Harness Racing: Always a Highlight at the Melbourne Show
Researched and created by John Peck
Harness Racing: Always a Highlight at the Melbourne Show is a resource written and created by John Peck on the history of harness racing, previously known as trotting, at the Melbourne Royal Show. Starting with the formation of the National Agricultural Society of Victoria in 1871, the project describes the known winners of every Harness race, time test, and blue ribbon breeding class up to the end of the competition at the Show in 1998. The book also contains over 100 photographs and etchings as well as special features on significant moments and individuals from this history, including Alice Laidlaw, Alex Hunter, and Will Whitbourn.
Sources of images and text include various newspaper credited internally and available on Trove (trove.nla.gov.au), Speed the Plough, the Melbourne Royal Virtual Museum, the State Library of Victoria, and Peck's personal collection.
This PDF of the book has been loaned to Melbourne Royal for use as a resource on the Virtual Museum.