Another big-name executive walks from Racing Victoria

The big names continue to clear the decks at Racing Victoria.

Former North Melbourne CEO Ben Amarfio is the latest executive to hand in his resignation as the industry prepares for life under a Gillon McLachlan-led board.

Ben Amarfio has resigned his position with Racing Victoria.

Amarfio confirmed his resignation when contacted by this masthead on Friday afternoon.

An email was sent out informing staff of his decision at the same time.

Amarfio’s decision to walk away follows Andrew Jones’ announcement two weeks ago that he was standing down as Racing Victoria CEO.

The pair had both previously worked at Cricket Australia.

Jones said at the time of his resignation late last month that it was the “right time to move on” to allow a refreshed board and new chairman to handpick their own CEO “to take Racing Victoria forward into the future”.

McLachlan is waiting in the wings to become that chairman.

The former AFL supremo was interviewed by a special industry panel on Monday after applying for a director’s role and could be appointed to the Racing Victoria board by Racing Minister Anthony Carbines within the next fortnight.

Candidates Tim Rourke and Mark Player would be announced as new directors at the same time, two industry sources told this masthead who were not authorised to speak publicly.

Ex-AFL chief Gillon McLachlan has been linked to Racing Victoria’s top job.

Amarfio spent 14 months at Racing Victoria after being appointed executive general manager – customer in March last year to help grow the sport’s fan base.

He had served as North Melbourne CEO from 2019 to 2022, including steering the club through the challenging COVID-19 years.

His time with the Kangaroos followed senior executive positions at Cricket Australia, Southern Cross Austereo, the AFL and the NBA.

When he took on the Racing Victoria role, Jones said Amarfio brought “unique insights into fans across Australia’s biggest sports and will work closely with our clubs, media business and partners on driving an industry-wide fan strategy”.

Racing Victoria will have a complete new-look leadership in coming months.

Three vacancies on the board were created by chairman Brian Kruger stepping down at the end of June last year, Greg Nichols finishing up at the end of March, and acting chairman Mike Hirst announcing he would retire by the end of this month.

At executive level, Jones and Amarfio have resigned in the past two weeks. RV COO and CFO Aaron Morrison is serving as interim CEO.

Last week, McLachlan told Seven that he loved racing, and “if someone wanted me to help, I would”.

“I’ve got to work the decision around how I pay for my house and my family but if I can make a contribution to racing in that capacity as chair of [Racing Victoria] I’d do that if they wanted me, and it was still available,” McLachlan said.

Big metro clubs fight for All-Star Mile

Melbourne’s three major racing clubs are expected to launch bids to become the permanent home for the All-Star Mile as Racing Victoria looks to lift the flagging profile of the $4 million race.

Flemington, Caulfield and Moonee Valley have all indicated they want to host the autumn carnival’s signature event on a permanent basis.

Racing Victoria is running an expressions-of-interest process, which closes next Friday, as it looks for new ways to bolster the All-Star Mile’s identity and popularity.

The race was criticised this year for not capturing the public’s attention because it lacked star power outside the first three placegetters: Pride Of Jenni, Mr Brightside and Cascadian.

Racing Victoria also cut the All-Star Mile’s prize money from $5 million to $4 million, slashed the marketing budget by a third and removed the public’s ability to vote horses into the field, which was the event’s original point of difference and major selling point.

All three Melbourne metropolitan clubs have hosted the All-Star Mile twice on a rotational basis since the race was created in 2019.

Racing Victoria says all options are on the table as part of its process, even the possibility of turning the All-Star Mile into a slot race like the Everest.

The Victoria Racing Club told this masthead that it could envisage the All-Star Mile playing a major part of its ongoing autumn carnival.

“The VRC would like to see the All-Star Mile added to the program during the Flemington racing spectacular in March, which already features three group 1 race days and strong crowds across that period,” VRC CEO Steve Rosich said.

The Melbourne Racing Club hosted this year’s All-Star Mile at Caulfield, won in spectacular fashion by front-running wonder mare Pride Of Jenni, and will look at making a submission to become the event’s permanent home.

“This year’s ASM was a success from a racing perspective, fitting well into the pattern with runners subsequently winning the Australia Cup and Queen Elizabeth Stakes [at Randwick],” MRC CEO Josh Blanksby said.

Cascadian, left, charges over the top of Pride Of Jenni to win this year’s Australian Cup.

He said it complemented the MRC’s summer program well and would be a great final chapter to their successful family day, which featured the C.F. Orr Stakes, and Blue Diamond Stakes day.

“We believe we can work with Racing Victoria to build the day and for it to become a cornerstone of the Melbourne summer/autumn carnival,” Blanksby said.

Awarding the race to Moonee Valley would allow the smallest of the three metropolitan clubs to have a greater presence during the autumn carnival, when it has one group 1 event, compared to Flemington’s four and Caulfield’s four.

Moonee Valley chief Michael Browell said his club would put in a bid that proposed using the event to build a super Saturday during the autumn.

“We have a view that the All-Star Mile should be the feature race on a feature day,” Browell said.

Moonee Valley could use races such as the group 1 William Reid Stakes and group 2 Alister Clark Stakes to help build an “ultimate race program”.

Personal note that could deliver a Cox Plate showdown

Moonee Valley has hand-delivered an invitation to the Hong Kong connections of Romantic Warrior in a bid to coax the group 1 star back to Melbourne to defend his Cox Plate crown.

The Valley’s head of racing Charlotte Mills met with Romantic Warrior’s owner Peter Lau and trainer Danny Shum during the Champions Day race meeting at Sha Tin last month.

If Lau and Shum agree to return to Australian shores with their seven-time group 1 winner, it would set up a mouth-watering weight-for-age title fight with the new queen of the Australian turf Pride Of Jenni.

Adding spice to the potential showdown would be the inclusion of Chris Waller’s highly rated import Via Sistina, a former UK galloper that finished second to front-running wonder mare Pride Of Jenni in last month’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick.

Jockey James McDonald won his second Cox Plate last year on Hong Kong raider Romantic Warrior when they beat home the gallant Mr Brightside by a nose.

McDonald and Romantic Warrior have since won three 2000-metre group 1 races in Hong Kong, including their third QE II Cup at Sha Tin last month.

“We’d love to see the Cox Plate winner come back and defend their title,” Browell said.

“But we are also starting to engage other key international runners, to see if we can get them.”

One international high on the Valley’s watch list is Japanese runner Prognosis, a middle-distance star who ran second to Romantic Warrior in the QE II Cup.

Three internationals have won the Cox Plate in the past 10 years – Joseph O’Brien’s State Of Rest in 2021, Japanese mare Lys Gracieux in 2019 and Aidan O’Brien’s Adelaide in 2014.

If six-year-old Romantic Warrior were to return in October, it would create an agonising choice for McDonald, a regular rider for Chris Waller who also partnered Via Sistina during the Sydney autumn carnival.

He and several jockeys were caught napping by Pride Of Jenni’s freewheeling tactics in the Queen Elizabeth and would be seeking a rematch.

“I would caution to say they would let her get 30 lengths in front of them around Moonee Valley,” Browell said.

McDonald has ridden Romantic Warrior in six of his seven group 1 victories and is planning to partner the Hong Kong horse in Japan’s group 1 Yasuda Kinen (1600m) in June.

“Yes [I’ll be going to Japan], it will be my second time there,” McDonald told the South China Morning Post last month.

McDonald, who first rode Romantic Warrior in November 2022, was in awe of the gelding after they won their third consecutive QEII Cup at Sha Tin last month.

“He was beaten at the 600m, he just finds a way. It’s incredible,” he said.

“I deadset didn’t have one thing go my way. I had 10 riders deadset against me and the horse. I just had no favours.

“At the 600m, he was off the bridle and struggling in the ground a tad, and he just picks up. I’m just in disbelief.”

Shum and Lau are still mapping out Romantic Warrior’s calendar year beyond a trip to Japan.

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