Summer in Victoria. Boxing Day cricket, good weather, beach days, mis-rated Victorian tracks and cancelled meetings at the last minute.
Is there a sport that struggles to operate as much as racing? And is there a sporting body that has as little accountability as Racing Victoria?
If there was any other sport in the world worth as much as racing here in Victoria, that failed to get its facilities continually right, heads would roll.
Participants, who spend huge money and set their horses for specific race days, deserve better.
Punters too, of course.
Fact is too many tracks in Victoria continually miss the mark. And too often participants are left in the lurch with late notice that a track is cooked when it should have been obvious days out the meeting was in trouble.
There is a simple operational fix waiting to be embraced.
Either stewards or a member of Jamie McGuinness’ track team should be on-course first thing on raceday morning, particularly at tracks with known quirks. McGuinness is the EGM of Tracks and Infrastructure.
Checks from regional track managers ten days or so out are fine, but the risks do not vanish in the final stretch to race one. Asking Clubs to manage that gap alone is a system built to fail. And fail it does, regularly.
We are not short on examples. Stawell Cup’s late abandonment. Kyneton’s repeat issues. Stony Creek again. Track ratings regularly miles off. Punters blindsided, trainers out-of-pocket, the industry shrugging and muttering “next time”.
On Sunday at Stony Creek, the morning rating was a Soft 5.
A tiny shower passed, barely enough to wet the scarf, and suddenly it was a Heavy 8. No meaningful rain. A three grade shift. Most punters were already committed, and the surface they were betting on did not exist.
Confusion ensued. Racing.com reported that stewards were set to aerate the inside section of the track, then moments later, that plan vanished.
Betsy understands Club staff challenged the stewards’ idea due to safety concerns. It turned into a tense argument. Eventually common sense won, and the aerovator did not move an inch.
Race one confirmed the obvious. It was not a Heavy 8, it was sinking sand Heavy. Horses finishing exhausted. Times dreadful. Visually and numerically the rating was wrong.
But, to be clear, it was never unsafe.
Then seven late scratchings. Scratching fees waived is great. Transport, staff and lost earnings are not. Early punters had no recourse.
Racing.com’s Dave Strehlau said it plainly. You could not bet with confidence based on the official information. Without credible data, wagering, the industry’s lifeblood, dries up.
Club Manager Jason Benbow bravely fronted the media and admitted they got the rating wrong. He summed it up bluntly. “We just need some help.”
That line should set off alarms at RV.
And this is where Country Racing Victoria must also step up. CRV is funded and empowered to advocate for these country clubs. They have millions in the bank. Yet, when Stony Creek cried out for help, it was Jason Benbow alone answering the tough questions, not CEO Scott Whiteman. Advocacy is not optional when your members are begging for assistance.
Stony Creek has two paid staff, Benbow and the track manager. Everyone else shows up because they love the place. They cannot be left carrying the can for a faulty support structure.
And frankly, it should have been RV management answering questions, not a country club being thrown into the firing line.
To RV’s credit, Victoria has many top-class tracks thanks to major infrastructure investment. But what is the point in building Ferraris if you are running them without a pit crew? The raceday support model is not matching the spend.
Betsy reached to those responsible for answers.
A direct text to McGuinness, who did not reply.
Detailed questions to RV’s comms team were replied to in a timely manner. To their credit, they did their job. But they were generic responses, one would suggest driven by subject matter experts within the business. Nothing addressing oversight or repeated failures. Follow-ups got more of the same.
Why do stewards arrive at 11.30am on raceday?
Why not inspect at dawn and take the responsibility away from Club staff who have conflicted incentives?
Why not spend a few hundred dollars on accommodation to protect millions in wagering turnover?
Why should Clubs have to plead for operational help?
And why is CRV not publicly leading the charge for solutions?
This is not a one-off. It is a long-running structural flaw. It erodes confidence, damages the product and hits participants and punters in the hip pocket.
Wagering underpins everything. Prizemoney, jobs, media rights, the lot. When track assessments are wrong, punters lose trust, and when trust goes, turnover follows.
Racing Victoria aspires to global leadership. Leadership means fronting the music, backing your people and owning the outcomes, not retreating into PR fog.
Right now leadership feels distant. Accountability is cloudy. Support is patchy at best.
Stony Creek deserves better. Country racing deserves better. Punters deserve better.
And yes, even the annoying punters like me would appreciate better.
