Cover image courtesy of the National Library of Australia, Closing Time and Jim Pike return to scale after winning the 1933 Villiers
Earlier this year, when it was announced that the time-honoured Villiers S. was to be renamed The Ingham, there wasn’t much outcry. After all, the Villiers had been around since 1892 and no one really knew who it was named after anymore.
Modernising the racing calendar with these catchy pop-up titles had worked with The Everest and The Kosciuszko, and even older races like The Galaxy, so dragging this 130-year-old contest into 2022 seemed like a good idea to most.
The 1890 visit of Lord Jersey to Cobar | Image courtesy of the State Library of NSW
But the thing is, especially in Sydney, modernising the Villiers came at the expense of old friend history, and the harbour city has but a few very old races to hang its hat on. There’s the Doncaster and Australian Derby in the autumn, and the Epsom in the spring, so, with the disappearance of the Villiers this year, a grand old classic of the Sydney summer arguably went with it.
The Villiers was first run on Christmas Eve in 1892. The weather was picture-perfect, and an 11-horse field lined up for the six furlongs to witness Two Up (Arabi), a colonial-bred thoroughbred, sprint home in a minute and 17 seconds.
How the race came to be named the Villiers is speculative. Earlier that year, in September 1892, Randwick had hosted ‘the distinguished Lord Jersey’ (Victor Child Villiers, the seventh Earl of Jersey) and his wife, Lady Mary Villiers. At the time, Lord Jersey was the governor of New South Wales, an appointment of 1890 that lasted until November 1892.
Lord Jersey wasn't roundly liked during his time in New South Wales. He was considered obsessive, 'small and somewhat baggy', and a poor public speaker.
A Lord Jersey postcard | Image courtesy of the National Library of Australia
In line with the traditions of the time, it’s highly possible, even likely, that the Villiers was named in his honour. This was done many times on Australia’s racing calendar, most notably in 1934 when the Duke of Gloucester attended Peter Pan’s Melbourne Cup, that remarkable horse winning the Duke of Gloucester Cup at Flemington a handful of days later.
However, with the disfavour widely held about the monarchy and Royal institutions these days, it’s no wonder the Villiers was renamed in 2022. But in doing so, there’s a risk that the wonderful history of this race will disappear from consciousness.
Through 130 years, the Villiers has been every bit a Sydney summer classic, changing from six furlongs to a mile in 1902 when Kinglock won it and remaining largely unchanged for the 120 intervening years.
In 1913, Popinjay, an exceptional galloper, won it through a career that included the Futurity, Oakleigh Plate and Linlithgow. In 1917, Cetigne was its winner, a stallion sharp enough to win the AJC Derby and pull back three seasons later to win the six-furlong Newmarket H.
By the 1940s, most of Sydney’s top horses were just coming back into work from spring spells as the Villiers was kicking off, so it became a specialist race for summer horses, which Bernborough was in 1945.
Gallery: One of the summer specialists that was victorious in the Villiers S., Bernborough
The Villiers was the first race that Bernborough tackled after relocating from Queensland, and he won it emphatically, bouncing away by 5l with over 58kg and Athol Mulley on his back. It was the start of something special in 1940s Australia.
If nothing else, the Villiers these days is a sad reminder that few things are sacred. Some will mourn its reinvention, and others will welcome its modern reincarnation, especially since it now honours such important identities as the Ingham brothers.
Either way, it is a grand old classic of the Sydney racing calendar, and not even a new name can wipe its marvellous history.
