Racing Victoria Announce Jumps Racing Review

[Chief Stipe]

RV announces jumps racing review

www.racing.com

Racing Victoria has announced it will conduct a full-scale review into the jumps racing industry.

Led by the newly-formed Jumps Review Group, the review started this week and will take a broad-scale look into a variety of aspects of the sport, including the future viability of jumps racing.

Former Supreme Court Judge and former Victorian Racing Integrity Board Chair Justice Jack Forrest will join the JRG as an independent member, with the Group chaired by RV's Executive General Manager - Integrity Jamie Stier.

The JRG will pass its recommendations to the RV executive by the end of November, and the RV executive will then provide the report and recommendations to the RV board for a decision by the end of December.

RV said the JRG will also take submissions from all parties as part of the process.

The wide-ranging review will see the JRG investigate and consider the following:

• Findings of the Jumps Review Panel from the 2024 season;
• Applicability of any broader equine welfare research, findings or data to inform jumps fatalities and jumps injuries to participants and horses:
• Analysis of trends relating to starters, field sizes, wagering and industry participation rates;
• Review of club and track infrastructure, including analysis on future durability of racecourses and availability of racecourses (including transfer of meetings) for jumps racing;
• Analysis of optimum track rating and achievable track rating;
• Analysis of horse engagement and longevity, and additional career opportunities provided by jumps racing;
• Analysis of the contribution to track riding ranks of jumps jockeys;
• Analysis of the financial performance of the jumps industry for participants. clubs and the Victorian Thoroughbred Racing Industry (VTRI);
• Analysis of community participation and attendance at jumps racing events and broader economic benefit of jumps racing:
• Analysis of available research or reporting on the level of community acceptance of jumps racing and its impact on the broader appeal of thoroughbred racing; and
• Any analysis, research, resources that the JRG considers necessary to complete its report and recommendations.

RV chairman Tim Eddy described the safety record across the 2024 jumps season as 'unacceptable'.

"The events of the final meeting at Ballarat were heartbreaking for all involved in the Victorian jumps racing community," Eddy said.

"Many people have worked incredibly hard to make the sport as safe as it can be and had achieved marked improvement across the 14 years prior to this season when we took a backwards step.

"To that end, in addition to the work done annually by the Jumps Review Panel, the Board has commissioned a wider review to be led by Jamie Stier that will take a detailed look at all elements of jumps racing in Victoria.

"The Jumps Review Group has been asked to consider, among other things, participation rates, industry support, community attitudes, financial returns, the safety record of the sport and the measures in place to promote safe racing.

"This thorough review has commenced this week and its outcomes will be informed by the process with no outcome off the table at this time."

Any parties wishing to make a submission for the JRG to consider as part of its review, must do so by Thursday, 24 October via jumpsreviewsubmission@racingvictoria.net.au.

[Murray Fish]

which way is the sun setting?

Meanwhile, a interesting background into current AU Clubs..
"

Straight Up – Clubland, politics and chaos

By Bren O'Brien - September 26, 2024

You might recall earlier in the year we wrote a story about the perilous state of the balance sheets of Australia’s biggest racing clubs.

The corporate betting revolution of the past 10 years has essentially enriched PRAs, while leaving race clubs searching for alternative business models.

The Melbourne Racing Club annual report released this week showed that less than half its revenue is derived directly from its racing activities. For the Brisbane Racing Club that number is around 61 per cent. On a pure revenue versus expenses basis, racing, taken as its own commercial activity, loses money for both of those clubs.

One club official recently said that when you consider that racing represented just 6.5 per cent in terms of the usage of their venue, it took up a lot of their bandwidth as a business.

Then there is the politics. Race clubs have always been political, but there seems to be a peak in the level of upheaval, either at executive or board level, in the past 12 months.

The Australian Turf Club has been the most public of these as it considers the proposal to essentially close and sell off Rosehill. This has caused a massive reaction from the membership, and a split in the board on a few key aspects, including on the potential valuation of the project. It has also put the future of chairman Peter McGauran under sharp focus.

The $1.6 billion question

ATC board fractured on current and potential Rosehill valuation

Read

Then we have the Melbourne Racing Club. The resignation of CEO Josh Blanksby was just the tip of the iceberg as the club committee has been fractured over the past couple of months. Three board members have campaigned, albeit unsuccessfully, for a spill of the board, while legal letters have rained like confetti.

With an AGM scheduled for Thursday night, Matt Cain leaves the chairmanship. He spoke to The Straight’s Warwick Barr about the key issues the MRC is facing.

Boardrooms, ballots and potential legal bunfights

The battle for power at the MRC

Read

The Brisbane Racing Club’s election is not expected to be as heated, but it will be competitive with two new candidates battling with three existing board members for three vacant seats.

The sudden departure of CEO Tony Partridge in July raised some questions, while there is set to be a change of chairmanship next year with Neville Bell in line to retire after a long-term on the board.

All of this when the BRC Masterplan, which has involved significant construction around Eagle Farm and Doomben, is at a crucial point of its development.

Meanwhile the new CEO of the Victoria Racing Club, Kylie Rogers, has been doing the media rounds ahead of the spring carnival and penned an impassioned letter to the members this week.

PRAs are far from immune from politics. In the latest development from the Rosehill inquiry, Racing NSW has been in the middle of discussions in NSW parliament this week, with a submission by the regulator referred to the parliamentary privileges committee for possible contempt.

 

 

 

Bren O’Brien

Managing Editor and Founder

The Straight