Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Things are certainly heating up at the Melbourne Racing Club with controversy surrounding not only the potential sale of Sandown but also the new mounting yard at Caulfield and its potential new grandstand.
The Thoroughbred Report takes a timeline look at recent events in regard to Caulfield's future.
1992: Current grandstand opens to much fanfare.
May 2019: Caulfield Master Plan first presented to members at a members' forum.
Christmas Eve 2021: Caulfield plans approved by the Planning Minister via the Development Facilitation Program (DFP); an accelerated assessment pathway for eligible projects.
January 2022: Heritage Victoria places an interim order on development, Caulfield described as being of “historical, architectural, aesthetic and social significance to the State of Victoria.”
“It satisfies the following criteria for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register: Criterion A – Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria's cultural history.”
January 18, 2022: Trees, some of whom dated over a century, are cut down including an Aleppo pine grown from the seed of Gallipoli's legendary Lone Pine.
March 2022: Heritage Victoria places Caulfield racecourse on the Victorian Heritage Register.
June 2022: The MRC applies to Heritage Victoria for a permit to embark on the master plan after all work had been halted for six months.
Caulfield mounting yard | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
October 2022: Caulfield heritage permit decision is announced with the retention and conservation of some of the historic 1920s raceday stalls as well as the tote board.
February 2023: The MRC approaches the Heritage Council seeking changes to the heritage listing including just listing specific buildings and structures and not the entire course. Heritage Victoria refuses the changes.
February 2024: The $64 million new mounting yard area is unveiled.
May 2024: The Victorian government approves plans for the new grandstand, the $250 million “Grand Pavilion.”
An artist’s impression of the “Grand Pavillion” proposed for Caulfield Racecourse
June 4: MRC chief executive Josh Blanksby, after seven years in that position (and another three at the club), announces his resignation.
August 6: MRC Chairman Matthew Cain announces his retirement after 15 years on the board including six years as treasurer and the past two years as Chairman.
August 7: MRC Executive Director, Racing and Operations Jake Norton in an interview with RSN announces plans to redesign the new jockeys’ room in response to criticism from the Victorian Jockeys Association and its members that it is too small. He also responds to criticisms of the new mounting yard.
August 22: MRC committee member John Kanga calls for a spill of the MRC Committee, announcing the creation of the Save Our MRC group.
John Kanga | Image courtesy of the Melbourne Racing Club
August 23: Other members of the MRC committee release a statement condemning John Kanga's announcement.
“The nine members of the executive committee are concerned that Mr Kanga is seeking to bypass the election process in a bid to install a new block of Committee members outside of the upcoming election process.
“We are shocked by this unprecedented move and remain united in our commitment to the MRC’s established and fair election process.”
August 28: MRC executive committee members Alison Saville and Caitrin Kelly release a statement regretting their part in the previous week's committee statement.
“We retract our signatures and endorsement of the statement dated Friday, August 23.
“We now reject the committee joint statement and support Mr Kanga's Save Our MRC group.”
“In particular we support Mr Kanga in relation to the three essential changes that need to be made at the MRC,” they continued, pointing out that the mounting yard needs to be moved back to its original position as soon as possible, that plans for the new grandstand should be scrapped and that Sandown should be retained as a racecourse.
“We regret signing the committee joint statement and feel we were pressured into signing it at short notice. We consider that there is a longstanding poor culture and toxic atmosphere within the MRC executive committee and there have been previous instances of bullying. We have resolved not to let this continue and to stand up against it.”
