Jamie Kah suspension latest blow for racing as empty spring carnival looms

The star jockey will miss three months but Melbourne’s three racing clubs all have big financial challenges as they grapple with crowd restrictions amid a continuing Covid lockdown

Jamie Kah won’t appear in the spring carnival after copping a three-month suspension for breaking Covid restrictions (Reg Ryan/Racing Photos via Getty Images)

The three-month suspension of superstar jockey Jamie Kah has heaped more misery on Victorian racing, already facing the bleak prospect of another spring carnival in front of mostly empty grandstands as Covid restrictions continue to bite.

Kah was brought undone by both the tight protocols racing authorities have put in place to ensure racing has kept going during Covid and state government rules, after being found at a Mornington Airbnb with three other jockeys, the highly regarded Ben Melham and Ethan Brown and Celine Gaudray, and two other people after 9pm curfew.

Victorian police were alerted that the quartet had gathered at the coastal property on Wednesday night following noise complaints and fined the six attendees more than $5000 each. Racing authorities were then tipped off and meted out the punishments after a Friday morning stewards hearing, saying the penalties “must be seen to publicly address the seriousness of the offending”.

Giles Thompson, the Racing Victoria chief executive, slammed the jockeys for their “selfish and thoughtless actions” that were “a slap in the face for every member of the racing industry” who has worked hard to ensure the industry has kept operating through 18 months of Covid restrictions.

Incredibly, the suspensions deny racing its biggest star in 25-year-old Kah, who romped away with the Melbourne premiership this year after becoming the first rider in history to have 100 winners, at precisely the wrong time.

Thompson told The Weekend Australian it was “fundamental that we keep racing” and that the industry had been “battle hardened” from having to race an entire spring carnival with no crowds on course. He warned that the Delta variant of Covid “can get away from you quickly,” hence his disappointment.

Kah wrote on social media that she was “deeply embarrassed” and that “there is no excuse for what I have done and I have let down my family and friends, the racing industry and all Victorians who are doing the right thing in this lockdown.”

Kah was to ride favourite Behemoth in the $1m Memsie Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday afternoon, the traditional opener for the spring racing carnival. It is Victorian racing’s time in the spotlight that includes the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and stretches to early November for the biggest of them all in the Melbourne Cup.

But there will be no Kah on Saturday, and just like last year, when Melbourne was at the peak of a long and wearying Covid lockdown, the 40,000-capacity Caulfield will be empty save for jockeys, trainers and some officials.

The sun might shine for some time in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon, but a cloudy spring is increasingly in prospect for Victorian racing and the three racing clubs who operate the major racecourses are hurting.

At Caulfield, Melbourne Racing Club chief executive Josh Blanksby, has been working feverishly on ways to get as many fans as possible to the track for its Caulfield Cup in October including an idea of hosting a fully vaccinated crowd.

Blanksby says the best case scenario for the MRC’s biggest race day of the year is a crowd of 10,000 at most, after racing officials held talks with health authorities this week.

The MRC is also not undertaking its usual $1.5-$2m spend on temporary marquees and other infrastructure as it awaits the state government to lift restrictions on the entire public. The club has a strong portfolio of pubs and clubs to underpin its balance sheet but they are also presently closed and Blanksby says revenue has dipped $80-$100m below pre-Covid levels.

“We probably need a ramp up of one to two weeks so we need to know probably by the end of September and we probably need to be at Stage 2 restrictions where restaurants have reopened and kids are back in school for us to get some crowds,” says Blanksby.

One mitigating factor for the entire industry has been stronger wagering numbers, as punters watch from home and bet on their mobile devices more than ever before.

“We had 30 per cent uplift last year when everyone was at home and yes that flows through to the industry,” says Blanksby. “You probably can’t get that rise again but we’d take the same level at least.”

At Flemington, the home of the Melbourne Cup, Victoria Racing Club chief executive Steve Rosich reflects that he has “time and space” up his sleeve given the Cup Carnival starts on October 30 with Derby Day and Flemington’s huge footprint.

The VRC will begin building some temporary infrastructure next week as Rosich moves towards an announcement next month on what crowds Flemington can expect through the gates. With a capacity of 85-100,000, even a 25 per cent attendance is substantial but the VRC’s business plan depends on big crowds.

Last year’s VRC annual report showed it receiving $58m from catering, dining, hospitality and events mostly during the Carnival pre-Covid. But it had to borrow an extra $25m from the ANZ bank as the cost of an empty Flemington last November hit home.

Rosich says it is too early to reveal the financial impact a less than full course would have on the VRC in 2021.

“We are planning for success and to be able to have a crowd, a substantial crowd for the carnival. We had strong management of our costs last year. This year we are planning to resource our club quite strongly because we have to be ready. This is a major event and we have a responsibility to our members, corporate partners and sponsors to be ready for it.”

Rosich says the club has been buoyed by “incredibly high renewal rates” by VRC members and points out sponsors engage with the club through non-race day promotions and the Ten Network broadcast of the Cup Carnival.

Over at Moonee Valley Racing Club, where the Cox Plate is held before Derby Day, CEO Michael Browell says the time will soon be upon him to have hard conversations with sponsors.

Browell says at best Moonee Valley would likely have 7500 to 10,000 spectators for the Cox Plate. One positive for the MVRC though has been the housing market, with an adjacent $2bn residential project performing strongly.

“It’s been our silver lining,” says Browell. “It‘s gone far beyond our expectations and it is absolutely flying. The fourth stage is going to launch next week.”

Even so, the clubs will all likely do it tough financially this spring. While they survived an unprecedented 2020 with no crowds, they did so on the proviso that it was for probably one year only.

Now they may have to do it all over again, and with Racing Victoria already having provided $50m in emergency funding more could be on the way.