MRC proposal for Thousand Guineas and Zipping Classic meetings to close out Spring Carnival

Melbourne Racing Club is keen to move Zipping Classic Day after the rescheduled Thousand Guineas meeting proved a winner.

Military Mission winning the Zipping Classic last month. Picture: Reg Ryan/Racing Photos via Getty Images

Melbourne Racing Club wants back-to-back Caulfield meetings in mid-November to round out the spring carnival.

Last month the Cranbourne Cup meeting was wedged between the Thousand Guineas and Spring Finale (Zipping Classic Day) at Caulfield.

Victoria Racing Club, hosts of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, also wants the Cranbourne timeslot to create a new race day aimed at attracting a younger audience.

The Spring Finale was on December 2 this year.

• Don’t Doubt the comeback galloper at Caulfield

MRC’s application to Racing Victoria could be an attractive proposition on a wagering turnover front with eight stakes races on the Spring Finale card, including the Zipping Classic and Sandown Guineas.

MRC chairman Matt Cain said the Thousand Guineas-Spring Finale meetings back-to-back would be a fitting end to the spring carnival.

“We were really happy with the Caulfield Thousand (Guineas) … the Rupert Clarke I thought was an outstanding race, the double Group 1 (meeting) post Flemington (carnival),” Cain said.

• Monday Racebook: Horses to follow, forgive from Ballarat

“We’d love to keep working on that and bring together the Zipping Classic and Thousand Guineas, it’d be great if we could have them back-to-back from an infrastructure cost perspective.

“But we’re really supportive of expanding the carnival, if we could bookend it, with Memsie (Stakes) at the start of the carnival and close it out with the Spring Finale.

“We need to be consistent going forward with the racing program so those sorts of races can be targeted, three weeks (to Zipping Classic Day) is probably too long for some horses to stay up if they want to come back for the autumn.

“We’ll see what RVL want to do with the programming, the wagering was terrific Thousand Guineas.”

Joliestar won the Thousand Guineas which was held after the Flemington carnival this year. Picture: Scott Barbour/Racing Photos via Getty Images

Under the MRC proposal the Cranbourne and Ballarat Cups would round out November racing window.

The Zipping Classic was traditionally held the week after the Melbourne Cup Carnival before the MRC and RV shuffled the schedule from 2020 for racing to own November.

“You explore these things for two or three years, see what works and what doesn’t and then agree to lock something in,” Cain said.

“We got to find a way to keep it a little bit more sustainable, obviously the 10th race is filling in some of that (wagering downturn) and we can’t go to 12 races.

“People want to back carnival quality races on the premium race tracks, that’s where the wagering turnover is at its highest … at some point you got to close out the season to have a break.”

• Billy Slater and Lees unite for Magic Millions bid

Cain said clashes with interstate (Perth) and international (Japan/HK) must be considered with an expanded Melbourne spring carnival.

“We can’t just extend Melbourne and not think of the implications of the other parts of Australia and their carnivals as well,” Cain said.

“I think it’s a balance, the intention was always if you could extend the carnival, in the clean sporting air, for a couple weeks in November, I think that makes sense, was the Zipping Classic one week later than it should’ve been?

“If the Zipping Classic was the week after the Caulfield Thousand and you close out everything in November, and then December is start of summer racing … does that make a bit more sense?

“I’m only talking a couple days or a week but at some point you have to be able to let the community and racing industry know spring is from mid-September to the end of November, not December.”

Cain’s board will meet at Caulfield on Thursday ahead of a twilight racing meeting – the first of many next year with the opening of The Heath inner circuit.

The strategy session, designed to bring up to speed newly elected board members, will include Caulfield Masterplan updates and a component on Sandown rezoning process.

Originally published as MRC proposal for Thousand Guineas and Zipping Classic meetings to close out Spring Carnival