46 Brierly Steeplechase First run 1902 120 YEARS AGO The Maiden Steeplechase, or the Junior Steeplechase as the event was known in some years, was a feature of the Steeplechase Meeting from its inception in 1872. The race was restricted to horses that had not earned more than a certain amount of money for winning any one steeplechase. After attracting only two runners in 1901 it was replaced by the Brierly Handicap Steeplechase the following year. Sir Hartley, a grandson of Panic, owned by Paddy Molan, a Warrnambool blacksmith, won the first Brierly. Although lists of Brierly winners sometimes extend back to 1872, unlike the Maiden and the Junior it has never been a restricted race. The race, and Brierly paddock, takes its from a house of that name which was built by W.H. McKiernin, a roads contractor, in the late 1850s. He also built ‘Pencoed’ – a bluestone residence which was there when the first Grand Annual was run in 1872 and still stands. McKiernan died in December 1862 after a fall from his horse when returning to ‘Pencoed’. In 1865 his widow married J.R. Evans, who built the first section of the racecourse grandstand in 1876, still in use as subsequently extended. 40 YEARS AGO When part owner Roger Crosswell saw his honest flat galloper Meander Son leap across a creek while spelling at Caloundra Park stud in Tasmania he thought to himself that the gelding could turn out to be a handy jumper. Crosswell’s judgment turned out to be spot on. The gelding won several steeplechases on the Apple Isle and in April 1982 won the Tasmanian Grand National Steeplechase in record time. At a time when Tasmanian fencers often crossed Bass Strait for Warrnambool Week, the Grand Annual beckoned. Agricolo running second over the first fence in the 1926 Brierly. Source: The Australasian, 15 May 1926.
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