Kanga filed a motion last month to spill six members of the board at a special general meeting, calling for Caulfield’s new mounting yard to be moved, scrapping plans to build a $250 million grandstand at Caulfield and retaining racing at Sandown Racecourse.
But the MRC ruled out holding an SGM, saying Kanga’s motion was not “legally valid”.
In a statement released on Thursday morning Kanga accused the MRC board of being “tone-deaf and in denial about the reality that the MRC members want them gone”.
“They have wasted hundreds of thousands of the club’s money trying to prevent members voting on removing them at the special general meeting we requisitioned and have been seen to be using desperate tactics to keep their positions,” Kanga said.
“Going forward, if the new board members vote with us and support me as chairman, we can then stop the delay of the special general meeting and move to remove the remaining board members that the MRC members want gone.
“If there are any shenanigans, I will have no hesitation in taking Supreme Court action and am confident we will again prevail.”
The MRC also released a statement on Thursday saying the club’s committee has “made every effort to resolve the issues raised amicably between the parties having regard to the best interests of members”.
“It is unfortunate that some parties are more interested in scoring points through the media than ensuring the success of the MRC and the upcoming racing carnival,” the club statement said.
“The parties agreed at the Supreme Court yesterday [Wednesday] for the disciplinary process to be delayed until October 16 to allow the three members under investigation more time to respond to the concerns raised.
“The committee remains concerned that a series of actions from the three executive committee members may have breached the code of conduct.
“The code of conduct has been accepted by all committee members and was established to ensure the highest standards and proper conduct at the committee level are followed.
“No determination has been made at this stage and the relevant individuals have been invited to respond to those concerns, as is appropriate. No further comment can be made at this stage while the proper process is ongoing.
“We look forward to a successful annual general meeting … and the resolution of all the outstanding issues.”
Cain, who will chair the AGM before stepping down, claimed Kanga’s push for an SGM was an attempt to take control of the club.
In a letter to members earlier this month, Cain said Kanga was using three controversial issues as a way of pushing MRC members to vote for a rule change that will “put all power in his hands and those who back him”.
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Racing launches jumps review
In an ominous warning for the future of jumps racing, the head of Racing Victoria has declared that “no outcome” is off the table as part of a widespread review into the viability of the sport.
Racing Victoria announced on Thursday that it was launching a detailed examination of jumps racing that would be presented to the board by the end of the year.
Racing Victoria chairman Tim Eddy said the sport’s safety record across the past season was “unacceptable”, following a bleak season in which nine horses died in races and trials.
Three horses were euthanised during the final jumps meeting of the year at Ballarat last month, which Eddy described as “heartbreaking” for the Victorian jumps racing community.
The review will be headed by Racing Victoria’s head of integrity, Jamie Stier, and former Supreme Court judge, Justice Jack Forrest, who is also a former chair of the Victorian racing integrity board.
Horses clear the jumps at Warrnambool.Credit: Getty Images
A copy of the report, and its recommendations, will be handed to the RV executive by the end of November and then presented to the RV board by the end of December.
Racing integrity commissioner Sean Carroll will also review the report.
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“Many people have worked incredibly hard to make the sport as safe as it can be and had achieved marked improvement across the 14 years prior to this season when we took a backwards step,” Eddy said.
“The jumps review group has been asked to consider, among other things, participation rates, industry support, community attitudes, financial returns, the safety record of the sport and the measures in place to promote safe racing.
“This thorough review has commenced this week, and its outcomes will be informed by the process – with no outcome off the table at this time.”
While jumps racing has been an integral part of the popular three-day Warrnambool carnival, the sport has long been on the demise with South Australia holding its last jumps race in 2022 and Tasmania abandoning it in 2007.
An average of 74 jumps races have been staged across the past three years (2021-2023), with an average of 8.10 starters. Eight of these races are held at Warrnambool.
Before this year, fatalities in jumps races had fallen to 2.33 deaths a season, while wagering turnover has averaged $60 million across the past two years – about half of what equivalent flat races would turnover.
Kah’s Caulfield bonus
Star jockey Jamie Kah has been given the chance to become the first woman to ride a Caulfield Cup winner this year after the Victorian racing tribunal agreed to change the start date of her three-week suspension.
Kah was suspended by the tribunal for failing to give her horse, Let’sfacethemusic, every chance to win or run a place in the McNeil Stakes at Caulfield on August 31.
The suspension was to start at midnight this Saturday and continue on until Sunday, October 20, ruling her out of the running of this year’s Caulfield Cup.
But Kah successfully applied to the tribunal to bring the start date of her suspension forward by a day.
Star jockey Jamie Kah.Credit: Getty Images
She will ride Blue Diamond winner Hayasugi in the Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley on Friday night and then start her time on the sidelines at midnight.
She then will be free to resume riding in the Caulfield Cup on Saturday, October 19.
Kah will not be expected to lock in a ride for the group 1 event until closer to the race date.
While Michelle Payne became the first woman to ride the winner of the Melbourne Cup, a female jockey is yet to salute in the Caulfield Cup.
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