Victorian trainer Mick Kent, currently enjoying a period of leave, is angry about the mooted sale of Sandown Racecourse, so much so that he has ignited a call to have the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) membership mutiny against their committee and throw them out.
According to racenet.com.au, Kent has reacted to former MRC committee aspirant Peter Brown (a councillor for City of Greater Dandenong), telling one of the local newspapers that “planners working for the MRC briefed the council on a proposal to offload the racetrack to developers”.
Brown is believed to have said that over 7000 homes are planned on the existing Sandown circuit, something the MRC says is yet to be decided.
“I hope it’s true that the members have the last say [on Sandown being sold],” Kent said.
“They should get rid of that committee and get another committee that enjoys racing and not put swimming pools at tracks… It’s just disgraceful that a committee could do that… It just seems a greedy thing for the MRC to try and sell that. They’re a racing club, that’s their job. It’s a not-for-profit organisation and there is just no need to sell that track.”
Kent made it clear that, in his view, the Sandown surface is better than Caulfield’s which he believes has been sub-standard for years.
Sandown Racecourse established in 1965, is now known as Ladbrokes Park and is a race track administered by the Melbourne Racing Club in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
