Oakbank Racing Club members to vote for new committee

Oakbank Racing Club members will vote for a new committee at a special meeting next week – and some prominent SA faces have put their names forward.

Oakbank Racing Club members will vote for a new committee at a special meeting next week.

Its existing committee has agreed to stand down to settle Supreme Court action taken by members opposed to its decision to support a ban on jumps racing.

Life members Frances Nelson QC and John Glatz are part of a group that wants to oust the committee and replace it with members who support jumps racing.

Ms Nelson is the current presiding member of the Parole Board, while former Oakbank chairman Glatz made headlines in 2019 after being severely burned in the Cudlee Creek bushfire.

They will be opposed by chairwoman Arabella Branson – a prominent commercial lawyer – and the existing committee, most of whom intend to seek re-election.

Members of the existing committee include radio broadcaster and former squash champion Chris Dittmar, racing form analyst James Jordan, commercial law firm owner Barney Gask and former Australian Hotel Association SA chief executive John Lewis.

Frances Nelson and John Glatz at Oakbank Racing Club in 2021. Picture: Matt Turner.

Oakbank Racing Club chairwoman Arabella Branson and SA Governor Frances Adamson AC at the Oakbank Carnival earlier this year. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Also seeking election Ms Nelson’s daughter Roma Williams, SA Jumps Racing Association deputy chairman Mark Angus, trainer John O’Connor and Oakbank members Joe Cannizaro and Kym Floyd.

Ms Branson said the special general meeting on Friday was crucial to the 146-year-old club’s future.

“Members have a choice – vote for the future without jumps racing or live in the past,” she said.

Property Council of Australia SA executive director Daniel Gannon. Picture: AAP Image/Sam Wundke

Ms Branson said she believed her committee had the “skills and passion to deliver a club that is more appealing to more people and in more ways”.

“We have a vision for a bright and vibrant club that combines the best traditions of Oakbank with new and exciting events and initiatives,” she said.

Ms Branson said while jumps racing had been an important part of Oakbank’s history, it was “very clearly not the only reason for our uniqueness or past successes”.

“We know that Oakbank has a very bright future without jumps,” she said.