Caulfield track review ordered after safety dramas on group 1 race day

Track safety dramas have forced Melbourne Racing Club into a review of its Caulfield Racecourse just four weeks out from one of the major races of the spring carnival.

Last-minute maintenance was ordered at Caulfield on Saturday after a group of jockeys identified a stretch of dangerous ground along the home straight before the group 1 program had even started.

Stewards ordered the inside running rail be moved out an extra 4m in the home straight to take the unsafe surface out of play.

Caulfield will host the $3 million group 1 guineas on October 10 and the $6 million Caulfield Cup the following Saturday. Almost 30,000 people attended last year’s Caulfield Cup.

“During a routine track inspection on Saturday morning, an issue was identified with a number of the standard track-repair ‘plugs’ near the inside rail, some of which appeared uneven or loose,” the MRC said in a statement.

Pre-race images showed jockeys being able to pick up and move large clumps of turf. Plugs are used to fill divots and small holes in a track’s surface.

The MRC came under fire several times from punters during the winter months for the standard of its tracks at Caulfield and Sandown. The surface had raced better in recent weeks.

Two barrier attendants were lucky to escape injury in June when starting barriers were accidentally reversed into a lake in the middle of Sandown Racecourse. They were later fished out with a crane.

Racegoers were shocked to hear of the rail being moved on a race day so close to the Caulfield Cup carnival.

“It would probably be a good idea for MRC to change their name back to VATC … Very Amateur Turf Club as the legend of racing writers used to refer to it,” prominent owner Nick Williams posted on X.

Jockey Patrick Moloney told Racing.com the track surface was fine after the pre-race alterations, but the changes had made it “really awkward” to navigate for riders.

“You go from a normal position to an obscure position in the straight,” he said.

Victorian Jockeys Association CEO Matthew Hyland said a number of jockeys had identified safety concerns before the first race and told stewards of their concerns. He said they were happy with the outcome.

Stewards put out a statement, saying they had identified several areas of concern.