The significance of unregistered proprietary pony racing in the social history of Sydney horse racing

This study focuses primarily on some singular characteristics of a major tributary of mainstream racing ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Â unregistered proprietary pony racing ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Â as it was manifested in the early modern period. This form of racing has been chosen for analysis because it represents, even more patently than the racing at places such as Randwick and Flemington of the same era, the high water mark of the single-minded devotion of racegoers to gambling. Its characteristics have been juxtaposed with salient features of twenty-first century postmodern racing, in particular the unlooked-for centrality of females in the make-up of major race-day attendances, and the ascendancy of celebratory behaviours and extra-track diversions over interest in racing and betting. The examination identifies sensibilities common to the premodern and postmodern eras, and how and why they diverge from race going as is it was practiced for most of the twentieth century. It also identifies some of the aspects of the conduct of racing at these different points in time which, it seems, have reflected or perhaps influenced the nature and intentions of race attendances.