THE 150-year history of the Towong Turf Club has been encapsulated in a new book by local author, Dixie Coutts, which is to be launched on the eve of this year’s Towong Cup.

Towong Turf Club Tales tells the story of an institution that grew from races on the river flats before the turn of the 20th century to become a significant piece of the heritage of the Upper Murray.

The club’s major milestones from its inception in 1871 to become the ‘Flemington of the Bush’ are well documented in the book and various accounts of the early days of racing paint a picture of a tight-knit community that gathered for the biggest event in the Upper Murray - the annual Towong Cup meeting - however, it was much more than that.

In his account of the history of the club, Tom Mitchell said those occasions were also “a social and business gathering, a day of relaxation, of conflict, of celebration, of intoxication and of love.”

Contributing to the club’s rich tapestry are the people and horses that brought all the colour and drama to the Towong track - plus the occasional act of skullduggery.

A multitude of Upper Murray families became synonymous with the Towong Turf Club including the Wheelers (who arrived in the district in 1846) and the Paton, Pierce, Whitehead, Waters, Daly, Masters, Blair, Stockwell, Schintler, Jarvis and McInnes families who have been associated with it over the past century-and-a-half, and still have descendants in the area.

The Upper Murray has also been a regular and prolific producer of top-class thoroughbreds who have met with success at the highest level and also made their mark in the breeding barn.

A pioneer in this regard was Charlie Wheeler, trainer of locally bred 1915 Melbourne Cup winner Patrobas, who was associated with many big racing successes.

He won the Oakleigh Plate and Newmarket Handicap with Queen of Scots, the Australian Cup and Melbourne Cup with The Parisian and as far back as 1885, he scored his first metropolitan success with Abuse in the St Kilda Cup.

Another winner of Australia’s greatest race that hailed from the Upper Murray was Glenloth in 1892.

There have also been many horses from the district which have won high class races such as the Sydney Cup, Caulfield Cup and Victoria Derby.

There have also been a host of successful sires that have stood at stud in the Upper Murray such as the mighty Comet, whose progeny won approximately $1.5 million in stakes and included stars such as Cobbermine, Star Glow, Persian Tune and Kelly’s Eye.

Another was French Kingdom which stood at Steve Paton’s stud at Tooma and sired 60 starters for 43 individual winners of 154 races by 1975.

His notable progeny included multiple city winners such as French Poet and Any Day.

One of the most successful local studs was Khancoban Station, which was owned by the Chisholm family, generations of whom were staunch supporters of the Towong Turf Club.

The stud was a prolific producer of quality racehorses by its sire roster of Comet, Shiftmar and Top Of The Ladder.

In the 1970s and 1980s, station owner and entrepreneur Bruce Chisholm was at the forefront of gaining positive publicity for the turf club and his yearlings.

A 1970 report in the Corryong Courier read "and for those ladies who have a yen for glamour there will be a chance to appear on television…vice president Mr Bruce Chisholm has arranged for Albury’s Channel 4 to televise both the race meeting and his yearling parade next day."

However, the common and ultimate ambition among the local racing dynasties over the past 150 years has been to win the prestigious Towong Cup and several have been able to add the silverware to their trophy cabinets.

Chief among them has been the family of the author Dixie Coutts (nee Waters).

The Waters’ connection to the turf club stretches back to 1900 when four members of the clan were on the committee.

However, it wasn’t until 1959 that the Towong Cup was won by the Ron Waters trained Just Care which was bred by Ron’s brother-in-law, Don McMillan.

A decade later, Ron Waters and Corryong solicitor Ray Braham won back-to-back cups with Timor Light in 1968 and 1969.

It wasn’t until 2021 that the Rodger Waters trained Sizzleonthebridge added to the family’s cup record, the first local win since Mal and Graeme Jarvis’s victory in 2005 with Grimhuntamug.

It was another family celebration when Euphemia saluted in 2024, part owned by Dixie Coutts and her sister Wendy Heal, who also bred the horse.

Towong Turf Club Tales also shines the light on some of the off-track shenanigans including family rivalries, claims of ‘we wuz robbed’ and a race-day raid.

The racecourse was also used as a crowd backdrop in the Phar Lap movie because of its iconic grandstand, which is a story in itself.

The book has been a labour of love for Dixie Coutts and contributing author Honor Auchinleck (nee Mitchell) who are both steeped in local racing lore.

Dixie has racing and the Towong Turf Club in her blood.

She is descended from the Waters and Paton families, both of whom have been prominent in the turf club since before the turn of the 20th century.

Honor said having grown up with Towong Turf Club’s early history as part of her heritage, it was time to share some of her father’s stories.

“It has been a pleasure to be able to contribute in a small way and to see this wonderful book become a reality," she said.

Towong Turf Club Tales promises to be an engrossing read that will strike a chord with anyone who has had any connection with the club or the pioneering families of the region.

Copies of the limited-edition book (200 copies only, $70) will be available at the launch on Friday, March 7 at the Towong Racecourse at 6pm and from the merchandise stall at the Towong Cup meeting the following day, and copies may also be ordered by emailing dixie.towongturfclub@gmail.com.