Bio & Information
Rising Fast (NZ 1949-1978) Bio
Rising Fast was an outstanding New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse In 1954 he became the only horse in history to win the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate races in the same season – the Spring Grand Slam – and since that time no Melbourne Cup winner has performed such a feat He returned in 1955 again winning the Caulfield Cup but coming an unlucky second in the Melbourne Cup Rising Fast was bred by brothers Frank and Bruce Robertson at their Platform Lodge farm at Greytown in the Wairarapa He was a bay or brown gelding by Alonzo (GB) and from the mare Faster by Mr Standfast Alonzo was a poorly performed racehorse having only won one race on the flat and one over the hurdles in England Faster was unplaced at her only two starts but produced seven winners from ten foals Rising Fast was purchased at the 1950 New Zealand National Sales for 325 guineas by first time racehorse owner Leicester R. Spring Raced by his owner Leicester Spring and trained by both Ivan Tucker and Fred Hoysted Rising Fast’s blue, gold and black colours soon became familiar on New Zealand race tracks He was a seasoned five-year-old when he made the sea voyage to Melbourne in 1954 for the spring (Southern Hemisphere) carnival He was already well known in racing circles when he arrived but his accomplishment of winning he Spring Grand Slam put him on front pages of newspapers in Australia, New Zealand and internationally Although many people consider the Melbourne and Caulfield Cup handicaps to be the blue ribbon events of the carnival racing aficionados generally agree the weight-for-age Cox Plate is the contest that establishes genuine champions He is still remember for the nine stone five pounds (59.5 kg) he carried to win the cup in 1954 has only been exceeded by Rain Lover who carried nine stone seven pound (60.5 kg) in 1969 these weights haven’t been won since by any top weighted horse wearing number one saddle cloth until Makybe Diva did so in 2005 Rising Fast finished the 1954 season with wins which included the Turnbull Stakes, Caulfield Stakes, Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate, Melbourne Cup, LKS Mackinnon Stakes and VRC C.B.Fisher Plate When Rising Fast retired, the Moonee Valley Racing Club held a special farewell for the champion, who strode up the straight with a garland of flowers around his neck, while the band played “The Maori Farewell” Rising Fast is recognised in both Australia and New Zealand He was inducted into both the New Zealand and Australian Racing Halls of Fame
Westminster Fine China Australia (Australia 1954-1998)
Stanley Rogers ran a wholesale cutlery, glassware and crockery business in Queen Street Melbourne On 6 October 1950 a new business Stanley Rogers and Son Ltd was registered to take over the previous business and was listed with a capital of 100,000 pounds
Westminster Fine China Australia story started in Melbourne at 7 Arnold Street Cheltenham in 1954 Stanley Rogers and Son Ltd then moved to 228 Bay Road Sandringham in 1977 into a 60,000 square foot (about 5,500 square metres) building that housed the factory, warehouse, office and showroom They initially used imported blanks from Japan which were made to their specifications and which were then decorated locally They produced a standard range of shapes for souvenir ware later expanding into a wide range of tea sets, dinnerware and many other styles of china ware In the early days, skilled staff were brought into Australia from both the United Kingdom and Italy and the focus was on the souvenir and giftware trade In the late 1960s they introduced to the Australian market a range of medium weight porcelain hotel ware under the Fineceram brand and later registering another brand Duraceram in 1984 By this time Westminster was part of a wider organization called Badgin Nominees Pty Ltd The 1980s also saw the production of a large number of limited edition plates for other companies for example Australia International Historical Foundation Westminster had an in-house art department that put together the designs and used computer generated designs in the later stages of the companies life These were placed onto the pieces by ceramic transfer printing and fired to seal them onto the items in large capacity electric kilns In the late 1980s and early 1990s there are blanks made in both Japan and Taiwan and marked with the last of the Westminster markings In the late 1980s they regularly produced items for other suppliers and by the mid-1990s most of the companies work was for the hospitality industry There was also a large part of the business making corporate coffee mugs and there was a smaller continuation of giftware featuring Aboriginal designs and Australian flora and fauna Some of these are for C R Hose and Isaacson Catering & Hospitality Supplies – Badgin Nominees including the Westminster brand was sold to Oneida Ltd New York USA in June 1998 by Stanley’s son William
