'I thought what a coincidence': Cemetery tours trace our tragic racing past

Karen Tyers said the tours - which start on January 1, 2024 - would visit the graves of riders, trainers, owners, caretakers and blacksmiths.

The story behind the displaced marble tombstone of James Corrigan is one of twin tragedies.

James was just 17 when he died in 1885 after being thrown from a horse at Sherwood, somewhere near the current day Deakin University.

He was the brother of well-known jockey Tommy Corrigan who nine years later in August 1894 suffered a similar fate.

Tommy died of a fatal brain injury when when his horse fell on him in the Grand National Steeplechase.

His funeral cortege, led by 150 trainers and jockeys on foot, was the largest seen in Melbourne at that time.

The cemetery tour also visits the grave of William McKiernin who spent a year as a steward for the Warrnambool Racing Club before he died from injuries sustained in a horse fall in 1862. He was 31.

William's work as a contractor included the Flagstaff Hill cutting and extensions to the Warrnambool jetty which were left unfinished due to his death.

The loss was deeply felt in Warrnambool and an appeal raised funds for the memorial.

Mrs Tyers said horse racing started in Warrnambool not long after it was declared a town.

"The town was proclaimed on January 30, 1847 and just over a year later an advertisement appeared for the first Warrnambool race meeting," she said.

It was held on what was called Jetty Flat close to Lady Bay on March 1, 1848.

"The following year they introduced a jumps race and extended it to two days and by 1853 it became a three-day event," she said,

In 1858, the races moved to the current location and the first trustees were Francis Tozer, George Bostock and Samuel MacGregor.

Francis Tozer - who was born in 1820 in Devon, England as one of 12 children - is one of the grave stops on the tour. He came to Australia in 1842 and became head stockman at St Mary's at Wangoom.

Eventually he bought 2000-acre Wangoom Park where he bred horses and trained many winners.

The road running alongside the racecourse is named after Francis who was a shire councillor from 1865 to 1867.

Mrs Tyers said she got the idea for the racing-themed tour when one of the people on the 2023 New Year's Day tour wanted to know if that tour would visit the grave of her great grandfather - a jockey.

That's when she decided to make the horse racing industry the theme of this summer's tours, not knowing that it was also the 150th anniversary of the Warrnambool Racing Club in 2023.

"I thought what a coincidence," she said.

A $5 donation is appreciated for the 90-minute Warrnambool Family History Group tour which kick off at the rotunda on: