The excitement of a new nation reaches right across Australia in 1901, even up into the goldfields of Tooloom. A new confidence is echoed by new traditions, and a new Australian tradition is on the first Tuesday in November, a horse race was held in Melbourne.

The Melbourne Cup was a glamorous social event; everybody was talking about this big race day.
The single men on the northern NSW gold fields at Tooloom had an idea for a race day of their own.
Supplies for the goldfield came by bullock dray from Lawrence own on the coast, food and drink could be arranged for such an event. The stagecoach stopped overnight at the Tooloom Hotel on its way to Tenterfield, passengers could be accommodated for an extra day and a social gathering and race day could be held at Tooloom.

Respectable young women from the surrounding villages were invited to the ‘Tooloom Picnic Races” and the single men boasted of past conquests as they eagerly awaited the race day.
A dance would be held that night following the day’s activities.
Six rooms were available for the young women and their chaperones, they would be safe and this would be a “class” event.

As preparations got underway the ladies set about the important issue of fashion. Hats were ordered from a milliner in Sydney and dresses were refurbished for the big occasion.

The little miners store sold lengths of vermilion pink ribbon to women livening up old bonnets and hatpins were sold in abundance to secure the new creations arriving from Sydney.

Horse races were often held on a flat across the Tooloom creek from the hotel, betting was heavy and the track inspected for new mineshafts and tunnel cave-ins before events took place.
The miners were a tough lot and cheating was expected

Races were at times also held on a circuit around the hotel, often as a result of a boast at the bar, the outcomes were almost always disputed and brawls involving fifty men were not uncommon.

It was decided that for the picnic races a circular racetrack around the hotel would please the ladies, and nobody wished to build an outhouse for the women in the hard ground on the other side of the creek.

The licensee of the hotel decided that the housemaids and stable boys should have a chance to join in the fun. {He wanted to be free of bar duty] and so tickets were sold that entitled everybody to free drinks from a 40 gallon punch barrel placed on the verandah of the hotel.

The punch was made up of everything that he could find in a bottle including some firry moonshine and a generous amount of rum and whisky.
Fruit juice was added to make it palatable and a plug of tobacco and a piece of blue metal were added to give it grunt.

The day arrived, 800 men and 120 women from the gold fields, 6 young ladies and their chaperones from the surrounding villages and a mob of stockmen’s horses and dogs made up the living.
The dust was washed down from the barrel of wild wild whisky