Breeding & Racing Magazine

Business as Usual for Victorian Spring Program

In shades of the Bard's Much Ado About Nothing, the widely debated proposal for a revamped Victorian Spring Carnival has been rejected. Mirroring half a century of aborted attempts to reimagine Australian federalism, it appears that some things in life are just sacrosanct – the Victorian Racing Carnival being one of them. Racing Victoria's board met on Friday and voted to keep the current schedule, including the Cox Plate and Caulfield Cup Carnivals on their traditional dates in October. The proposal, heavily backed by the Melbourne Racing Club, would have seen 12 Saturdays of consecutive Group One racing and the Gr1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) pushed back to the final Saturday in November. But others, notably the Australian Trainers Association – despite plenty of dissent from high profile individuals – indicated they were collectively against any such move. RV Chairman Brian Kruger said on Friday afternoon that the Carnival would retain its traditional dates and would kick off with the Gr1 New Zealand Bloodstock Memsie Stakes (1400m) on August 29.