participating institution in the Cultural Gifts Program. The aim of the program is to encourage donations of significant cultural items to museums and others, by offering donors a tax deduction for their gifts. The other aspect of the donor program is the active seeking of financial or in-kind support from businesses, foundations and other funding bodies for a prioritised list of projects under the museum's umbrella. Exhibitions take a lot of planning and organising. Champions hold three or four temporary exhibitions each year selected from a two year program. The exhibition program attempts to address concurrent events, such as the spring carnival, fashion week as well as appeal to both racing enthusiasts and stake holders. There is also a conscious effort made to present exhibitions which hold an interest for the general public and niche markets such as women or children. From time to time the museum will be approached by a curator or organisation with an exhibition proposal. The recent John Wren exhibition was the outcome of such an approach, curated by Elizabeth Gertsakis. This exhibition is an example of presenting the personality of a renowned racing identity in all of his social, political and business guises. Peters says that the problems with mounting temporary exhibitions varies from show to show. "The constant problem is time. Developing and producing exhibitions takes a lot of time: research, development of themes, search for appropriate, interesting and, if possible, exciting objects. Then there is the preparation of objects for exhibition. In many cases objects need to be assessed and treated by a conservator before they are strong and stable enough for display. The thrill of managing exhibitions comes with the discovery of objects previously unknown and never seen by the public, discovering connections between objects and people and horses and watching it all come together in the exhibition space." As part of its service, Champions offers schools a variety of free, innovative educational activities available to primary and secondary schools. Education Officer, Julian Valance says "Through state of the art animation, audio-visuals and unique objects that capture a student's imagination, participating in an education program at the Australian Racing Museum is a truly memorable learning experience." At Primary School Level they offer Thoroughbred Ed! This program takes a broad look at thoroughbred racing in Australia. Students dress up, use clue cards and explore real racing equipment to discover the sport, glamour and history of thoroughbred racing. Early Melbourne is a staff led education program that takes place within the exhibition space and throughout the city of Melbourne. Students go back in time by dressing in period costumes to find out what people wore, how they got there and who was the 1800s racehorse champion. At Secondary School Level a program called Secondary School Trail allows students to investigate how racing helped people to see themselves as Australians, not just inhabitants of separate colonies and despite World Wars and the Great Depression, how racing reached unprecedented popularity. Another Unique Outreach Program is Subzero goes to School. This brings 1992 Melbourne Cup winning horse, Subzero, to schools, offering a safe and educational way for students to see, touch and smell a champion racehorse. Valance says "Students and teachers really enjoy the experience of the Museum. It is something that many of them haven't experienced before and the hands-on activities allow the students to explore and investigate the role horse racing has played in the development of Australia as a nation." If only Racing 101 was a prescribed subject back in our school days, instead of snatched looks at a hidden formguide under the desk… Still, it's never too late to learn and what better way than to pay a visit to Champions next time you're passing Federation Square. Coming Exhibitions at Champions:Bruce Postle: Life through the lens. A celebration of the work of Bruce Postle, a photojournalist of 40 years with The Age Newspaper This exhibition depicts a wide range of horse racing perspectives: dramatic race action, rare and incisive portraits of racing identities and visual stories and anecdotes that illustrate innumerable emotions associated with the track. Postle's signature shot of Tommy Woodcock and Reckless has achieved iconic status. Herald Sun's Racing Milestones: an epic journey through horseracing history. This exhibition looks at a wide range of racing records made over the last 75 years: from the almighty Phar Lap's amazing 20 metre winning margin to the three consecutive Melbourne Cup wins of the majestic Makybe Diva. Opens October 2007.  http://www.racingmuseum.com.au/ Yarra Building Federation Square, Melbourne Cnr Flinders and Swanston Streets Melbourne Victoria Queensland Carnival Review20/1 Doomben Cup winner Cinque Centro returned to scale to find a rather hushed crowd awaiting in the mounting yard. Pre race, the cup was talked about as a two horse affair between Desert War and Reigning to Win. Both finished well back with the former perhaps having reached the end of his campaign and Racing To Win failing to stay. If the Cup didn't work out as a two horse race, then the Doomben Ten Thousand sure did. What a cracker of a race this turned out to be! World class sprinter Takeover Target wore down top filly Gold Edition in a fantastic battle befitting a G1 event. Takeover Target was trained to the minute for the big sprint and was too strong in the finish for the game grey filly. Takeover Target is England bound now and joins other aussie hopes, Miss Andretti, Magnus and Bentley Biscuit for their foray at the Royal Ascot carnival. Takeover Target now has the imposing record of 26:14-3-3 and has won over $4.1 million in prize money. Not a bad fare for a taxi driver turned trainer to collect.  Takeover Target returning to
scale after winning the Doomben Ten Thousand Photo Credit: AAP Image  Evergreen Cummings training
as well as ever Photo Credit: AAP Image The Queensland Oaks was won by Mike Moroney's filly Eskimo Queen. She seems to possess good staying ability and could be one to look for in the spring classics. Her trainer backed her up in the Derby a week later confident she could acquit herself against the colts. Unfortunately she clipped the heels of another horse and lost her rider Greg Childs, who fell heavily. Talking of the Derby - it was won by Bart Cummings with Empires Choice who had to survive a protest by the runner up Volcanic Star. Bart nearly quinellaed it with his other runner Sirmione who ran a close up third. Both horses look to be promising stayers with a bright future. What a marvel Cummings is. Pushing eighty, he seems to be training as many winners now as he ever did. The Stradbroke Hcp was won by the well fancied Sniper's Bullet over Gold Edition. The Sniper dropped a massive 10kg on his previous run and with only 50kg was too powerful on the slow track for Gold Edition. One can't help but feel a bit sorry for Gold Edition - this year she's finished second in the Stradbroke, Doomben Ten Thousand and Newmarket, all G1 events. She'll be given a break until the Spring where her main goal is likely to be the Salinger Stakes down the straight six. The T J Smith has thrown up some good horses to follow in past years. Horses like Reigning To Win, Outback Prince, Freemason and Mahogany have all gone on to become notable gallopers. Time will tell if the Clarrie Connors trained filly Apercu can go on with the job.  Gold Edition in full flight
Steve Hart Photographics The Brisbane Cup which has now been down graded to a G2 event and reduced in distance from 3200M to 2400M, was taken out by Newport. Paul Perry trains this useful galloper at Newcastle. He completed a successful carnival for his sire Encosta De Lago (also sired Apercu - T J Smith, Sirmione 3rd QTC Derby. Horses worth following:Gold Edition in the spring - in anything. Empires Choice and Sirmione are stayers of promise. Sniper's Bullet - Sydney in the spring, a definite Epsom chance June Product NewsForm Analyser is going online!Form Analyser, AAP's premium form product is finally going online! The long awaited update is going through its final testing and will be made available to subscribers shortly. Form Analyser joins AAP's other suite of online products including Net Form, Horse Search and Inglis Pedigree Lines. Peter Klein, AAP's Business Racing Manager said; "We're all eagerly awaiting the new release. Our IT team has spent a lot of time and effort improving the product and getting it right for punters. There's a huge range of enhancements and new features for serious form students to use." Some of the new features include:
Existing Form Analyser clients will have the choice of continuing with their off line product or switching to the online version. Clients choosing to go online will be able to upload old notes and data to the new version. Users will still be able to export files to their desk top computers. Watch our website for the latest updates on Form Analyser which is to coming soon. Contact toll free 1800 811 358 or E: salesandadmin@aap.com.au for more details. June Book Review: A Horse Called MightyAuthor: Helen ThomasPublisher: Random House Australia Most racing fans would remember Might And Power's imposing spring carnival of 1997 when he picked off the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup double. He went on to claim a total of seven G1 races including the W S Cox Plate and Doomben Cup later in his career. There's some good investigative reporting by the author about how he was purchased by Anthony Cummings as a yearling for $40,000 after being passed in at the sales. Cummings subsequently lost the horse to trainer Jack Denham when owner Nick Moraitis took all his horses away from Cummings. If you want to know the real reason why, I won't spoil it for you - you'll have to buy the book! The horse was a notoriously hard puller on the training track. Might and Power's regular track rider, Brett Grant, tells how he handled him and how he developed into the high class horse that he did. Aside from the horse himself, there's lot's of feel-good stories in the book - jockey Jim Cassidy's comeback, owner Nick Moraitis living the dream with his best ever horse. It also gives a great insight into trainers Jack and Allan Denham. An interesting read about one of Australia's best gallopers to race in the 90's.The only thing missing is a full race record of the horse in the appendix. Review: Peter Klein, AAP Available: 1st July at all good bookshops Price: $34.95 Inform - Sports Quiz1. Name the trifecta in this year's Australian Cup?2. How many races did Stratum win during his 18 start career? 3. What was the score in last year's NRL Grand Final between the Broncos and Storm? 4. Who won the 2001 Caulfield Guineas? 5. Name the three horses that ran second to Makybe Diva in each of her Melbourne Cup triumphs 6. How many Stradbroke Handicaps has Danny Nikolic won? 7. In what year was the first Golden Slipper ran and who was victorious? 8. Who was last year's Dally M Player of the Year for the NRL? 9. Who holds the race record for the Cox Plate? 10. Which of the two Queensland Race Clubs were formed first? QTC or BTC. Check Answers Here? Crossword
Check answers here Quiz & Crossword AnswersQuiz Answers1. Pompeii Ruler, 2nd - Marasco and 3rd, Tawqeet 2. The Golden Slipper and Pago Pago Stakes. 3. Broncos 15 def. Storm 8 4. Lohnro. 5. 2003 - She's Archie 2004 - Vinnie Roe 2005 - On a Jeune 6. Two. Show A Heart (2002) and Thorn Park (2004) 7. 1957. Todman. 8. Cameron Smith. 9. Might and Power. 24/10/1998 - 2min 3.54secs. 10. QTC - 1863. BTC - 1923. Crossword Answers
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