The Briseis Club, founded in 1995Journalist-sports promoter John Craven explains that the Briseis Club took its name from the Geelong-bred three-year-old Briseis, the first female racehorse to triumph in the Melbourne Cup – back in 1876 when she also won the Victoria Derby and VRC Oaks, all in the space of six days.
“It’s an astonishing feat that will never be repeated,” says Craven, the club’s foundation president who rounded-up an enthusiastic band of eager-beaver local luminaries to form the inaugural committee; they included the Racing Club’s general manager Doug Hall, Geelong Advertiser editor Graeme Vincent, the intrepid car dealer Johnny Brain, the ex-Cats defender Les Borrack, and popular Geelong Yacht Club sailor John Chandley. The evergreen man-about-town Billy Fitzgerald joined the committee a year later and became a legend.
The club’s original charter was to generate sponsorship for the Geelong Racing Club and kick-start the popular Briseis Gold Cup meeting, in addition to supporting local charities.

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