Horse racing heritage

With Spring racing in the air, we remember some horse racing history in our area. Samuel Cracknell who resided in Panton Hill for more than 40 years, was a world famous light weight jockey winning many flat and steeple races. Sam rode in 12 Melbourne Cup races - his first Melbourne Cup was in 1872 and his last ride was in the Melbourne Cup on 1890.


Redleap stables in Mill Park, now the home of the Stables Shopping Centre were built in 1890 by Henry "Money" Miller and contained 20 large stalls, the stables were named in honour of the well known Bundoora horse "Redleap" who won the Grand National Hurdle in 1889 and 1890 and the Grand National Steeple Chase and Australian Steeple Chase. The stables included accomodation, marked by the chimney, for grooms. The building was incorporated into the new Stables shopping centre complex in Mill Park which opened at the end of 1979.