Quartet vies for three spots on Melbourne Racing Club committee

Four candidates will vie for three positions on the Melbourne Racing Club Executive Committee, with voting having opened and set to conclude at the club’s annual general meeting on September 24.

The MRC Committee contains 10 committee members, with three of those, Belinda Meyers, Robyn Gray and Caitrin Kelly, up for re-election.

All three women have renominated for the committee, with 24-year-old Fergus Ewart also standing for election. It will mean the first contested MRC Committee election since a major upheaval in 2024, after the board was returned unopposed last year.

Meyers, a communications executive, and Gray, who is a planning and property consultant, joined the Committee in the aftermath of the 2024 overhaul, which followed the ascent of then chairman John Kanga.

Kelly, who was a member of the Mornington Advisory Board from 2020, was elected to the Committee in 2023. She is currently the chair of the MRC Foundation Committee, which also contains Meyers, while she serves on the Audit and Risk Sub-Committee.

Gray is currently on the Property Sub-Committee, as well as Nomination, Remuneration and Governance and Pegasus Leisure Group Sub-Committees.

Ewart is currently working in a sales and partnerships role at Winning Edge Presentations. His priority, should he be elected, is to grow memberships at the MRC.

“I will bring commercial thinking, financial responsibility and transparency. Most importantly, I will be accessible and accountable to you. Together, we can build a stronger club for every member and for generations to come,” his candidate statement said.

There will be no ballot for new positions on the nine-person Mornington Advisory Group with no new candidates for the three open roles.

As a result, Katie Flockart, Stephen Bell and Andrew Gray will be returned unopposed.

While there was no need for elections at the 2025 annual general meeting, the club underwent a major change only a month later when Kanga suddenly stepped down from both the chairmanship and the committee.

Influential businessman and owner Jonathan Munz stepped onto the Committee in his place and was installed as vice-chairman, with Cameron Fisher elected to be the club’s new chairman.

Kanga’s departure followed a series of media articles focused on associations from his past, which he characterised as “a series of personal attacks”.

“I do not want them to distract from the club, its members, or the excitement of the Caulfield Cup Carnival,” he said at the time.

“My decision to step aside is about putting the interests of the Club and the broader racing industry ahead of my own.”

At the same time, Tanya Fullarton was appointed permanent chief executive of the MRC, after the sudden departure of previous chief executive Tom Reilly in June 2025.