Damien Oliver called in to assess tracks as MRC rejects jockey concerns over Caulfield

Former champion jockey Damien Oliver will act as an independent track assessor for the remainder of the Victorian spring carnival despite the Melbourne Racing Club claiming the running rail shift during Caulfield’s Underwood Stakes meeting was unnecessary and driven by a misunderstanding of routine turf repairs.

Oliver will inspect the racing surface alongside track managers the day before each major meeting, and refer any concerns he identifies directly to Racing Victoria (RV) stewards for assessment before racing.

After urgent talks with senior RV management, the initiative will begin ahead of Sunday’s Manikato Stakes meeting at Caulfield and continue through the Caulfield Cup carnival and into feature meetings at Sandown later in the spring.

Oliver’s evaluation will also be called on for the Victoria Racing Club’s hosting of the Cox Plate and its four-day Melbourne Cup carnival, according to an MRC statement.

It follows a review of last Saturday’s Underwood Stakes meeting, when the inside rail was moved from seven metres to 11 metres shortly before the opening race after jockeys raised concerns about turf plugs near the fence.

RV chief steward Rob Montgomery ordered the move after riders inspected the track, saying there was divoting in the area and that some remedial work had not taken hold.

The MRC had initially described the rail shift as a precautionary measure after several plugs appeared uneven or loose, but its subsequent review has reached a markedly different conclusion.

MRC chief executive Tanya Fullarton said the jockeys had fundamentally misunderstood the purpose and behaviour of the plugs used to repair sections of the track.

“The jockeys clearly did not understand how turf plugs work,” Fullarton said.

“The jockeys’ claim that being able to pull the tops off the plugs somehow showed that the track was unsafe is nonsense.”

The club maintains that the plugs were installed according to a method it has used for more than 25 years and that their ability to be removed by hand does not indicate a failure of the repair.

“Our review found no safety issue with the Caulfield racing surface,” Fullarton said.

“The turf plugs were correctly installed, the track as presented was safe for racing and the rail did not need to be moved.”

Fullarton said the presence of the same plugs elsewhere on the course, including sections subsequently raced on, further supported the club’s position that the surface presented no safety risk.

“Dozens of exactly the same turf plugs remained on other sections of the track that continued to be raced on after the rail movement, with no issues for jockeys and horses,” she said.

Fullarton said the plugs could remain physically removable for up to two weeks while their roots established within the surrounding turf profile, without preventing horses from safely galloping over them.

“This has been standard practice for over 25 years and is not a problem – they remain in place while horses gallop over them, with no risk to jockeys or horses,” she said.

The MRC has not criticised the stewards for acting on the riders’ concerns, instead arguing the circumstances left officials with insufficient time to establish whether the apparent problem represented a genuine safety issue.

“The stewards were placed in an extremely difficult position, with concerns raised by jockeys less than an hour before the first race,” Fullarton said.

“With the limited time available, they were unable to properly consult with our track team about the purpose, installation and condition of the plugs before making the incorrect decision to move the rail.”

The decision to involve Oliver is intended to provide an independent assessment from someone with direct experience of riding at the highest level, while separating technical track maintenance questions from the race-day pressure of determining whether horses and jockeys can safely compete.

Oliver, a three-time Melbourne Cup-winning jockey and member of the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, retired from riding in 2023 after more than three decades in the saddle.

Under the new arrangement, his assessment will not replace the authority of Racing Victoria stewards, who will retain responsibility for determining whether remedial action is required.

Fullarton said the changes were designed to resolve concerns before they became a race-day issue.

“Saturday showed the importance of ensuring any concerns about a racing surface are properly assessed, with the appropriate technical input, before significant decisions are made on race day,” she said.

“Our track team complied with that direction so the meeting could proceed, but this is not how these issues should have to be dealt with on race day.”

The MRC’s response comes with Caulfield entering the most important phase of its spring program, with the Guineas and Caulfield Cup among the meetings scheduled before the course undergoes major resurfacing works after the October 17 Cup meeting.

The club says the new process will build confidence in the racing surface while ensuring concerns are independently assessed before decisions are made under race-day pressure.

But RV integrity boss Jamie Stier says stewards made the correct call.

“Based on all the evidence available to us, we stand firmly by the stewards’ decision to order the movement of the rail on race morning at Caulfield,” Stier said.

“The stewards must prioritise horse and rider safety at all times. They were not prepared to compromise that position in the circumstances presented to them on Saturday.”