Long lunches, bruised egos and a VRC boardroom battle
Parents of toddlers will tell you – when it’s quiet, that’s when you need to stress.
Perhaps the same can be said of the bubbling situation the Victoria Racing Club finds itself in as Melbourne’s rich and powerful are quietly getting themselves organised ahead of what potentially looms as a messy board vote.
The VRC have famously kept the vast majority of its political battles in-house but for those who have missed it, the club announced a succession plan that saw respected breeding expert Vin Cox take the reins from club veteran Neil Wilson.
What wasn’t included in the handover note – and later revealed by Betsy – was the board was split on who should get the gig. Current deputy Michael Ramsden wanted the job but a casting vote meant Cox came out on top.
The slight problem is that Cox himself is up for re-election. It’s unlike the VRC to find itself in such a messy situation.
How angry people are is hard to grapple. Are the plans genuine or just fuelled by French Pinot?
There is enough to suggest that behind the public silence from those who feel aggrieved, action might not be too far away.
Now as the long-lunches proceed, committee room invitations are sent and the up market inner-city pubs roar with business, plots are being worked through.
Worth noting here your humble columnist is a VRC member and respectfully, couldn’t give a flying fire-truck who takes power.
But there are a few deep pocketed individuals who do.
Ramsden, Betsy is told, remains upset about his treatment. Any suggestions the board is unified in Cox’s appointment is fanciful.
Any suggestion Cox shouldn’t get the gig because he is based out of Victoria is as equally ridiculous.
He has strong supporters and is a smooth operator – but whether the breeders get behind him will be a fascinating watch.
There is a section of the breeding community, following the fall-out from the succession plan, that won’t be throwing their support behind the former Godolphin boss. Election tickets are being worked through.
As we’ve previously mentioned, whoever takes power will likely nurse the club through significant decisions that will shape its future.
Meanwhile, the club continues to carefully curate its public relations messaging, pumping up its successes. They dropped [on face value] some nice financial results on the back of cutting prices for beers and booze on Turnbull Stakes Day. Full details of the club’s financial results are still to be released.
Club sources suggest things like cheaper beer are being delivered on the back of research that suggests a sense of member frustration. Cynics however say it’s all political. Politics!
Some friendly media coverage on the back of the financial results also fired a few up. Wilson is the master of media interviews after all. It should be said that Nine Media, who also owns The Age, broadcasts the Cup Carnival.
The plotters looking at a board challenge will need to make their intentions clear before Cup week is over.
While we’ll stick to the racing and music acts including Fisher and Robbie Williams, it could be a fascinating few weeks of powerplays from those with the cash and time to play such games.
You are a better chance of getting even money for Ka Ying Rising for The Everest on Saturday than you are a ticket to the race.
Even the travelling media are coming in huge numbers.
The Australian Turf Club say that between 20-30 members of the Hong Kong media are now in Sydney for the $20 million race, such is the enormous popularity of the world’s best sprinter.
Such coverage is crucial in continuing the world’s interest in the sprint classic.
It comes as ticket sales for the Golden Eagle too are incredibly strong, up 54%.
Caulfield’s $97m betting bonanza
Any concerns that Caulfield’s track dramas from the Underwood Stakes day would dampen punter interest can be set aside.
Figures supplied to Betsy show total turnover for Caulfield Guineas day, one of the great meetings on the calendar, reached $96.75 million, up an impressive 8.2% year-on-year from $89.39 million.
The Caulfield Guineas itself generated the highest turnover of the day at $16.6 million, up 8% year-on-year from $15.4 million.
Total turnover is also up 8% year-on-year this season. In a climate where racing is trying to maintain turnover, they are an impressive set of numbers.
Melbourne’s fading Caulfield dream as compromise suddenly looks pretty good
Still at Caulfield, we wrote last week that the Melbourne Football Club’s ambition to move to the track are essentially dead.
While that may be true, the Demons’ haven’t given up hope. Rumours reached fever pitch last week that the state government was considering one last major decision before the state election in November.
The club, Betsy is told, heard the same rumours. Assurances were sought from the government, who apparently said nothing will be done before votes are cast.
Which means if the current government is turfed, the project is dead, given the Liberal opposition won’t support it.
Significant bad blood between the Demons and the Melbourne Racing Club exists which no doubt played a part in how the saga played out.
The compromise solution the footy club rejected now seems entirely palatable.
No nerves, no hype and no complaints from McEvoy
Given the big races Calvin McEvoy and his star stayer Half Yours are about to tackle – including the $6 million Caulfield Cup on Saturday – you’d expect the young gun to be full of nerves.
McEvoy was famously edgey before the gelding’s Caulfield and Melbourne Cup double in 2025.
But as he told Betsy this week, success has pretty much killed Calvin’s nerves.
”Funny, I feel less pressure this year than this time last year, and I think that’s because leading into the Caulfield Cup last year, I personally had never been in that situation before. We’d won Group Ones and had good horses, but this was a different kettle of fish,’’ he said.
”My old man handled it much better than me, and he was in Ballarat. I was sort of doing these things, and he was a very short price favourite, and all my mates were telling me that he was over the line.
”I didn’t have a great week leading into the Caulfield Cup last year, and that’s been spoken about. I think when he won the race, it was pure relief in my point of view, and then we had a very smooth time into the Melbourne Cup, where I felt guilty that I didn’t feel more pressure into the Melbourne Cup, but on reflection, I think that was just because the horse had been set for the Caulfield Cup. That was his grand final. He’d achieved that.
”And I think we’re the defending champion of the race, and no one’s really talking about him, which I think is quite lovely.”
Calvin McEvoy ran us through how winning the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup has changed their business and how he’s handling the nerves better this year with Half Yours. @mcevoyracing @CalvinMcEvoy @Matt__Welsh_ pic.twitter.com/2GIxaVF7L3
— Betsy (@betsy_com_au) October 14, 2026
Cheers to that
Could one committee member’s love for a drink bring them undone?
Maher makes his call – Everest or Caulfield Cup?
Remember when Ciaron Maher won the $20 million The Everest with Bella Nipotina before casually picking up the $5 million Caulfield Cup with Duke De Sessa?
Not a bad’s day earn!
Maher, who recently took over Crown Lodge in Sydney, again faced a tough task in deciding where he would be this Saturday.
He has the wonder mare Tempted in The Everest, but has five runners currently in the Caulfield Cup field, plus a few emergencies hoping for a run.
Maher, he told Betsy’s Chris Roots, will ultimately be at Randwick on Saturday hoping to knock off the world’s best in Ka Ying Rising.
