Undeterred by the condemnation of the remaining nine members of the Melbourne Racing Club Committee, renegade MRC board member John Kanga has continued to court support for a board spill.
Kanga called for a Special General Meeting in a media release last Thursday, a move that drew sharp condemnations from the other members of the Committee, who signed a letter in response.
“The nine members of the executive committee are concerned that Mr Kanga is seeking to bypass the election process in a bid to install a new block of committee members outside of the upcoming election process," the group's statement said.
"We are shocked by this unprecedented move and remain united in our commitment to the MRC's established and fair election process.
"We are working together effectively and believe in upholding the values of transparency and democracy that our members expect.
"The MRC looks forward to announcing further details of its response to the motion and the upcoming executive committee elections and we encourage all members to engage in these elections."
Kanga is campaigning for an upheaval of the board based on what he said is the botched renovation so far, which includes the mounting yard and jockeys’ rooms. He is also against the intent to progress with a near $200 million redevelopment at Caulfield and the sale of Sandown.
Bren O’Brien
Having already enlisted the support of major owners Rupert Legh and Colin McKenna, Kanga has published criticism from trainers JD Hayes and Sam Freedman of the new set-up in a release unsubtly titled ‘Why everyone hates the Caulfield mounting yard.
“The MRC has got everything completely wrong. Apart from wrecking the race day event and atmosphere, the position of the new mounting yard has already caused terrible logistical problems, as it is just too far away and takes too long to get to and from, particularly as you have to walk through the public area,” JD Hayes, one third of the Lindsay Park partnership, said.
“We won the Regal Roller Stakes last Saturday with Arkansaw Kid and what was a great win was negatively impacted, because by the time my brother Ben made his way from the Owners seating section of the grandstand to the mounting yard, the jockey, Luke Currie, was gone.
“Imagine the problems we will encounter on Caulfield Guineas day or Caulfield Cup day.”
According to the statement from Kanga’s Save Our MRC group, Sam Freedman also criticised the mounting yard set-up.
“The new mounting yard is poorly designed and positioned and we have lost the connection to the members and fans,” he said.
“The race day atmosphere has been ruined. They need to pivot and return to the original mounting yard.”
Save Our MRC has also enlisted the support of leading jockeys Blake Shinn, Mark Zahra and Harry Coffey as well as trainer Danny O’Brien, all who have criticised the mounting yard and the jockeys’ room.
