THE board of the Sydney Turf Club will consider defying its members to pursue a merger with the Australian Jockey Club that would deliver $174 million in funding after members risked derailing the deal by voting against it on Monday night, reports The Age/SMH.It says: As accusations flew about who was responsible for failing to secure the vote, the Minister for Gaming and Racing, Kevin Greene, called for a recommendation from the clubs by the end of the week on how to proceed.''The vote is an im
THE board of the Sydney Turf Club will consider defying its members to pursue a merger with the Australian Jockey Club that would deliver $174 million in funding after members risked derailing the deal by voting against it on Monday night, reports The Age/SMH.
It says: As accusations flew about who was responsible for failing to secure the vote, the Minister for Gaming and Racing, Kevin Greene, called for a recommendation from the clubs by the end of the week on how to proceed.
''The vote is an important step but the STC board are still in a position to agree to a merger and I will be speaking to the chairman [Bill Picken] as soon as possible,'' Mr Greene said.
Mr Picken said: "It's a very difficult situation. Obviously we need to take on board the concerns of our members but we also need to consider the needs of racing in Sydney."
The chairman of the AJC, Ron Finemore, said the club remained committed to the merger, and the chief executive of Racing NSW, Peter V'landys, said it was a ''once in a lifetime'' opportunity. "I think it would be commercial lunacy not to go ahead with the merger,'' he said.