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Mon 19 Oct 1885 - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)
Page 6 - THE CAULFIELD CUP FATALITY.
THE CAULFIELD CUP
FATALITY.
FALL OF FIFTEEN HORSES.
ONE JOCKEY KILLED AND SEVERAL
INJURED.
In the history of Australian racing there is
no other such unfortunate accident recorded as
that which occurred in the Caulfield Cup on
Saturday. The field of horses was, with a
single exception, the largest that has ever
started for a race in the colonies. When
The Ghost won the Ladies' Trophy at
Caulfield in 1883 a field of 42 ran. All
went well in Saturday's chief race until
the horses were approaching the turn.
Too Too had struggled to the front,
and was leading by a bare neck, with
Claptrap hugging the rails on her left, and
Sardius galloping immediately on her right.
The turn, which is considered the most diffi-
cult part of the course, was yet some distance
ahead, and the horses well strung out were in
what is really the broadest stretch of the
whole track, but were crowding on the rails
in order to get the inside running for the rush
up the straight to the winning post. How
Too Too came down is not known, even the
riders of the leading horses holding different
opinions as to what horses were really first
down and how they fell. The mare gallops
awkwardly, and as she seemed to be tiring at
the time, the most probable theory, and that
favoured by many standing near the spot at
the time, is that her front legs crossed
with those of either Sardius or Claptrap, but
probably the former. From the stand the
white jacket and blue cap, the colours worn
by the rider of Too Too, seemed to sink sud-
denly into the ground ; there was a flash of
struggling horses and silk-clad jockeys,
hurled here and there in wild confusion,
riderless and bridleless horses dashing away,
while others limped off injured. Four of the
jockeys and two horses lay quite still upon
the turf, and it seemed as if they had been
killed outright. The crowd extended nearly
down to the point where the accident
occurred, and almost before the last horse
had cleared the inanimate group, the jockeys
were picked up. It was at once apparent
that Donald Nicholson, one of the most
popular of light-weight riders, had been
killed instantly. He was riding Lord Exeter,
and strange to say the horse was never
knocked off his legs, but the shock hurled
the rider with fearful violence against the
white fence, and his skull would seem to
have been crushed in. Cracknell's chest
was crushed in from a blow, and he lay
quite helpless, but conscious, being able
to describe his injuries, and take a glass
of water from those who helped him.
Wyman, the rider of Sardius, seemed to have
been struck on the face, and looked worse
than he really was. M'Grade, who had been
on Tom Brown, looked very ghastly. His
nose was broken in, one arm hung
loosely and what with dust and blood
and his white face, those around thought
that he also had been killed outright.
M'Grath, the rider of Prince Imperial, was also
senseless, having received a blow on the head
when his horse rolled over. The tiny rider
Tuomey was stretched alongside his dead
horse, Uarah, who had been instantly killed,
and at first it seemed that both horse and
jockey were in the same condition. Com-
miseration for the tiny boy lying on one end
of the stretcher was greater on account of
his small size. Wyman, the rider of Sardius,
was one of the first down, and as a dozen
horses seemed to roll right on top of him his
escape from instant death was a miracle. He,
too, was picked up unconscious, suffering from
concussion of the brain. Some of the riders
were able to walk, and others were assisted
to the casualty-room, but stretchers had to
be furnished for five.
At the casualty room, the injured riders
were attended by Drs. Fitzgerald, Wil-
liams, O'Hara, and others, and for a time
the wildest rumours were circulated as to
their condition. His Excellency the Governor,
who had arrived not long before the race,
went down to make inquiries as to their con-
dition, and on learning the nature of the
fatality, left the course. Mr. Speight, chair-
man of the Railway Commissioners, immedi-
ately volunteered to run a special train into
Melbourne, so that those who were most
injured might be sent to the Mel-
bourne Hospital. They were placed two and
two upon stretchers, and carried through a
lane of people to the railway station, mounted
troopers being required to keep a clear
path. Wyman, the rider of Sardius, was taken
to the Alfred Hospital. The dead body of
Donald Nicholson was taken to his home at
Richmond, where an inquest will be held.
Nicholson, who was regarded as the best light
weight rider in Australia, was 27 years of age,
and his parents live at Ballarat. As a jockey
he had the reputation of riding most deter-
mined finishes. His chief successes were as
follow :—The Sydney Cup on Normanby, the
Great Metropolitan Stakes on Masquerade,
Autumn Handicap on Empress, the A.J.C.
Plate on The Drummer, Mares' Produce
Stakes on First Demon, Sydney Handicap on
Waxy, and four Epsom Handicaps on Mas-
querade, Waxy, Mister Avenel, and Espiegle
respectively, besides riding many winners of
lesser events.
The horses that came down were Sardius,
Tom Brown, The Israelite, Despot, Prince
lmperial, Impulse, Country Boy, Claptrap,
Kingship, Tarpeia, Lucky Hit, Winchester,
Sirocco, Too Too and Uarah. Claptrap, one of
the leaders, made a gallant effort to escape
by jumping over Too Too as she fell, but
Sardius, as he, too, went down, brought him
to grief. Trahan got off wonderfully well,
and was able to ride a winner afterwards in
the Windsor Handicap, Hutchins being the
only other one of those who came down able
to take a mount afterwards. T. Brown, the
rider of Too Too, although in the very
thickest of the mêlée, escaped almost without
injury, but the mare, who was galloped over
by a lot of horses, lay for some time on the
ground, apparently dead, but afterwards rose,
and was got away with some difficulty. The
first three horses down were Too Too,
Claptrap, and Sardius. Prince Imperial was
so close at their heels that he seemed to fall
almost with them. Then Tom Brown,
Despot, Impulse, Country Boy, Kingship,
and Tarpeia fell almost in a bunch, while
Marie Louse, who was galloping with this
group, was just far enough out to avoid the
horses that came down in front of her.
Amongst the last to fall were Lucky Hit,
Winchester, Sirocco and Uarah, the latter
being instantly killed. The fearful nature
of the accident was shown in the condi-
tion of the horses as they rose. Prince
Imperial and Sardius had their bridles
torn away, while the saddle on the
last-named was turned completely round.
Tom Brown's saddle was also broken and
hanging in fragments. Other horses came
into collision, but were able to keep their
legs. Plausible rushed violently into Tom
Brown while the Sydney horse was struggling
to rise. The shock was so great that
Plausible was turned completely round, and
Power, thinking his horse was injured, dis-
mounted. Lord Wilton was also in violent
collision, and Moore, after being knocked
forward out of the saddle by the
shock, clung to his horse' s neck,
and came out all right. Amongst the
horses, the most injured were the three who
came down first, and two of whose riders,
as already stated, came off almost scatheless.
Sardius is perhaps the worst of them, and it
is unlikely that he will be seen out again this
spring. Claptrap was very lame, and was got
to the stables with difficulty, and placed
under treatment. It was at first thought that
Too Too would have to be destroyed,
but she improved afterwards, and can
be cured. Sirocco was also cut about
a good deal, but the others seemed
very little the worse for their mishaps.
Ellis, the rider of Despot, who was one of
the few jockeys that came down and escaped
unhurt, says he got off badly at the start of
the race and rode on the outside until nearing
the home turn, where the field began to
make their final effort. At this point he was
leading the second division, which was close
up to the first flight of the field, but there was
a distinct interval between them. Just at
the turn he saw an opening in the centre of
the course, when, drawing Despot in towards
it, he found at the distance of a length that
the gap was made by the fall of several
horses. It was too late at the pace he was going
to avoid riding over them, and Despot went
straight into the mass of struggling men and
horses, and being immediately tripped up
fell upon his back. Ellis was thrown
right over the horse's head some yards away,
and was partially stunned for a moment and
on looking up he saw The Israelite galloping
riderless straight towards him. Ellis put up
his arm to protect himself, and swerved so
that The Israelite just missed him, striding
on ahead in front of Lord Wilton,
the last of the field, who went by
wide on the outside, with a jockey on
his back. Ellis was then assisted off the
course. He says he was the fifth or sixth
who fell. He had a similarly fortunate
escape in riding Despot in the Sydney Metro-
politan. In that race the horse crossed his
legs and fell heavily, but happily without
bringing any others with him, and Ellis was
unharmed. He is none the worse for Satur-
day's mishap, and is doing his work as
usual.
In the list of Nicholson's wins it will be
noticed that nearly all his victories were
gained in Sydney. Before leaving the pad-
dock on Saturday he remarked to a friend
that his bad luck on Victorian race-
courses was about to take a change in that
event. Just before the crash came, Nicholson
called the attention of the jockeys beside
him to the fact that Lord Exeter was pulling
him out of the saddle and galloping. As
the rider closed with the remark, " Havn't
I got a soft thing to-day," he went down and
was killed, The boy on Too Too believes
that just as he fell he had a glimpse of a
brown horse down in front of him. Cracknell's
wife was anxious that he should not ride, and
he, too, was rather afraid of the consequences.
It was noticeable that the fact of the running
ground being encircled by a single rail saved
more than one accident during the day. In
the Cup one of the riders was shot under
the rail, and escaped unhurt, while in
the Hurdle Race Malone had very much the
same experience. Had the boundary been
a picket fence as at Flemington both must
have been badly injured. It is noticable
that all the rest of the Sydney horses were in
the front rank when the accident happened,
and all suffered from it. The Adelaide
horses were also most unfortunate, three of
them falling and another being hindered,
while one of the pair of New Zealanders came
to grief.
THE INJURED JOCKEYS.
On the arrival of the special train which
brought the sufferers to Melbourne, stretchers
were procured, and Cracknell and M'Grath
were carried on one to the Melbourne Hos-
pital, Dr. Williams, who had come from the
course with them, attending to them on the
way. M'Grade and the lad Twomey followed
on another stretcher. Tidings of the acci-
dent had preceded them, and every pre-
paration was made for their reception
into the casualty room. Drs. Fitz-
gerald, Purdey, and Mollison were waiting,
and they assisted by Dr. Williams, did their
best to alleviate the sufferings of the injured
jockeys, and mitigate the effects of the catas-
trophe. Dr. Mailer, who arrived later,
also lent assistance in caring for the men.
Cracknell, who is 39 years of age, and lives
at Newmarket, appears to have fallen
on his left side, for his injuries are
confined to his right side and leg.
His ribs have become disjoined from
the breast bone, and been driven completely
under it. He is injured internally, but it is
not known to what extent, and his right
thigh is considerably bruised and cut. The
shock which he sustained was so severe that
it displaced his heart. M'Grath, who also
lives at Newmarket, is suffering from a frac-
ture of the base of his skull. Edward
M'Grade, aged 25, is a resident of Randwick,
Sydney. His right shoulder blade is frac-
tured, and his nose is broken. Tuomey is
the least hurt of those in the Melbourne
Hospital, having had his ribs fractured. He
has been treated at this institution previously
for injuries received in races. Morrison, the
rider of Sirocco, had his arm broken, but his
case was not considered serious enough
to warrant his removal to the Hospital,
and he was taken home. Cracknell
and M'Grath were unconscious when
admitted to the Hospital, but soon
regained their senses. The doctors were
with the patients continually until Sunday
morning. They expected that Cracknell and
M'Grath would not live the night out, but as
the time wore on their condition improved.
Having their constitutions weakened by the
effects of training, the medical men con-
sidered that the jockeys had a less chance of
recovering than they otherwise would.
Many friends, including the Hon. Wm.
Pearson and Mr. Mayo, owners of two of
the horses which fell, visited the sufferers
yesterday. Dr. Fitzgerald has taken charge
of the cases of the four men in the Melbourne
Hospital. Robert Wyman, the rider of
Sardius, who is aged 26, sustained concussion
of the brain, and was removed to the Alfred
Hospital. He had so far improved last
evening as to be able to couverse with the
doctors concerning the mishap.
Article identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6069217
Page identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page273381
APA citation
THE CAULFIELD CUP FATALITY. (1885, October 19).The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 6. Retrieved March 28, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6069217
MLA citation
"THE CAULFIELD CUP FATALITY."The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) 19 October 1885: 6. Web. 28 Mar 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6069217>.
Harvard/Australian citation
1885 'THE CAULFIELD CUP FATALITY.',The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 19 October, p. 6. , viewed 28 Mar 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6069217
Wikipedia citation
{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6069217 |title=THE CAULFIELD CUP FATALITY. |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)]] |issue=12,269 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=19 October 1885 |accessdate=28 March 2025 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}

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