Chief Stipe Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 Inside the 'super club' merger Paul Tatnell@PaulTatnell12:15pm Neil Bainbridge. Picture: Racing Photos An improved club funding deal, commitments to capital work projects and up to 61 meetings a year with a focus on premium racing are some of the key components that Melbourne’s new “super club” has secured from Racing Victoria. Cranbourne and Pakenham race clubs agreed to a merger this week after months of talks with the support of RV. Cranbourne CEO Neil Bainbridge told racing.com the full details of the merger proposal will be presented to the combined 700 members from Cranbourne and Pakenham, with a vote ideally held in December. A working group is now discussing new names for the “super club” which combines two of Australia’s largest training centres. Bainbridge said it was the new club’s ambition to achieve metropolitan status, but “talks remain ongoing”. The merger comes as some at Racing Victoria believe Melbourne’s three metropolitan clubs should actively consider merging or at the very least slash costs across shared services. The issue is expected the be raised in the next 12 months as RV and the clubs negotiate a new round of club funding deals. RICH DEAL FOR MEMBERS Bainbridge confirmed the new club had negotiated its own funding deal with RV, but would not elaborate on the details, but said it would only enhance his member’s view that the deal was worth supporting. He also confirmed RV had committed its financial support to several capital projects across Cranbourne and Pakenham facilities, with details to be revealed in coming weeks. “Our view is that we've outgrown the country funding model and we'll work with Racing Victoria to deliver a funding model to Cranbourne and Pakenham that allows us to achieve what it needs to achieve,” he said. “We are looking for is opportunities to work with Racing Victoria to continue to invest in capital at training and the racecourse and also to ensure that we have an agreed funding model that makes sure that we maintain our assets, in our facilities, that have got enormous workload, enormous workload, not only 61 meetings but 1500 horses in work,” he said. “So there's a model that's been agreed to. So when the clubs are no longer with Country Racing, where the clubs are funded through a country racing model, there's now an agreed funding mechanism in place for the new super club to go forward as a club that reports directly into Racing Victoria. “So yes, there's been an agreed funding model to support this club and to give it every success to succeed. But we're also under no illusion that there's great expectation on this club to deliver some pretty significant outcomes.” Bainbridge said RV, in the merger process, had agreed to a number of projects. “So there is a number of exciting capital projects that have been planned by both clubs for a period of time that RV have in principally agreed to, but may be accelerated through this process. So what we're going to see through this process is the delivery of improved racing facilities, improved member facilities and improved training facilities,” he said. “So yes, there's been some projects that have been agreed to and there's been a funding agreement that supports that.” CLUB NAME A new name for the “super club” will be decided in weeks. Bainbridge said ideally the name would reflect the club’s size and reach, but acknowledge its location and history. “So there's a working party of the proposed new committee, five from each [Cranbourne and Pakenham] … and it's a great challenge because I think what we want to be mindful is we want to respect and honour the past and the history which is so rich at Cranbourne and at Pakenham,” he said. “But we also need to understand that we need to move forward and this is going to be a reasonably large entity in the southeast. I don't know what the answer is yet, but I think it needs to recognize a little bit of the past but also needs to embrace the future and what it's trying to do in the southeast and that is to cover a reasonably large geographical area. So that's exciting.” INCREASED PREMIUM RACING The new club is already working with RV for a greater presence to show case “premium racing”. Bainbridge told racing.com that the club wants to host quality racing between November and January. “Pakenham is probably, arguably, the best racetrack in Australia. So, I think it has the opportunity to not only conduct more meetings, but conduct meetings at a higher standard as well. And Cranbourne has been very successful on a Friday night with Mooney Valley and we'd be looking to enhance that product as well,” he said. “We'll be able to leverage the power of what will be a pretty big club in the scheme of things in Victorian racing. We need to make sure that we deliver two outstanding Cup dates, feature dates that we can engage with the community. I'm a big believer that we need to fly our flag in Spring. The most important months for a club to fly their flag in my view is November, December and January and ideally October if you can. And that's important not only for generating revenue, but that's important for generating engagement in the community.” NEW ‘FANS’ Bainbridge said with a population boom in Melbourne’s south-east, the new club is perfectly poised to tap into the community to grow racing. “In many ways we've grown out of country, the landscape that we operate in has changed significantly. Now with the way the population's going, the city of Casey is the biggest [municipal] population in Victoria. So there's a great opportunity for us to drive through a lot of initiatives, work more closely with the community,” he said. MEMBERS ‘WIN’ Both the Cranbourne and Pakenham board believe that new funding and capital commitments aside, members will win from increased access to racing. “Both clubs are outstanding clubs in their own right, let's be fair, with outstanding facilities. But I think we can be better together, we can be stronger together and for our membership, significant opportunities for our members, the increased racing product, 61 times a year, two great facilities, the clubs will continue to invest in member facilities, racecourses,” Bainbridge said. TRAINER FLEXBILITY The new club will initially restrict trainers to their current home track, but through time will explore the ability for operators to use other facilities should weather, conditions or workloads have an impact. There is also the possibility of Cranbourne trainers accessing Pakenham jumpouts, and vice-versa. “I think for our trainers as well, the ability for this club to grow and prosper and to contribute and fund increase upgrades at training. Now this is a club that'll race on only 61 times, but it'll have 1500 horses in work on a daily basis. It'll produce a third of the state’s starters,” Bainbridge said. “There's no question that if a certain track's been renovated or if it's got some drainage works or weather's being poor, that we'll look to provide opportunities for trainers at both tracks to allow them to get their horses in the best possible condition. “And whether or not there's an opportunity for trainers to move through the two venues is something we'll explore. But we're pretty clear at the moment that both tracks probably have some capacity issues and we need to be mindful of that as well. But you would like to think at some stage that a set of jump outs or a set of trials at one track might have the ability to be a bit more flexible into the future. But we're mindful that at Cranbourne, whilst there's four grass tracks at the moment, there's significant horse population, significant use and a couple of those tracks that are going to go under some renovation periods as well. But I think there is some opportunities.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
An improved club funding deal, commitments to capital work projects and up to 61 meetings a year with a focus on premium racing are some of the key components that Melbourne’s new “super club” has secured from Racing Victoria. Cranbourne and Pakenham race clubs agreed to a merger this week after months of talks with the support of RV. Cranbourne CEO Neil Bainbridge told racing.com the full details of the merger proposal will be presented to the combined 700 members from Cranbourne and Pakenham, with a vote ideally held in December. A working group is now discussing new names for the “super club” which combines two of Australia’s largest training centres. Bainbridge said it was the new club’s ambition to achieve metropolitan status, but “talks remain ongoing”. The merger comes as some at Racing Victoria believe Melbourne’s three metropolitan clubs should actively consider merging or at the very least slash costs across shared services. The issue is expected the be raised in the next 12 months as RV and the clubs negotiate a new round of club funding deals. RICH DEAL FOR MEMBERS Bainbridge confirmed the new club had negotiated its own funding deal with RV, but would not elaborate on the details, but said it would only enhance his member’s view that the deal was worth supporting. He also confirmed RV had committed its financial support to several capital projects across Cranbourne and Pakenham facilities, with details to be revealed in coming weeks. “Our view is that we've outgrown the country funding model and we'll work with Racing Victoria to deliver a funding model to Cranbourne and Pakenham that allows us to achieve what it needs to achieve,” he said. “We are looking for is opportunities to work with Racing Victoria to continue to invest in capital at training and the racecourse and also to ensure that we have an agreed funding model that makes sure that we maintain our assets, in our facilities, that have got enormous workload, enormous workload, not only 61 meetings but 1500 horses in work,” he said. “So there's a model that's been agreed to. So when the clubs are no longer with Country Racing, where the clubs are funded through a country racing model, there's now an agreed funding mechanism in place for the new super club to go forward as a club that reports directly into Racing Victoria. “So yes, there's been an agreed funding model to support this club and to give it every success to succeed. But we're also under no illusion that there's great expectation on this club to deliver some pretty significant outcomes.” Bainbridge said RV, in the merger process, had agreed to a number of projects. “So there is a number of exciting capital projects that have been planned by both clubs for a period of time that RV have in principally agreed to, but may be accelerated through this process. So what we're going to see through this process is the delivery of improved racing facilities, improved member facilities and improved training facilities,” he said. “So yes, there's been some projects that have been agreed to and there's been a funding agreement that supports that.” CLUB NAME A new name for the “super club” will be decided in weeks. Bainbridge said ideally the name would reflect the club’s size and reach, but acknowledge its location and history. “So there's a working party of the proposed new committee, five from each [Cranbourne and Pakenham] … and it's a great challenge because I think what we want to be mindful is we want to respect and honour the past and the history which is so rich at Cranbourne and at Pakenham,” he said. “But we also need to understand that we need to move forward and this is going to be a reasonably large entity in the southeast. I don't know what the answer is yet, but I think it needs to recognize a little bit of the past but also needs to embrace the future and what it's trying to do in the southeast and that is to cover a reasonably large geographical area. So that's exciting.” INCREASED PREMIUM RACING The new club is already working with RV for a greater presence to show case “premium racing”. Bainbridge told racing.com that the club wants to host quality racing between November and January. “Pakenham is probably, arguably, the best racetrack in Australia. So, I think it has the opportunity to not only conduct more meetings, but conduct meetings at a higher standard as well. And Cranbourne has been very successful on a Friday night with Mooney Valley and we'd be looking to enhance that product as well,” he said. “We'll be able to leverage the power of what will be a pretty big club in the scheme of things in Victorian racing. We need to make sure that we deliver two outstanding Cup dates, feature dates that we can engage with the community. I'm a big believer that we need to fly our flag in Spring. The most important months for a club to fly their flag in my view is November, December and January and ideally October if you can. And that's important not only for generating revenue, but that's important for generating engagement in the community.” NEW ‘FANS’ Bainbridge said with a population boom in Melbourne’s south-east, the new club is perfectly poised to tap into the community to grow racing. “In many ways we've grown out of country, the landscape that we operate in has changed significantly. Now with the way the population's going, the city of Casey is the biggest [municipal] population in Victoria. So there's a great opportunity for us to drive through a lot of initiatives, work more closely with the community,” he said. MEMBERS ‘WIN’ Both the Cranbourne and Pakenham board believe that new funding and capital commitments aside, members will win from increased access to racing. “Both clubs are outstanding clubs in their own right, let's be fair, with outstanding facilities. But I think we can be better together, we can be stronger together and for our membership, significant opportunities for our members, the increased racing product, 61 times a year, two great facilities, the clubs will continue to invest in member facilities, racecourses,” Bainbridge said. TRAINER FLEXBILITY The new club will initially restrict trainers to their current home track, but through time will explore the ability for operators to use other facilities should weather, conditions or workloads have an impact. There is also the possibility of Cranbourne trainers accessing Pakenham jumpouts, and vice-versa. “I think for our trainers as well, the ability for this club to grow and prosper and to contribute and fund increase upgrades at training. Now this is a club that'll race on only 61 times, but it'll have 1500 horses in work on a daily basis. It'll produce a third of the state’s starters,” Bainbridge said. “There's no question that if a certain track's been renovated or if it's got some drainage works or weather's being poor, that we'll look to provide opportunities for trainers at both tracks to allow them to get their horses in the best possible condition. “And whether or not there's an opportunity for trainers to move through the two venues is something we'll explore. But we're pretty clear at the moment that both tracks probably have some capacity issues and we need to be mindful of that as well. But you would like to think at some stage that a set of jump outs or a set of trials at one track might have the ability to be a bit more flexible into the future. But we're mindful that at Cranbourne, whilst there's four grass tracks at the moment, there's significant horse population, significant use and a couple of those tracks that are going to go under some renovation periods as well. But I think there is some opportunities.”
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.