July Hero – Hurtle Fisher the ‘Father’ of Victorian Breeding

By Greg Tobin

Hurtle Fisher is a name which has largely been discarded to history’s dustbin.

It’s a shame really when you consider that Hurtle is the ‘father’ of Victorian thoroughbred breeding.

He certainly had an interesting life …

Hurtle Fisher was born in England in 1825, one of four sons by Sir James Hurtle Fisher out of Elizabeth Johnson (although large families were not particularly unusual in those pre-TV times, Liz also dropped four fillies, one of them marrying John Morphett, for whom Morphettville racecourse Is named after).

Sir James, working as a solicitor in London, was appointed resident commissioner of South Australia in 1835 and he brought the brood ‘down under’ the following year, arriving at Holdfast Bay (near the Adelaide suburb of Glenelg) on 28 December 1836 … Proclamation Day.

The Fisher clan was one of 636 free settlers to establish the new colony: evidently the only Australian state to be settled entirely by non convicts (that said, there are probably any number of footy supporters who have travelled to Adelaide’s AAMI Stadium that would dispute the claim!).

Sir James’ position as commissioner gave him the power to dispose of public lands and, effectively, made him second in charge to Governor Hindmarsh. The story goes that the two didn’t play well together and, reading between the lines, they had the odd stink that resulted in them being sent to neutral corners (Hindmarsh returning to England, while Fisher given the ‘Khyber Pass’ as commissioner by the new Governor, George Gawler).

Sir James, however, went on to become Adelaide’s Mayor on two occasions, speaker of the Legislative Council and, similar to many of his pioneering ilk, a devotee of the Sport of Kings. Sir James officiated as a steward at South Australia’s first race meeting in 1838.

He certainly passed on his fighting qualities and love of horses to his children, particularly Hurtle who was considered ‘fearless’ as a steeplechase rider.

Hurtle was certainly made of the right stuff.

Boarding the Admella in July 1859, along with 106 crew and passengers, Hurtle was taking his horse The Barber to Melbourne for the Australian Champion Sweepstakes.

Sailing along an uninhabited stretch of South Australian coastline, the ship became stuck on a reef.

A couple of miles offshore and unnoticed from land, the Admella began to come apart.

Just think about it for a minute: out in the middle of whoop-whoop with no radio, no mobile, no passing cars and no life jackets.

Many of the passengers drowned, while others died of starvation or exposure and thirst.

It took several days before two of the survivors made it to shore and find civilisation and several more days before help arrived via a lifeboat from Portland.

Only 25 people lived to tell the tale. Recalling his ordeal in Punch a couple of years before his death (and reprinted in Andrew Lemon’s magnificent opus The History of Australian Thoroughbred Racing), Hurtle revealed: “I shudder even now when I think of that time. When I left Adelaide, my normal walking weight was 9st 7lb (60kgs): when I landed in Victoria I scaled exactly 5st 12lb (37kgs). We were on that wreck eight days without bite or sup. All that time in bitterly cold weather, I had no clothing but a shirt and a pair of trousers.”

Most of the horses drowned as well, but The Barber swam the two miles to shore and was then walked cross country to Geelong and travelled the final 50 miles to Melbourne by train. And they reckon Van der Hum (1976 Melbourne Cup winner) was a mud runner!

The Barber arrived in Melbourne in early September, apparently not the worse for wear, and was sentimental favourite for the Sweepstakes on 1 October, which attracted between 30,000-40,000 patrons in what was the biggest race crowd of its time. Involving horses from Sydney, Melbourne, New Zealand, Tasmania and Adelaide, it was the first sporting event in Australia to have the result reported by electric telegraph.

Unfortunately, The Barber got a short back and sides, finishing unplaced behind Flying Buck, whose jockey had turned 13 the week before … we’re tipping though that the boy hoop weighed more than Hurtle at the time.

Moving to Melbourne (we’re assuming it wasn’t by boat), Hurtle certainly picked up the pace, establishing the stud farm ‘Maribyrnong’ near present day Flemington, spending a shed load on imported bloodstock and becoming a foundation member of the Victoria Racing Club in 1864.

Hurtle and his brother, Charles Brown (CB) Fisher, would end up owning a good piece of Melbourne real estate and, from the sound of it, much of the turf between Essendon and Flemington.

Indeed, according to the Essendon Gazette of 28 October, 1943 ‘Maribyrnong’ had stretched from Horseshoe Bend at Maribyrnong to Flemington racecourse (walking encyclopaedia, Jack Styring, gave it a ‘crow flies’ assessment of “three miles across”).

The Fisher family also, at one stage, controlled the historic Woodlands Stud near Melbourne airport which now currently houses ‘Living Legends’ such as Better Loosen Up, Might and Power, Fields of Omagh, Saintly and Brew.

The Fishers were also involved in the formation of the Essendon Football Club in 1871, although there does seem some dispute over whether the family’s registered racing colours of Black with Red Sash led to the footy club adopting a similar strip.

They were certainly the colours carried by Lantern in 1864 when Hurtle’s Muscovado colt won both the VRC Derby and Melbourne Cup.

Although the Melbourne Cup had been first run three years earlier, this was the first time under the control of the VRC.

The VRC came about on 9 March 1864 as a result of the amalgamation of the Jockey Club and Turf Club which, up until that time, had both been bleeding funds (ironically, 144 years later, they’re still talking up the pooling of resources among Melbourne’s three city clubs).

Hurtle must have used up most of his luck on getting off the boat in one piece, because a month after Lantern took out the Melbourne Cup, the colt broke down in the Ballarat Cup and died. An autopsy detected bladder inflammation and there was some dung flung about the horse being poisoned.

The previous year, Hurtle imported the dual Royal Ascot Gold Cup winner, Fisherman, to stand as his foundation stallion at Maribyrnong. Hurtle paid a world record price for Fisherman and he also snapped up the English Oaks winner Marchioness, among a myriad of European purchases with which to launch his Victorian breeding enterprise.

Fisherman and Marchioness were a dynamic combination, leaving Fishhook, who won the equivalent of 10 stakes races in his day, including the Sydney Cup, and earning comparisons with 19th century track legend, The Barb.

Fishhook’s full brother, Angler, won the 1865 VRC Derby (giving Hurtle a Classic double as owner/breeder) and was one of three Derby winners produced by Fisherman.

Angler, in his own right, produced a Sydney Cup winner Progress and AJC Derby winner Robinson Crusoe. Aptly named, Robinson Crusoe was on the steamship, City of Melbourne, which was bound for the Melbourne Cup before being severely damaged in heavy seas and had to return to Sydney. Seven of the nine horses on board died.

Ironically, the ship was skippered by a Captain Paddle. Possibly the first time in history that someone was actually up the creek WITH a Paddle!

Fortunately, Robinson Crusoe survived and would go on to win six more stakes races the following year.

(For those of you afraid of flying, spare of thought for 19th century ‘boaties’. Internet research showed no less than 55 shipwrecks off the coast of Victoria between 1835 and 1858).

Yet, undoubtedly the most influential of Fisherman’s sons was Maribyrnong who would go on to sire 35 individual winners of races that would be considered black type in this day and age.

These included 1878 Melbourne Cup winner Calamia, Cunnamulla (Sydney Cup), Woodlands (VRC Derby) and Sunshine (VRC Oaks). Eleven of Maribyrnong’s sons would go on to produce stakeswinners at stud, including AJC Derby winner Richmond, sire of 1902 Melbourne Cup winner The Victory.

Sadly, for Hurtle and Victorian breeding, Fisherman died in 1865 and it was probably the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Hurtle decided to disperse the lot … farm, stallions, broodmares, foals. The sale certainly caught the attention of the masses with over 2,000 people lobbing at Maribyrnong to see 43 horses sold for 27,000 pounds.

Fishhook himself was knocked down for 3,600 guineas, while some of the imported mares snared over a grand. Incredible money for the time.

After the sale though some commentators were crying ‘rort’ as Hurtle’s brother CB signed for Fishhook, Angler, several broodmares and the property.

CB Fisher was a larger than life character in his own right, riding at the first Adelaide races in 1838 and eventually becoming one of Australia’s largest landowners with vast holdings in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

CB was Chairman of the VRC from 1883 to 1895 and the CB Fisher Plate – won by such as luminaries as Phar Lap, Ajax and Tulloch before its final running in 1978 – was named in his honour.

Due to over-capitalisation, falling prices and six bad seasons, CB found himself cast in 1895 and was forced into bankruptcy, dying destitute in 1908 at the age of 90.

As for Hurtle’s Maribyrnong stud, it had a fairly topsy turvy history of its own. Sold again in 1867, it was subject to a sale by lottery in 1868 and, in 1891, WS Cox of Moonee Valley fame leased part of the property to establish a proprietary racecourse.

FW Purchas took over the remainder of the farm in 1897 to re-establish it as a stud farm, but by then it was a shadow of its former glory, with much of its infrastructure run down.

Naturally, the property has long since been sub-divided for housing but, a walk around the streets with their equine associations will still tell the modern-day tourist something about Maribyrnong while some of the old structures survive on private properties.

Unfortunately, there’s not much on public record between the time Hurtle sold the farm in 1866 and his death in 1905.

The only remnant of a bygone era is a street named in his honour – Hurtle Street in Ascot Vale, a stone’s throw from Flemington racecourse.

There should be more. After all, this Fisher man had cast a net so wide as to encompass generations of thoroughbred enthusiasts. Through his drive and energy we had the beginnings of what is arguably the most flourishing racing economy in the world and the foundation of a breeding industry that once ruled the waves and
is moving closer to parity every year.

Hurtle Fisher … you’re our hero.

Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria would like to thank the Racing Museum’s Kevin Gates and industry commentator, Jack Styring for their assistance in the compilation of this article, along with the invaluable information supplied courtesy of Andrew Lemon’s The History of Australian Thoroughbred Racing.