Etienne Livingston de Mestre (9 April 1832 – 22 October 1916), was a 19th-century Australian breeder and jockey of Thoroughbred racehorses, De Mestre, was Australia's first outstanding racehorse trainer and racing identity. In his 30-year career he experienced all the highs and the lows of the turf in a career which ended with him dependent on donations from racing friends.
With the five wins de Mestre achieved in the Cup's first 18 years, he held the record for training the most Melbourne Cup winners for nearly 100 years. De Mestre won the first two Melbourne Cups with Archer in 1861 and 1862, and later trained a further three winners: Tim Whiffler (1867); Chester (1877); and Calamia (1878). He set a training record for Melbourne Cup winners which was finally broken by Bart Cummings in 1977. De Mestre also trained many other feature race winners including two AJC and two VRC Derbies and an Epsom Handicap. In recognition of his outstanding achievements, Etienne de Mestre was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame part of the Australian Racing Museum on 12 September 1992. In the racing industry one could best describe Etienne de Mestre as the "Bart Cummings" (the greatest of all Australian Racehorse trainers) of the 19th century.
Early life
Etienne was born in George Street, Sydney, on 9 April 1832 in his parents' home, on the same block of land backing onto the Tank Stream that his mother had been born 30 years earlier. He was the third and youngest son of the Frenchman Prosper de Mestre, a Sydney merchant, and Sydney-born Mary Ann Black and grandson of privateer John Black. His career was a series of triumphs with a long succession of champion horses passing through his hands. Many of these he bred himself, and many others such as Archer, Tim Whiffler, Chester, Yattendon, Plant and "Veno" he trained, and even sometimes rode. De Mestre's association with George Taylor Rowe (1822–1859) of Liverpool, England, the owner of the celebrated Veno, and the father of the little girl who was to grow up and one day to be his wife; and with his good school-friend Thomas John "Tom" Roberts (1831–1899) of Jembaicumbene near Braidwood, one of the owners of many champion horses including Mariner, Sailor, Archer, and Tim Whiffler, was at the forefront of a wonderful career of thirty years. He occupied a leading place among the racing celebrities of Australia and was the first national sportsman to represent the Shoalhaven district where he lived.
As a school boy Etienne loved thoroughbred horse racing, and developed into an excellent horseman, amateur jockey, and trainer. De Mestre spent his school holidays racing and working with the thoroughbred horses on his school-friend Thomas John "Tom" Roberts' "Exeter Farm" at Jembaicumbene. It has been said that in 1847, at the age of 15, and just three years after his father's death, he won the main event at Bathurst on his favourite Roberts' horse Sweetheart. There is no newspaper support to sustain this story. It is possible that he was at the Goulburn races as a spectator after having ridden there with Tom. De Mestre later leased and trained Nancy, a foal of Sweetheart. He raced Nancy at Numba in 1856 and 1857.
Family
In about 1850, Etienne's first child, Helen "Ellen" de Mestre (c.1850–1934), was born in the vicinity of Jembaicumbene near Braidwood when he was only about 18. Ellen's mother was the Aboriginal girl Sarah Lamb. One of Ellen's grandchildren, Guboo Ted Thomas (1909–2002), who was born under a gumtree at Jembaicumbene, became a prominent Aboriginal leader, and she was the last initiated tribal elder on the South Coast of New South Wales; and one of her great grandchildren, Lloyd Nolan Hornsby (1947–) was born in Brisbane to "Ellen" de Mestre's grand daughter Gladys. Lloyd Nolan Hornsby came to prominence as an urbanized contemporary Aboriginal artist combining Aboriginal dot painting with visions of contemporary Australian life and landscapes.
Early career
In the early 1850s de Mestre went into partnership with his elder brother Andre Cotteral de Mestre (1823–1917) and leased a section of the "Terara" (near the mouth of the Shoalhaven River) from their mother. There they established a horse stud, stable and racecourse where unofficial races were held and which was said to be the finest training track in the colony. After inheriting "Terara" on their mother's death in 1861 they converted the rest of the farm into the best training and breeding establishment outside Sydney.