October
MayWe're doing it wrong
Recent debate around the Caulfield and Melbourne cups raises an interesting point. Are race clubs “custodians” of their own races or are they merely interim caretakers, and should race clubs have the authority to materially amend their own races?
In my view, the structure of Australian racing is fundamentally flawed. We have:
1. Different clubs running individual tracks. Other clubs are seen as competitors, not colleagues
2. An extraordinarily inefficient and costly structure of independent race clubs and state-based racing authorities
As a consequence, we end up with:
1. No national coordination of race programming. If a race club chooses to move its feature race to a new timeslot, that happens regardless of the timing of interstate racing.
2. Different rules of racing being applied by state, and different penalties being handed down to trainers and jockeys for comparable offences.
3. Differing television and broadcast models.
4. Differing funding models.
5. Clubs attempting to gain an advantage over other race clubs. The fact that The Everest was not discussed with Victorian counterparts is a prime example of this. Race clubs should be working together to counter alternative leisure and gambling activities, not fighting with each other.
The stakeholder that arguably suffers the most from the above is the racegoer and punter.
I accept that I may be overlooking some of the complications, but in my view it is vital that all Australian racing is governed by a single national body.
That body would oversee all aspects of racing, ranging from race programming through to the establishment of a single national code of race rules.
Camberwell (Vic)