‘Serious’ debt but MRC’s masterplan can proceed without Sandown sale

The Melbourne Racing Club insists it does not have to sell Sandown to fund the next stage of its Caulfield masterplan.

In a recent presentation to MRC members, chairman Matt Cain said there were financial alternatives to ensure the continued redevelopment of Caulfield’s projected $250 million grandstand without the need to demolish Sandown for housing.

But he warned those options would likely burden the club with a balance sheet that would be swimming in red ink.

“We have a lot of ways to fund the development of this grandstand,” he said.

“Now the position that the board will need to take at the appropriate time is how much debt do we want to hold.

“How much debt do we want to absorb and put on our members going forward?

“If we build all of this infrastructure and we don’t realise any value attached to Sandown, that’s a decision we can only make once all these opportunities have been rezoned and we can explore the potential benefits of each of them.

“We do not have to sell Sandown to complete the Caulfield masterplan, but that (completion) will involve a serious amount of debt sitting on our balance sheet.”

A campaign group called Save Our Sandown believes the MRC does have to sell the racetrack to bankroll the remainder of the Caulfield masterplan.

But the MRC has consistently rejected that claim, insisting plans for Caulfield and Sandown are separate and independent issues.

A move to rezone Sandown has started with the process led by Victorian Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny.

The MRC expects the application to be put up for public exhibition by the end of May and a decision on the racetrack’s status will be announced in 12 months.

It comes after the MRC rejected calls for a partial sell-off of Sandown racecourse land in a plan that would have allowed racing to continue in unison with a redevelopment of surrounding land.

An MRC review found that a partial sell-off would impact Sandown’s overall value by as much as $300 million.

A rezoned Sandown fit for development puts its value at upwards of $600 million.

“Financial analysis revealed that redeveloping 50 per cent of Sandown would yield approximately one-third of the returns compared to a full development,” Cain told members.

“The executive commitment committee unanimously agreed that not pursuing a partial redevelopment and instead maintaining Sandown as an asset in its entirety was in the best long-term financial interests of the club.”

Any members’ vote on Sandown’s fate is unlikely to be held until 2025 while the MRC doesn’t expect work to start on a new Caulfield grandstand until 2026 at the earliest.

“What we don’t know at the moment is the timing of our state government planning for that (grandstand) proposal,” Cain said.

“Once we receive that planning we will have an accurate timeline of when we can actually progress with the development of the grandstand.”

Meanwhile, Racing Victoria has been publicly linked to the Sandown debate after former chief executive Andrew Jones’s claim in a media interview just before his departure.

Jones said some proceeds from a Sandown sale would flow into the regulator’s coffers to help fund the construction of a new racing facility on the northwest outskirts of Melbourne.

Cain, in response to a member’s question from the floor, denied a backroom deal with RV had been done if Sandown is closed for racing.

“We are currently working with Racing Victoria to determine as part of their infrastructure blueprint masterplan, the relevance and importance of racing at Sandown,” he said.

“… what the alternatives are should racing cease at Sandown if we and the members choose to sell Sandown or cease racing.

“That may require or could consider a contribution from the racing club to alternative infrastructure that may or may not replace some of the racing at Sandown.

“(But) there is no definitive amount of money promised to Racing Victoria.

Cain said Racing Victoria has an agreement to work in the “best interests of the racing industry and our members to ensure the best outcome”

“That’s as far as it goes. The reports, the numbers, they’re false. They’re not privy to the information to the communication we have with Racing Victoria.

“Andrew Jones has (had) nothing to do with the decisions the Melbourne Racing Club the members make.

“If (RV) build a wonderful new racetrack out there and it’s got relevance to the members’ of the Melbourne Racing Club and we think it’s important … we’d happily engage.”

“There is no definitive amount of money promised to Racing Victoria” – Matt Cain

Sandown’s Hillside and Lakeside tracks are lauded throughout the Victorian for offering fair racing despite shouldering a bulk of the metropolitan midweek load.

However, the MRC says it won’t use the racecourse to host Saturday racing because its membership was reluctant to support it.

“We love Sandown. We spent $6 million on Sandown when we moved the Caulfield summer racing carnival (last year). There was one big problem, you guys didn’t show up,” he told the forum.

“Fifty-two per cent of the membership group who attended Caulfield on the comparative race meetings didn’t show up. That’s what disappointed us.

“We had multiple Group 1 races there last year … we did our absolute best to market Sandown the same way we do Caulfield and the members didn’t show up.

“That’s the situation we are dealing with. Give us a reason to have 5000, 10,000 members on a Saturday raceday and we can go back to Racing Victoria and get better races.”

“We love Sandown. We spent $6 million on Sandown when we moved the Caulfield summer racing carnival (last year). There was one big problem, you guys didn’t show up,” – Matt Cain to members

The first stage of the Caulfield redevelopment masterplan, first announced in 2019, was unveiled in February at a cost of $64 million.

Two meetings have been held on Heath track and it has generally been well received.

However, some of the infrastructure upgrades, which include a new mounting yard and parade ring, new jockeys’ rooms, and horse stalls designed to improve public viewing, have drawn criticism.

In particular, there have been complaints about a lack of space in the jockeys’ room.

“I can confirm that we’re looking at reconfiguring the space containing our respective jockeys’ rooms based on feedback from riders across the handful of meetings we’ve conducted in the new facilities,” the MRC’s executive director of racing and operations Jake Norton told The Straight.

Members’ access to the mounting yard has been changed since the first Caulfield Heath meeting in March.

Norton says each stage of the redevelopment process was planned to complement each other.

“The infrastructure delivered or set to be in each of the phases is designed to interact to provide a contemporary racing experience with world-class facilities, improved viewing and modern amenities for the club’s members, participants, owners and punters,” he said.

MRC vote blindsides Sandown campaigners

The Melbourne Racing Club board’s decision to turn its back on a partial sale of Sandown has been met with surprise by an action group that wants to retain thoroughbred racing at the track.

The StraightWarwick Barr

“Until that comes to completion, we will continue to seek areas of improvement within the current grandstand to enhance the experience of members and patrons. The club will notify members of the proposed changes as soon as these are confirmed.

“The club has already sought feedback through surveys and meetings on what members want to see in facilities at Caulfield. This feedback has been factored into the design of a new ‘grand pavilion’ and we will continue to seek feedback from members.”

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