PREMIER Australian horse racing and sports caller Matt Hill was the special guest of the Stony Creek Racing Club for its season launch last Saturday night.
And, typically, he called it like he sees it when providing commentary on the state of the industry.
Hill said Melbourne’s spring racing carnival was still the best festival of racing anywhere in the world and while others have tried to emulate it, it’s still the envy of racing authorities the world over.
Melbourne is easily the best sporting city in Australia.
And pound for pound, we offer the best prize money which is the lifeblood of a healthy industry, unlike the English industry which he says “races for ribbons” and was suffering accordingly.
But he does see warning signs.
He said it was a mistake for the Melbourne Racing Club (Caulfield) to be moving the centrepiece of its raceday, the mounting yard, away from the front of the grandstand.
And its latest promotion, “It’s Time to Re-Wild” (whatever that means) was misplaced.
He said racing authorities needed to be promoting horse talent and the industry’s great stories ahead of partying.
And he said he fears for the future of “the theatre of the mind”, race calling on the radio, with the advent of sports viewing on smartphones and tablets.
But he said the Stony Creek racecourse was “an iconic part of Victorian racing” where it was well-known, that if you could win a race at Stony Creek, you could win in Melbourne.
And he announced on the night, that in March next year he hopes to tick off another of the items on his personal wish list by calling a Ladbrokes’ Stony Creek Cup ahead of going to Paris to call the rowing at the 2024 Olympics.
As the “Voice of the Melbourne Cup” for the past seven years, the only caller of the great race for TV, radio, livestreaming and on-course racegoers, it’s been a wild ride for the boy from Altona and those who attended the Stony Creek Racing Club launch last Saturday night heard all about it.
They also heard plans for a fantastic five-meeting season from new club president John Schuijers, who also revealed plans to add a new semi-automatic irrigation system to the track, in place by the cup meeting, a bigger mounting yard in its present location and improvements to race club facilities including a new female jockey’s room, while maintaining existing facilities.
The club, he said, had added 25% more members last year and was hoping for a similar increase in numbers this year, with any additional funds going towards the refurbishment of facilities for racegoers and industry stakeholders.
The first race meeting of the new season will be on Friday, December 29 with another to follow on Tuesday, January 9.
If you want to join as a member of the Stony Creek Racing Club for season 2024, go to: https://stonycreek.membership.countryracing.com.au/
