Caulfield’s upgrade cost $160m. Now they’re renovating because the jockeys’ room is too small

A purpose-built dressing room for male jockeys at Caulfield Racecourse is being renovated only three months after it was unveiled, after Melbourne Racing Club admitted it was too small to accommodate riders on busy race days.

But the MRC hit back at outspoken race caller Terry Bailey for “slagging ... off” the $160 million Caulfield redevelopment without seeing it, and said plans to re-size the jockeys’ room showed the club was prepared to listen to constructive feedback.

Bailey used his industry-funded platform on Racing.com, Tuesdays With Terry, to launch a blistering attack on the new precinct, and doubled down on his criticism when he was contacted by this masthead.

“I haven’t been to Caulfield as yet to see the facilities, but I’ve had that many people come up to me, complaining about it – trainers, everyone, the public,” Bailey said.

“I went to Mornington yesterday. I had that many people say, ‘Good on you, Terry, we were all cheering when you said it on television because it’s a disgrace’. That’s what they all told me.

“I am going off feedback, not just from 10 people, 20 people, I’m even going off feedback from officials – when it comes to how it’s been built and how it’s been done.”

Caufield’s new-look mounting yard was unveiled in February.Credit: Getty Images

Caulfield’s new $64 million mounting yard area, unveiled at the end of February, is linked to horse day stalls by an underground tunnel, and includes jockeys’ rooms for men and women, complete with a sauna and spa. There is also a trainers’ lounge, a stewards’ inquiry room, a new winners’ bar and two TV studios to support race-day broadcasting.

The owners’ area is incorporated into the mounting yard and is designed to hold up to 900 connections before a race – the largest in the southern hemisphere.

However, critics of the $160 million redevelopment, which also includes an inner track and subterranean day stalls, say the mounting yard is built on a slope and too far away from the members’ grandstand.

MRC executive director of racing and operations Jake Norton, who is overseeing the renovation of the jockeys’ room, said the club understood that “what we have delivered isn’t perfect for everyone”.

An underground tunnel now links the mounting yard at Caulfield Racecourse to the horse day stalls.Credit: Getty Images

“It is probably more helpful if criticism is constructive, rather than just slagging things off without any great detail or constructive feel to it,” Norton said of Bailey’s comments.

“But there is no point getting upset about that sort of thing. He is paid to have an opinion, and he’s done that.

“Obviously, our preference would be for him to have that with a qualified position. But, yeah, he can come and check it out at a time convenient to him. I don’t think we need to make specific invitations.”

Bailey doubts he will change his mind when he inspects the new-look Caulfield.

“No, I have got punters, who are friends, who go out there, and I trust their judgment,” he said.

Norton said the racing club was working with stakeholders to improve the jockeys’ room.

“The males’ room is considered too small [on a busy race day],” he said.

“It was delivered to a brief ... but I guess what’s on a floor plan is different to when you walk into it, and while we were all pretty pleased and excited to showcase what we have created, the feedback was that it was too small for a large number to operate as they would like to.

The old mounting yard at Caulfield; and (top) artwork of the redevelopment.Credit: Getty Images/Supplied

“We asked as many questions as we could around the amount of lockers and spacial requirements and things like that, and our team delivered on what had been briefed in. But again, you are looking at something on a floor plan that has all the amenities that you need, but until it is actual reality and you walk into it, I suppose it can be difficult to line up.”

Victorian Jockeys’ Association chief executive officer Matthew Hyland said there was no timeline on the completion of a refitted jockeys’ room at Caulfield.

“We are working with the MRC to create a bigger space, and we are all on the same page,” Hyland said. “There is no argument about it. We are working together.”

But Bailey said on his Racing.com program last week: “I can’t understand how we could get this so wrong.

“I have heard people say, and I have nothing against the Melbourne Racing Club, I love clubs that are advanced and push on, so it is not a knock, but they are more interested in the property development than they are actually in racing.”

The criticism comes after MRC chief executive officer Josh Blanksby told the club’s board last week that he was standing down at the end of August after seven years in the role.

The MRC is now looking at phase two of its masterplan, which includes demolishing the glass-fronted Rupert Clarke Grandstand, and continues to explore the possibility of selling its 112-hectare Sandown Racecourse site for housing development.

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