Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

The Melbourne Cup is the biggest race on the southern hemisphere racing calendar. Traditionally it’s held on the first Tuesday in November and the race is a long one, run over 3200 meters. To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Although I’ve attended the races in New Zealand this is a much bigger occasion. We had the cheap “seats”, which actually meant no seats at all–standing room only. We arrived early, before the first race started, and claimed our spot on the lawn. As the day progressed more people arrived until we were elbow to elbow and crammed into a small area.

Some of the crowd near us

Most people made an effort to dress up. I watched the Fashion on the Fields contest on the big screens, simply because it was such a hassle to push through the crowds. Planning a visit to the loo was a major event and thinking ahead preferable!

There were men in hats…

Ladies in high heels contrasted with workers replacing the divots on the track between races.

Then there were the oddities. We had a bit of a chuckle on seeing these two men escorting their wives across the track…

The bookies were handy for racegoers to make bets. We don’t have bookies in New Zealand, so we found them interesting to watch.

As I mentioned, the course was packed. We had to put belongings on the ground to mark our spot. It was a bit like peeing to mark our territory!

The horses thundered up the track toward us. We got all the sound effects: the roar of the crowd, the thunder of hooves, the blow of the horses, the chatter of the jockeys when they passed us after the race.

The cup race was the big draw card for the day. Here is the field racing up the track toward us. The finish was the closest in race history – half a nose. It wasn’t that long ago (ten years) when they would have called the finish a dead heat.

Here’s the winner Dunoden, a French horse that was ridden by a French jockey, riding back to scale, after his historic win.

We had an excellent day, which I enjoyed very much. We came away slightly sunburned and lighter in the pocket but happy. I’m not sure that I would go again, but it’s an experience I’ll always remember.

I took this photo out at my father’s farm last weekend. This photo features a stallion, two mares and two foals. One foal is hiding behind the other one. The stallion (named Fred) is on the far left.

To see more animal photos visit Camera Critters

My husband took this photo of the saddle broncs at the Cody Nite Rodeo. The night rodeo was a fun event and we enjoyed it very much. My favorite event is the bullriding. One day I might get to the PBR finals at Las Vegas.

To see more animal photos visit Camera Critters

This is the skeleton of the champion racehorse, Phar Lap. Phar Lap, which is Thai for lightning in the sky, was a chestnut. He was born near Timaru, New Zealand in 1926 and died in Menlo Park, California in 1932 after eating poisoned grass. He was poisoned on purpose, and rumor states the mob was responsible, carrying out the poisoning to protect their financial interests. Shortly before his death, he won the world’s richest race, the Agua Caliente Handicap in California. He did most of his racing in Australia and loved to run at the front of the field. Nicknamed Big Red, he won 36 of his last 41 races.

Phar Lap’s skeleton is in the Te Papa Museum in Wellington, New Zealand.
His heart is in a bottle in Canberra, Australia.
His hide is in the Museum of Victoria, Australia.

Currently, his skeleton is in Melbourne, Australia (on loan) to celebrate the running of the 150th Melbourne cup, a race that Phar Lap won in 1930.

To visit more animal photos go to Camera Critters.

I often come across good articles and posts relating to writing and the writing business when I’m surfing on the net. What? You thought I wrote all the time?

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy both keeping up with the writing market and learning new things. I thought I’d share the bounty and repost some of the links I’ve found.

Bootstrap Book Marketing Co-op has a post on one thing that can really derail a writing career, and that is professional jealousy. We all have times when we feel down or think someone else is getting a better deal than us and the green-eyed monster creeps in. Bootstrap has a post called The Writer’s Other Classic Curse and Four Ways to Deal With It.

Erastes writes some very thought provoking posts at Reviews by Jessewave. A recent post related to horses in historical novels. Neigh…I blame Hollywood talks about horses and mistakes writers making with them. Note Reviews by Jessewave reviews gay romances, but the post on horses relates to all historicals.

Note: There are two posts today. Scroll down…

This is my eighty-year-old father’s horse Arizona. She had a foal just over a week ago. Now he’s a bit put out because he can’t ride his horse around the farm, but he’s as proud as punch of Arizona’s foal. He’s about ten days old in this photo and as yet, unnamed. He is so cute and nibbled on my fingers and clothes. Hubby and I wanted to take him home. My father wouldn’t let us.

To see more animal photos visit Camera Critters.

The heroine in my recent release House of the Cat is a jockey so my Thursday Thirteen this week has a horse racing theme.

Thirteen Random Things About Horse Racing

1. All modern racehorses are descended from three Arab sires: the Byerley Turk (a horse owned by Captain Robert Byerley), the Darley Arabian (a horse purchased in Aleppo in 1704 for Mr. James Darley) and the Godolphin Arabian (a horse gifted from the Emperor of Morocco to King Louis XIV).

2. King Henry VIII took little interest in racing, but his daughter Queen Elizabeth I attended races on Salisbury Plan. King James VI and Charles I were also keen racing men.

3. The first race of the Royal Meeting at Ascot commemorates Queen Anne, who played a part in the start of racing there. The first race took place on 13 August 1711.

4. Historians believe that organized racing in America occurred around the early to mid-17th century.

5. One of the world’s greatest handicap races takes place at Flemington in Melbourne, Australia. The Melbourne cup was introduced in 1861 and takes place in early November every year. Many workplaces in Australia and New Zealand run Melbourne Cup sweepstakes each year. Without fail the horse I draw is a duffer. Without fail my sister picks the winner, much to hubby’s disgust.

6. The most famous steeplechase in the world (race with jumps) is the Grand National. It’s held in March or early April each year and began in 1837. The race is 4 ½ miles with 30 fences for the horses to jump.

7. The largest race for the Grand National was in 1929 when 66 took part and the race was won by the 100-1 chance Gregalach. The smallest was the very first running in 1837 when only 6 horses took part.

8. Although racing began as a test between owners to see whose horse was fastest, it undoubtedly was the result of a wager. Betting and horse racing are undeniably linked.

9. In 1903 doping horses was declared illegal by the Stewards of the Jockey Club in response to a campaign by trainer George Lambton.

10. Starting stalls were used for the first time in 1965 on a race course in Great Britain.

11. A two-year-old colt , later named The Green Monkey, was sold for $16 million at the Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale at Calder Race Course. The price is a world record for a horse of any age, sex or breed at public auction.

12. In 1993 the Grand National was abandoned after disruption by animal rights campaigners and two false starts. In 1913 Suffragette Emily Davison attempted to disrupt the Derby by grabbing and bringing down a horse. Anmer, the horse she grabbed was unarmed but Ms. Davison was killed.

13. In House of the Cat the heroine Camryn O’Sullivan must train a hell-horse and attempt to win the inaugural Dowry Derby. Hell-horses are man-eaters and not the same as the horses on Earth. Here’s a short excerpt:

The gates rattled. Suddenly Camryn could see the track stretching out in front of them.

“And they’re off!”

Gabby hesitated. The other horses sprang from the gates. Camryn nudged Gabby, squeezing the barrel of her body with her thighs. The mare jumped from the starting gate finally. Camryn leaned low, urging her on with hands and heels. Over to their left a horse squealed and reared in the gates. Camryn heard a man shout.

A hell-horse appeared beside them, neck extended and teeth barred. Gabby frog-hopped out of the way, the abrupt sideway move throwing Camryn off balance. Only instinct, honed from years of experience, allowed her to stay on Gabby. She kicked her hard, surprising a grunt from the mare. Gabby wasn’t used to vigorous kicks. She leapt forward, thankfully heading in the right direction.

“Run, girl. Run. Come on. Please. We need to find Luke.”

Something crashed into the back of Gabby. Again, experience allowed Camryn to keep her seat. Gabby whirled to attack the hell-horse behind. Bigger than her, it was an aggressive male with a scar-covered hide. Terror gripped Camryn as she hauled on Gabby’s head and wished they’d been able to work out some sort of a bit and bridle to give her more control. This halter wasn’t the best.

“Gabby. Turn!” Camryn applied the signal she’d taught the mare, squeezing her thighs tightly and leaning her weight forward. Too late. The mare had caught the bloodlust of the others. She charged the stallion without a shred of fear or hesitation. The clash almost unseated Camryn. She lurched sideways. With desperation, she grasped Gabby’s mane and clung. If she fell… God!

Source: The Complete Encyclopedia of Horse Racing by Bill Mooney & George Ennor

When we first married, my husband was a part owner of a thoroughbred race horse. The filly named Paul’s Gold won 13 races and placed in others before being sold as a broodmare. We still have photos hanging in our garage of her winning races.

Racing is an old sport. It’s full of both glamour and despair. Some call it a rich man’s sport. A good horse certainly isn’t cheap to either purchase or train. I remember going to the yearling sales as a child. It was an all day thing and my brother, sister and I went with our parents when they were looking for a horse to purchase. We were told to behave and not to fidget while the auctions took place. I took my parents’ stern warnings to heart and was always afraid to move in case I purchased a horse by mistake. They are beautiful animals, and I decided a while ago that I wanted to find a way of putting horses into a book.

HOUSE OF THE CAT is that book, except I don’t think a trainer from Earth would recognize the horses on the planet Ornum.

My hell-horses are black in color and look more like overgrown hyenas than their Earth counterparts. They’re savage beasts and eat meat as well as vegetation. They’re also very intelligent and are man-killers. Jockey Camryn O’Sullivan has her work cut out for her trying to train a hell-horse to win the Dowry Derby.

Buy your copy of House of the Cat from Ellora’s Cave today.

Have you ever attended the races and did you enjoy them?

NEWSFLASH

I’m blogging over at Access Romance today about ideas and where I find them for my books. Here’s the link.