The Melbourne Racing Club has slammed the decision to leave the Caulfield Cup winner liable for a weight penalty in the Melbourne Cup.
The MRC proposed deleting the capacity to penalise the Caulfield Cup winner from the Melbourne Cup conditions.
Racing Victoria general manager of racing, Greg Carpenter, supported the MRC’s submission, stating there was “tremendous upside” for the Caulfield Cup by making the winner exempt from a Melbourne Cup penalty.
However, the Victoria Racing Club which hosts the Melbourne Cup, rejected the proposal because it said it would also need to abolish weight penalties for the winners of all similar races.
“In order to meet the MRC’s request, all black type staying races would have to become penalty exempt,” a VRC statement read.
“Then the many exiting opportunities in the spring for horses to earn their way into the Emirates Melbourne Cup field would be lost.”
MRC chairman Mike Symons labelled the VRC’s stance an “insult” to the Caulfield Cup.
Symons said decisions to alter Melbourne Cup conditions should become the domain of Racing Victoria.
“We believe that decisions such as this should be left to the principal racing authority,” Symons said.
“The fact that a decision has been made despite the support of the Racing Victoria executive, key trainers and owners, is unfortunate for the Victorian racing industry.”
Symons said he hoped the VRC’s decision was “far from final” and asked that the subject remained open for discussion.
