Share costs and members, merge or die? That’s the question around Victorian racing circles these days, amid renewed talk of a merger of Melbourne’s three major racing clubs.
Not that any formal proposal has been floated. The failure of Peter V’landys to convince members of Sydney’s Australian Turf Club to vote for the sale of the city’s Rosehill racecourse has highlighted the danger of ambushing club members – and the broader racing industry – with a firm proposal before doing plenty of quiet background ahead of time.
Convince major stakeholders first, get them to help bring along the members, and then float a firm proposal would be the smarter plan.
Very few people believe Melbourne’s three biggest racing clubs would ever agree to a merger, given the historic rivalry and self-interest at the Victorian Racing Club (which runs Flemington), the Melbourne Racing Club (Caulfield and Sandown) and Moonee Valley.
But there’s a bit of evidence the quiet work is underway.
Racing Victoria has long been an advocate for the three clubs sharing back-end services – it commissioned EY to look at the issue in a report said to have identified potential savings of $10m-$15m across the clubs if put in place.
RV supported the merger of Cranbourne Turf Club and Pakenham Racing Club in 2023, and Racing Victoria CEO Aaron Morrison has been back talking up the benefits of sharing services in the racing media.
And then there’s the clubs themselves, all working through their own separate rescue plans.
The VRC is still dealing with heavy debts dating back to the Covid pandemic shutdowns. Moonee Valley is due to close down for a couple of years after October’s Cox Plate in order to redevelop its track and grandstand for housing as part of its financial rescue plan.
And the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) fought out an acrimonious board takeover led by now-chairman John Kanga, before land sales helped address its own debt problems.
Kanga has been keen to publicly talk up the benefits of shared memberships between the clubs – over and above the patchwork of reciprocal rights that currently exist. The cynics say that’s as much about poaching Moonee Valley’s members during the club’s racing hiatus as anything else, but why wouldn’t you make the play?
Plenty in the racing industry think there’s more to the idea than that. While there’s no formal plan in the wings, multiple sources tell Margin Call that Kanga has been heard telling owners and key stakeholders at VRC events he can’t believe Victoria Racing Club chairman Neil Wilson hasn’t already been pushing the idea.
When Margin Call hit the phones on Monday to canvas the prospect of a merger, nobody was prepared to say they were talking up the proposal. But, strangely enough, most were more than happy to say they thought it would be a good idea.
To be fair, self-interest and club rivalries have always won out in the past. The last serious attempt was run by former Racing Victoria chairman David Moonie back in 2016, but the proposal was scuttled by the inclusion of a plan to shutter Moonee Valley and sell off the land. Few believe any return to the idea will be successful.
In the meantime, no doubt the quiet background work will keep getting done.
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