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Interestingly, the key to all the twists and turns has been Melbourne Racing Club’s sudden U-turn on selling Sandown Racecourse – a result of the John Kanga-led revolution to “save Sandown”.
Why? Because had Sandown been sold for housing development, some of these proceeds would have been used to fund Project X.
Had Project X then gone ahead, the VRC would have had grounds to evict its trainers, knowing they had a potential new home. But the decision late last year to save Sandown changes all this.
So, why did the Flemington trainers come to believe this year they were going to be turfed out?
Well, it seems to have been a misunderstanding. Someone told someone who told someone who told someone, and it’s just like the racing industry’s rumour mill to get things wrong.
Green paper was ‘too loose’
Melbourne Racing Club’s new vice-chairman Jonathan Munz was initially a fan of building a new fit-for-purpose racing centre near Melbourne Airport. Provided it was to a sensible scale and budget.
He said so in a written proposal sent to Racing Victoria in 2022 on behalf of the Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners Association – of which the billionaire was, and remains, chairman – and the Australian Trainers’ Association.
Owner Jonathan Munz, right, after Getta Good Feeling won the Wakeful Stakes. He is pictured with John Kanga and MRC CEO Tanya Fullarton, front left.Credit: Getty Images
Their proposal was responding to the Victorian Racing Infrastructure green paper – a draft road map drawn up by Racing Victoria in 2022 to help guide the sport for the next 10 years.
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But Munz’s TROA and the trainers’ association were not impressed. They labelled the green paper “too loose, too general” and said it “just cobbles together the clubs’ individual infrastructure plans and wish lists”.
They said it did not focus on what was best for the industry as a whole.
Instead, they said: “Our proposal is to have four tracks: the existing main tracks at Flemington and Caulfield and two new tracks on the new ‘North West Land’ near Tullamarine.
“The two new tracks would be ‘product’ tracks only with low-cost limited spectator facilities for a maximum of 5000 people, but with tracks at least of the standard of Flemington or Sandown, so that the quality of racing is maintained and enhanced.
“Sandown and Moonee Valley would continue to operate as they do now until the two replacement tracks are built and proven up, and then they can be sold or held for redevelopment, raising approximately $1 billion.”
But Munz has since told The Age his position has shifted on developing the North West Land.
Why? Well, again we refer you to the John Kanga revolution and the Melbourne Racing Club’s sudden U-turn on selling Sandown Racecourse.
By saving Sandown, there was no need for an extra track near Melbourne Airport, nor the funding to build one.
Another key point endorsed by Munz in the joint TROA-ATA statement was that it made financial sense to merge Melbourne’s three racing clubs – the VRC, MRC and Moonee Valley. No wonder he hosted merger talks between the VRC and MRC at his Toorak mansion earlier this year.
Chad Schofield on Ceolwulf (right) fights out the finish with Ben Melham on Pericles in the Champions Mile.Credit: Getty Images
‘Up to stewards to decide’
The spectre of the whip rule raised its ugly head again at Flemington on Saturday.
Jockey Chad Schofield copped a massive $35,000 fine for overuse of the whip during his winning ride on Ceolwulf in the $3 million Champions Mile – hitting his horse four more times than allowed. Five is the limit for jockeys before their horse reaches the final 100m.
The fine is fair enough, but should Schofield have lost the race?
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Ceolwulf beat home Pericles by a nose, so a compelling case can be made that Ceolwulf would not have won had Schofield not urged him forward by overusing the whip.
But, realistically, for Schofield to have lost the race, Racing Victoria stewards would have had to launch their own protest, hear their own protest and then make a decision. It is confusing stuff.
Plus, to do so would have created serious ramifications.
Relegating Ceolwulf from first to second would have cost his connections $1.26 million in prize money. Not sure they would have taken that laying down. There’s a fair chance they would have appealed such a decision to the Victorian Racing Tribunal.
As for Pericles’ trainer, Bjorn Baker, he was typically laidback about it all on Sunday morning when contacted by The Age.
He said he had been too busy watching his own horses in the Champions Mile rather than watching the opposition.
“It’s very easy in hindsight to say, ‘we could have, should have, would have’ (protested), but at the end of the day, it’s really up to the stewards to decide,” Baker said.
“I’m not too sure how much of an impact it could have had. At the end of the day, both my horses went great, Stefi Magnetico, too, and you have got to look forward, not back. On the day they got beaten by the better horse.”
How Melham helped Melham win Cup
Racing continues to throw up unique scenarios.
Jamie Melham’s revelation that she had prepared for her winning Melbourne Cup ride by doing pre-race homework with her husband Ben provided the public with an incredible insight last week.
Jamie Melham pushes past her husband in the Melbourne Cup.Credit: Nine
“We don’t normally talk racing much, but we went through this race about 10 to 15 times,” she said after her breathtaking ride on Half Yours to win Tuesday’s Cup.
The husband-wife connection became even more significant during the race.
The history-making jockey had to barge past her partner’s tiring horse Smokin’ Romans at the business end of the race, allowing Half Yours to squeeze through narrowest of gaps to find a path to victory.
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“There was a tight gap and I said, ‘Move over Ben, I’m coming through’,” Melham told Channel Nine.
The Melhams became the first husband-and-wife combination to ride against each other in a Melbourne Cup, further proof that racing is like no other – women and men competing against each other on a level playing field, and opponents discussing tactics before competing against each other in a race.
Can you imagine such things ever happening in the world of AFL?
Why racing needs Pride Of Jenni
Pride Of Jenni continues to prove her worth to racing, even in defeat.
Pride Of Jenni wins at Flemington on Derby Day, but is disappointing seven days later on Champions Day.Credit: Getty Images
The remarkable mare was disappointing on Saturday in the Champions Mile, failing to handle the heavy track.
But at least she set the scene for a thrilling finish – a neck-and-neck dogfight between Ceolwulf and Pericles.
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By rolling to the front and setting a fast tempo, perhaps too fast considering the conditions, Pride Of Jenni ensured that it was going to be a war of attrition. It found a number of key chances wanting.
Mr Brightside struggled, and Treasurethe Moment faded late after doing all the cart-up work, leaving Ceolwulf and Pericles to duke it out. It made for a thrilling spectacle.
It was a far cry from the two boring group 1 dawdles earlier this spring – the Makybe Diva Stakes, won by Mr Brightside at Flemington in September, and the four-horse Might And Power Stakes, won by Globe last month.
The slow pace set in those two races did not give every runner a chance, so it’s still impossible to know if the best horse won.
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