PRETTY disappointing is how Melbourne Racing Club chairman Mike Symons described the push by Glen Eira Council to escalate the removal of training horses at Caulfield, reports Racing Network.
Symons said he thought an agreement was in place with the Council, which last Tuesday voted unanimously for the "removal of horse training" from Caulfield.
But, the MRC chairman said he's not concerned that the noise from the Council will mean that training at the venue is closed.
Peter Moody, Robert Smerdon and Mick Price, three of the top five trainers in Victoria, train from Caulfield where there are about 500 horses trained.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
PRETTY disappointing is how Melbourne Racing Club chairman Mike Symons described the push by Glen Eira Council to escalate the removal of training horses at Caulfield, reports Racing Network.
Symons said he thought an agreement was in place with the Council, which last Tuesday voted unanimously for the "removal of horse training" from Caulfield.
But, the MRC chairman said he's not concerned that the noise from the Council will mean that training at the venue is closed.
Peter Moody, Robert Smerdon and Mick Price, three of the top five trainers in Victoria, train from Caulfield where there are about 500 horses trained.
"Do I think training is going to move from Caulfield? No, I don't and no, I'm not concerned," Symons said.
Glen Eira Council, whose boundaries include the Caulfield racecourse, says training race horses on a commercial basis is not one of the purposes of Crown Land.
It states: "Providing a public recreation ground and a public park takes precedence over the training of racehorses.
"To that extent training prejudices the provision of public recreating ground and public park, training should be phased out."
Symons said the MRC had recently spent about $2 million upgrading the infield of the racecourse with jogging tracks, public amenities and barbeques and a soccer field.
He said with those works now complete the Council is "seeking to move the goal posts."