Trainer Grahame Begg slams design and placement of Caulfield mounting yard

Cranbourne trainer Grahame Begg has come out swinging about the design and placement of the new mounting yard at Caulfield, which has quickly become a central part of the Melbourne Racing Club’s boardroom war.

Multiple Group 1-winning Grahame Begg says anyone involved in the approval of the controversial Caulfield mounting yard should not be on any committee, let alone a racing club board.

The Caulfield mounting yard, which was opened early this year, has emerged as one of the key battlegrounds on which the Melbourne Racing Club’s latest committee war has erupted in recent days.

Businessman and racehorse owner John Kanga has moved a motion to replace several MRC committee members over several serious issues, including the Caulfield mounting yard.

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Cranbourne-based Begg slammed the design and location of the Caulfield mounting yard, now located at the end of the course’s main grandstand, about 150m from the winning post.

“Anyone in their right mind who ticked that off, they shouldn’t be on any committee or anything,” Begg said.

“It’s unbelievable to think that it was ticked off.

“I just can’t understand how they could have thought it was a good idea.

“No wonder the chairman has stepped down and it’s no wonder the CEO finishes this week.

“That’s telling on its own.”

The new Caulfield mounting yard has drawn criticism from many corners of the industry in recent months. Picture: Getty Images

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Begg said the new mounting yard hampered the ownership experience but worse was to come when the summer sun shone over the area, which has little shelter from the elements for owners.

“The design, its location, owner engagement – these are all the factors,” Begg said.

“Owners have to walk down there, walk back to watch the race then walk back down to the mounting yard to hear the jockey.

“They lose that engagement with the jockey and that’s why they own horses, especially the big syndicates.

“That has all been lost in the scheme of things.”

General admission punters look down on the horses and jockeys in the new Caulfield mounting yard. Picture: Getty Images

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Begg added the mounting yard, which slopes down away from the track to join with the underground horse stalls behind the grandstand was dangerous for jockeys attempting to mount horses.

Flemington trainer Wayne Hawkes said Caulfield’s race day stalls were a vast improvement on the previous facilities but the mounting yard should have been differently designed.

“Would I have done it that way? No,” Hawkes said.

“What I would have done is make it like Moonee Valley and Randwick with the tiered steps around it.

“But the thing is, is it blocked off like it is because of a new grandstand? Is it built like that for that reason? I don’t know.”

Champion trainer Peter Moody said he was unsure whether the mounting yard needed to be sloped away from the track.

“Doing anything on a slope has got a bigger danger than anything. In an ideal world, you’d like a nice flat parade ring but I don’t really want to buy into it,” Moody said.

The Melbourne Racing Club had previously conceded the new jockeys’ room at Caulfield was too small for the riders.

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On Thursday, the Australian Trainers’ Association (ATA) issued a statement in support of Mr Kanga’s Save Our MRC agenda, which includes moving the mounting yard back to its original position, scrapping plans to build a new grandstand and retaining racing at Sandown.

“Whilst the ATA historical likes to distant itself from boardroom politics, we find this matter of significant importance,” ATA CEO Stephen Bell said.

“The Save Our MRC Group concerns align with those held by the ATA and its member base.

We need to ensure racing remains at Sandown and the Caulfield issues are resolved immediately.

“Trainers need to be proactive and get all their owners and friends that are MRC members to vote in favour of the Save Our MRC Group at the forthcoming Special General Meeting of members.”

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The Victorian Jockeys’ Association (VJA), on the other hand, was happy to let the debate rage elsewhere.

“We’ll just leave the politics of it all to the MRC,” VJA chief executive Matt Hyland said.

Originally published as Trainer Grahame Begg slams design and placement of Caulfield mounting yard