Page 13: How Captain Peter Janson made Flemington a hot spot
Long before a thundering herd of wannabes found their way into the Millionaires’ Row at Flemington’s Birdcage came Captain Peter Janson, the first to bring big brands and turn corporate dollars trackside.
Page 13
Don't miss out on the headlines from Page 13. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Flemington’s Birdcage is still Australia’s best-known patch of turf for corporate hospitality. Sitting between the turn into the home straight and the Nursery, where members dine on their car-boot picnics, the Birdcage is the place for corporates and their clients to press the flesh.
But long before a thundering herd of wannabes found their way into the Millionaires’ Row, and men stopped wearing socks, came Captain Peter Janson.
Page 13 visited Melbourne’s most famous bon vivant inside his six-story menagerie of beasts and visiting English aristocracy at Rutherglen House to ask how it all started. A giant grizzly bear glowers at you as you walk in. A moose leers down from a wall and tiger skins are spread around the floors. There was a Scottish earl in a kilt sipping a scotch.
The Birdcage in those early days was just a carpark and Janson would drive his double-decker buses filled with his guests to his own marquee.
At one rain-drenched carnival he used his four-wheel drive to tow the great-and-sometimes-not-so-good out of the bog. That, and being tight-lipped on some of the things he saw, gained him a lot of friends.
The dashing captain, once aide-de-camp to the King of Bhutan, was the first to bring big brands and turn corporate dollars at Flemington.
The ultraconservative VRC turned their noses up at the interloper, but Janson was a winner.
“They all thought I was commercialising it and laughed at me, but I said ‘look I can make you a few million out of this’,” Janson says looking resplendent in an Indian nightshirt in the middle of the day and clenching a Cuban cigar in his teeth. “Look today, it’s gone through the roof.
“I had my own marquee and did it up as a birdcage. I would have about 20 birds, parrots on sticks or birds in cages and was the first one to do it all. I always had a concert grand (piano), not just a grand but a concert grand, with the very best pianist playing under a chandelier and surrounded by gushing fountains.
“I was the first to bring overseas guests and corporate clients, including Cadbury Schweppes, which is still there today.”
Janson brought out London society columnist Nigel Dempster, who named him and his good friend, the Maharajah of Baroda, Big Brother and Little Brother. The Maharajah’s father had one of the world’s biggest racing stables. Janson and Jackie Baroda looked like bosom brothers with their clipped beards, bowler hats and pinstripe suits.
GIDDY UP
Olympic legend Ian Thorpe will be trackside on Saturday on Millionaires’ Row with his rekindled flame Ryan Channing.
The couple has been a regular in the Lexus marquee but split earlier this year. Channing said at the time he was pursuing plans to have a baby with a surrogate.
Julie Bishop and partner David Panton will no doubt be resplendent in matching monochrome for the Derby.
Don’t be surprised if Masked Singer judge Lindsay Lohan slips into the Birdcage after flying into Melbourne on Friday.
The Hemsworths are staying at home in Byron Bay this year where they may lob at Antony Catalano’s party for the 25th anniversary of restaurant and luxury retreat Rae’s on Wategos.
Bucketloads of cash couldn’t get Margot Robbie on Cup week guest list either, despite being back in Australia this week.
SOMETHING TO TELL US: page13@news.com.au