 Longtime handicapper Henry Hughes was succeeded by his son William Charles Hughes.Seth Ferry and W. H. Formby (c. 1818–1892) were commissioned to investigate the suitability of (later Sir) Thomas Elder's property at Morphettville, then marshland known as "Bay of Biscay Flat", for a racecourse.They reported that the area was susceptible to flooding from the nearby Brownhill Creek, and that it was littered with dips and gulleys, but both problems could be overcome with earthworks and there was no shortage of sand nearby, and in other ways was an ideal location.