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HORSE RACING |
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There racing ! ... the spirit of fair play, the thrill of competition and of striving to reach a goal, and the joyous exhilaration of a race well run. Such are the values that lie behind Australia's traditional love of horse racing; values that have been embodied throughout history and every year are crystallised in the grand spectacle of races such as the Melbourne Cup.
And there is no more loved emblem of the place horse racing holds in the national identity, than the greatest, the most noble of all winners, big-hearted Phar Lap. In the years before Federation, the number of horses in Australia increased at a rate equal to that of the human population. Horse breeding and management became a highly competitive business and success in racing was one way of measuring the strides in local skill and acumen. Horse racing became the focal point for a national celebration of courage, grace and achievement Source: Booklet accompanying the 1996 Masterpieces in Silver - Shaping a National Identity - Set. Horse Racing is featured on the following Australian coins:
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