There are people living in Carrum who have memories of the 'The Original Carrum Cowboy’s' holding their own Melbourne Cup along side the Patterson River.
John Hoyne remembers those races. The story told was there could be up to ten people out riding - perhaps they could be sometimes as far away as Frankston. Without doubt there would always be the comment that someone reckoned he had the fastest horse and it could easily beat all the others. [1] 'The Original Carrum Cowboys' loved their horses - they admired the stamina, beauty and above all the speed. Each and every one of them thought their horse was the fastest and could beat all the others.
Once the challenge was out everyone would want to prove that their horse would win. Eddie Laing has memories of racing, he said in his day they would race on the flat area behind Priestley's farm. [2] Some ten or fifteen years later another crop of teenagers were still racing their horse out there in the quest to discover whose horse was the best. Jim Jones also remembers he and his friends racing their horses out near Priestley's farm. He said that they must have held at least a dozen ‘Melbourne Cups’ there. 3]
Priestley's farm has disappeared, it's now a part of Patterson Lakes. Carrum Cowboys 'Melbourne Cup' is in the past never to be recaptured again.
Author
Carole Ross
1. Ross C. Interview John Hoyne.
2. Ross C. Interview Eddie Laing.
3. Ross C. Interview Jim Jones.