Gangsters, cops, racial injustice and gold: Why I am digging up the past of the Melbourne Cup
Why do Australians elevate the wrong people in our history to “hero” status but forget those who really deserve it? That’s the question posed by a new book about the first Melbourne Cup.
Books
Don't miss out on the headlines from Books. Followed categories will be added to My News.
I love a western. There’s something about the stories that’s always grabbed me.
I love the six-guns, the horses, the lace-covered women of poor reputation, the whiskey in a shot glass, the lone stranger with the fast hands, and those stretching sunsets to give our hero a place to ride to.
So a couple of years ago, a friend of mine who is also a big fan of the genre, suggested I write a western for my next book.
I couldn’t shake off the idea, but I also didn’t want to scribble out some pseudo-American tripe where the black hats verse the white ones, and unrealistic disputes begin in the saloon and end with a quick-draw in the dusty street.
It had to be Australian. Something that was about our history and our people.
And there was no better setting than the inaugural event that became the “race that stops a nation”.
‘Perfect place for evil”: Location the key in new Aussie thriller
Day that changed everything: New perspective on First Fleet
So the opening words of my new novel, Good as Gold, go like this:
“The first Melbourne Cup was run on the 7th of November, 1861. The prestigious new horse race offered 930 gold sovereigns to the winner, but before the prize could be given, it was stolen. And this is what happened.”
The story begins with three campfires burning outside the goldmining town of Mull Creek, and each camp has no knowledge of the others.
At the first fire is Jesus Whitetree, an escaped orphan who has no understanding of the world or what to do with his freedom. All he knows is he loves gold. Gold makes everything good.
At the next fire is Constable Harry Logan and his chained prisoner, an Aboriginal girl named Mary. Harry is lost after the death of his wife, and all he has is his grey horse and his job. And right now, it’s his job to return Mary to the homestead that stole her when she was a child.
And at the third camp is the Jack Pink Gang. Jack is a thief and liar and the son of Mother Pink — a notorious old street prostitute known throughout the colony. The matriarch knows she won’t live forever, and before she dies she wants to make her son the feared and famous one. So she enlists the services of bush poet Samuel LaBat to write Jack into history.
Each for their own reason, the parties come to Melbourne town for the running of the first Cup. Some are there for duty, some for a new life, and others just to get their hands on the gold.
I loved writing this story, and I couldn’t wait to get back to it everyday.
It was such a big and rich time in our history. Victoria was only 10 years out from its first gold strike of 1851, and before that we were living in bark huts. But with the precious metal, we became one of the richest places in the British Empire.
And the colony wanted to show off its wealth, so we created a world class race and put up a gigantic purse for the prize, and it’s something that’s survived until this day.
While writing, I was lucky enough to have access to experts and historians — including Dr Andrew Lemon who probably knows more about the first Melbourne Cup than the people who were actually there. And I consulted with Indigenous advisers and police historians to prevent me from buggering it up.
Good as Gold is a rewriting of a giant moment for this continent, and it’s an Australian yarn about triumph, friendship and the things that matter more than just riches.
And it’s also about our habit of elevating the wrong people in history by giving them the title of “hero”, while the real heroes fade.
But more than anything, I just want it to be a good, satisfying story — with gunfights and hard rides — and things people will think about long after they put the book down.
The best compliment came from a reader who told me how they had to take to Google to find out which bits were real and which parts were fiction.
That’s as good as it gets. Almost as good as gold.
Good As Gold by Justin Smith is out now through Penguin Random House.
Come tell us which books get your blood racing at the Sunday Book Club group on Facebook.
And check out our current Book of the Month: The Visitors, by Jane Harrison, out now through HarperCollins. You can get it for 30 per cent off the RRP with the code VISITORS at Booktopia. T & Cs: Ends 30-Sep-2023. Only on ISBN 9781460761984. Not with any other offer.
Originally published as Gangsters, cops, racial injustice and gold: Why I am digging up the past of the Melbourne Cup
Star’s voice heard for first time in years
John Farnham is ready to let the world hear his voice, more than two years after undergoing gruelling surgery to remove a tumour in his mouth.
‘What happened? Who is guilty?’
Four girls disappear from a school camp and a male teacher goes after them. The girls return – but the man does not. Wouldn’t you be asking hard questions, writes Nikki Gemmell.