State presses paws on royal show

The cancellation of the Royal Melbourne Show has triggered fresh doubts over the Spring Racing Carnival.

Ashlee Houlden with her border collie show dogs Sham and 12-week-old Kylo. Picture: Picture: Stuart McEvoy

The cancellation of the Royal Melbourne Show has dealt a $250m blow to Victoria’s economy, and has triggered fresh doubts over the Spring Racing Carnival.

With mass gathering restrictions introduced to combat the spread of the coronavirus set to be reviewed federally next month, any decision on the state’s 2020 racing calendar has been deferred until at least June.

The Royal Melbourne Show, run by the Royal Agricultural ­Society of Victoria, was scheduled for September and injects some $244m into the state’s economy.

RASV chief executive Brad Jenkins said the cancellation was devastating for thousands of volunteers, staff and stakeholders who spend months preparing for the event.

“We’re different from other events. We can’t pop up again in a month or two months,” he said. “Roughly 10,000 animals come on site [and] there’s an extraordinary amount of time ­involved.”

The Royal Melbourne Show ­attracts 450,000 visitors, and its cancellation comes after the Royal Adelaide Show was spiked on April 14 because of similar concerns around the pandemic.

The Sydney Easter Show was cancelled on March 13 in response to Scott Morrison’s direction that mass gatherings be called off.

Pukawidgee Kennels owner Ashlee Houlden’s border collie supreme champion pukawidgee Name of the Wind, better known as Sham, won best-in-show at the Royal Melbourne Show last year.

She said she was disappointed by the decision after spending months preparing to compete, but agreed cancelling early was the right call.

“It’s better to know ahead of time rather than leave it until ­people have spent money on flights and accommodation to come to Melbourne,” she said.

Meanwhile, the state’s spring racing calendar — which includes the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup — has been delayed because of uncertainty around mass gatherings.

A Racing Victoria spokes­woman said no final decisions had been made because of the uncertainty around crowds, which were ­currently banned from attending race meetings. “The programming decisions we make … around the 2020 Spring Racing Carnival will ultimately take into consideration a range of matters including the likely COVID-19 restrictions, whether crowds are permitted or not, broadcast arrangements, wagering considerations and the events calendar,” she said.