Demon is in the detail as Caulfield D-Day looms
Your humble columnist has written the deal to get the Melbourne Demons Football club into Caulfield is closer to dead than done despite what the football club spruik.
But are they about to pull a Lazarus and come back from the dead?
Betsy has been told that the odds of the football club moving to Caulfield could be shortening from the long, long odds they were just weeks ago.
The club, of course, want to build a new $100 million training base at Caulfield, including installing a tunnel underneath the racetrack that would see racing close for around 12 months.
To the surprise of no-one, the Melbourne Racing Club are not so keen on the idea.
Nor are the State Government, considering the impacts on racing – or at least until recently perhaps.
While they have told partners and media publicly they were confident, the Demons are now quietly confident they are finally making headway behind the scenes on their bid to make Caulfield their new home. Betsy has been told they have made progress in a variety of areas, including within the State Government.
After they sacked their CEO and current Racing Victoria board member Paul Guerra, there had been media reports that the Demons may have hired some well-connected consultants to assist on strategy and to potentially help deal with the government.
Leading the project for the football club is board member Geoff Porz, with speculation they have made progress on the tunnel issue too and may have somehow found a path forward.
They need to get moving though – the AFL and the Caulfield Trust, who manage the racetrack precinct, have both given the Demons until June 30 to pitch their plans and show they can cover a $70 million or so funding shortfall to fund their dream.
But if the Demons have made progress – and have a solution where both parties could coexist – then no one has told anyone in racing.
Figures Betsy spoke to in the racing world on Wednesday are still unconvinced there will be a football kicked in anger at the precinct.
You would imagine if the football club had 40 days to fund or convince many to move into the backyard of the Melbourne Racing Club, the racing folk would know the intimate details of what could happen. They don’t.
Another racing insider described racing’s dealings with the football club as ‘’shambolic’’. Racing Victoria, too, are believed to be of the view there is little to no incentive to have Melbourne move in.
Most of this is redundant if Melbourne can’t find the cash.
Racing insiders remain convinced neither the state or federal governments will hand a football club tens of millions of dollars in a budget cycle where both are clawing back initiatives popular with voters to correct their struggling budgets.
The Chairman of the Caulfield Trust, Sam Almaliki, famously said that the Demons want ‘’to build the Taj Mahal, and so far, they’ve only got budget for a granny flat.”
As amusing as Almaliki’s comments were, some within the government didn’t like his honesty [or perhaps just jealous of his hall of fame zinger].
It is likely if the club can’t get government money, they will rely on their network of cashed up supporters. It’s a big ask, but not impossible.
End of the day, a compromise between the two seems unlikely. So what’s the most likely scenario?
The government extends their deadline post the November state election, the election is fought and whoever has the keys to parliament will deal with it.
So while the deal is still on life support, it has a heartbeat.
Beers hinge on Cup hero and people’s horse
Punters could be set for a free, refreshing ale if either Melbourne Cup winner Half Yours or the people’s horse, Pride of Jenni, win the Doomben Cup on Saturday.
The Brisbane Racing Club last year, with help of its sponsor XXXX, shouted punters a free beer after Antino’s win.
It was pitched as Queensland versus the rest and punters rejoiced, costing the sponsors thousands of dollars.
It is understood this year that with no Queenslanders this year, the club is looking at the raiders instead. Punters will get a ticket when they walk in and if either salute in race 8, they’ll get a free XXXX.
And if we’re to go by Pride of Jenni’s owner, Tony Ottobre, punters should keep those tickets.
‘’I went and saw her the other day, it’s the best she’s looked since the Queen Elizabeth Stakes,’’ he said.
‘’I can’t remember her gleaming like this since this the Queen Elizabeth, she is ready to go.”
”I had to ring Ciaron and tell him, ‘I don’t know how you do this’.”
Fingers crossed for Ballarat
The synthetic track at Ballarat is again causing issues, with its use paused for at least two to three weeks while more remedial works are undertaken.
The club decided to pause use after kick-back at a recent set of jump outs. The decision to pause its use came at the behest of the contractor attempting to maintain the track.
There is still a level of confidence the track will be ready to host more jump outs in early June before racing officially on June 9.
The wrong kind of Leek
Fresh after being lauded for his Warrnambool heroics, John Leek Jr was found guilty of a serious charge over his attempts to stomach-tube his horse.
Leek Jr denied the charge, however, but the Victorian Racing Tribunal didn’t believe him in a ruling delivered last week.
According to the Racenet report, his runner had a device on a horse’s nostril used ‘to calm and settle the horse’ and the tubing equipment within reach in 2025 after he pulled over at a roadside stop in Terang. Investigators had been following him.
Leek Jnr reportedly told stewards a bottle of liquid in the float was “to tube the horse” that contained “vitamins and salts”.
According to the tribunal, in finding Leek Jr guilty, they said they partly based that on ‘’the matter of most significance is what we take to be clear admission by Mr Leek at the time, shortly after the offending took place’’.
And the reason the veteran trainer gave for looking surprised and swiping ‘across his crotch’. He was about to take a Leek, sorry leak.
“I was about to have a pee and I didn’t know whether I had my penis out or in.’’
Jokes aside, the case illustrates the challenge racing has. Leek Jr won some important races, including the Galleywood.
But how can racing market the sport, and such important races like the Galleywood, to the wider community when such behaviour of the winners is being exposed just a short time later?
He’s off, no Bull
Victorian opposition racing spokesman Tim Bull announced this week he was leaving parliament.
A surprise to some in the industry, it has left a few nervous where racing could be politically post the November state election.
Bull was a keen racing follower and if his party happens to finally leave the wilderness of opposition, who will champion the sport?
Same goes if Labor win, with lovers of our great game in parliament not as prevalent as days gone by despite being well represented in this space by Anthony Carbines. The biggest disaster would be a minority situation where the Greens hold sway over any decisions. It is something racing bosses fear.
The state government is crucial to the funding and growth of racing, something that might come under pressure in years to come as it battles to balance the books.
Win and a spray
Which owner kept the receipts, communicating to one media type some relatively colourful reflections regarding their previous views on their horse?
