Carol Altmann – The Terrier

I recently learned that Lyndoch Living’s chief executive officer Doreen Power has shares in at least one racehorse with Warrnambool Racing Club chief executive officer, Peter Downs, who is also a member of the Lyndoch board.

Why is this of interest?

Because in early February 2017 –  just four months after Mr Downs joined the Lyndoch board – Lyndoch’s Waterfront Living announced a three-year sponsorship deal for the naming rights to Warrnambool’s Grand Annual Steeplechase.

The deal is believed to have cost Lyndoch between $50,000 to $60,000. (A source has since told me the figure is closer to $70,000).

The always-murky circumstances around this Lyndoch-Warrnambool Racing Club sponsorship deal have just become a whole lot murkier, not least because Ms Power refuses to answer questions about it, or her co-ownership of the racehorse with Mr Downs and others.

Questions sent to Ms Power via email have gone unanswered.

The racehorse in question is a five-year-old, chestnut gelding called Strategic Force that is trained by top Warrnambool trainer Symon Wilde and has, to date, won about $20,000 in prize money. Ms Power and Mr Downs are among 13 owners, including Mr Wilde himself.

As it happens, the horse has been nominated to run in three races at the May Racing Carnival this week.

I can’t tell you how long Ms Power has held shares in the horse, but given it was foaled in 2013, it is quite feasible that it has been for several years and includes the time when the Lyndoch sponsorship deal was struck by the board.

As CEO, Ms Power is not on the Lyndoch board, but Mr Downs is. So is another high-profile supporter of the local racing industry in Warrnambool City Councillor Sue Cassidy.

Most importantly, Ms Power’s connection to the racing industry and her connection to Mr Downs in particular, has never been declared by Lyndoch which, we must remember, is a public institution, not a private company.

This is why Ms Power’s investment in a racehorse with the CEO of the Warrnambool Racing Club is of public interest, rather than what might normally be considered a private arrangement.

When the Grand National Steeplechase sponsorship deal with Lyndoch Waterfront Living was first announced, Lyndoch board chair Kerry Nelson was at pains to point out that Mr Downs was at arm’s length and excused himself from all discussions.

Maybe so, but it still didn’t look good. Ms Power and Mr Downs holding shares in the same racehorse also doesn’t look good.

My Mum lived at Lyndoch for the past nine years, and I can’t speak highly enough of the hard-working staff who made her life so comfortable right up until her final breath, but I could count a dozen ways that $50,000 or $60,000 could be spent productively within Lyndoch rather than on a jumps race.

This is especially so when the point of the sponsorship – to help sell the Lyndoch Waterfront Living apartments – has not worked as hoped and several apartments remain empty. The entire second stage of the project is also on hold.

This is the final year of the steeplechase sponsorship deal and, no doubt, Lyndoch will be offered the opportunity to re-sign.

If it does, the circumstances surrounding the decision are now more transparent, even if the sponsorship itself is still questionable.

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Carol Altmann – The Terrier

The Warrnambool City Council has dragged out its big feather – the one reserved for Midfield Meats, the temporarily-permanent wire fence around the old Criterion Hotel site and other assorted special projects – and gently tapped the Warrnambool Racing Club for multiple breaches of racehorse training rules along Lady Bay.

You may recall the WCC held a meeting with the WRC last month after training resumed at Lady Bay on March 1 and saw just about every rule in the book being broken (#notalltrainers) including riding continually in the soft sand, riding in threes and fours, riding at speed past beach walkers, riding one horse while pulling another, riding without saddle cloth identification or fluorescent vests, on and on it went.

At this special meeting, the council did two things: reminded all of the trainers of their responsibilities (feather tap!) and issued written warnings to two unnamed trainers (feather tap, tap!).

And that was that.

The training rules for Lady Bay have been in place for three years and there have been too many breaches over that time to count and yet nobody, still, has ever been made accountable for breaking the rules, often multiple times.

Again, this is not about being anti horse racing (#notalltrainers), but about a principle and ensuring training access to Lady Bay is seen as a rare privilege rather than a right.

Can we ever imagine, by way of comparison, the council issuing little notes under windscreens when people overstay their parking: “Sorry driver, you know this is a one hour zone, not a 90 minute zone, please don’t do it again or we will have to fine you.”

Um, no, I can’t imagine that.

For reasons which are yet to be fully explained, justified or proven, the local racing industry is treated like a special beast that is both enormously powerful and apparently terribly fragile all at the same time.

This is why, despite the council pushing madly for user-pays, the racing industry pays virtually nothing to access Lady Bay seven days a week for nine months of the year. The cost is $225 a year per trainer (not per horse), then $6 per beach session and $2.50 per swim.

Of the $6, about half goes back to the WRC to pay for someone to monitor things and make sure trainers don’t break the rules. Given the flagrant breaches that have gone on, the council should be asking for a refund.

It is also why the council is about to hand over more public coastal land at Lady Bay – in exchange for large-scale racehorse training at Levy’s Beach – so the racing industry can build a $500,000 “bespoke” car park for its own use. Can Mayor Tony Herbert explain what part of that deal is good for the public?

According to another document that dropped to The Terrier recently, other permanent fixtures might also be added to Lady Bay to separate the public and horses more safely around the Pavilion carpark and promenade area.

Good grief, is this a public beach or a satellite facility of the WRC?

Since the March madness, the errant trainers appear to have pulled their heads in and are sticking to the rules, apart from slowing down near walkers, but this is not because of the WCC flapping its feather.

It’s because the trainers know they are being photographed and videoed by a social-media connected public who, unfortunately, have had to step into the breach and become unwilling and unpaid enforcers to protect the beach.

Once upon a time, beach goers and racehorse trainers co-existed peacefully at Lady Bay because the horse numbers were small and the attitudes were different.

Riders (#notallriders) didn’t tell beach walkers to, quote, “fuck off”. Small, local trainers used to arrive with double floats, not horse transport trucks. The beach was wide and flat, not torn up into thousands of divots.

To claim, as many do, that it has “always” been like this at Lady Bay is a lie. It hasn’t been and those of us who grew up on this beach know it.

Locals who ventured down to Lady Bay today on what was a perfect Easter Monday morning had a reminder of how things used to be: a handful of racehorses, a lot of walkers, a kid with a soccer ball, a few brave swimmers.

This is it how it was and how it should be. For the council to allow otherwise is incomprehensible.

 
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Carol Altmann – The Terrier 

I got up early this morning to take some snaps down at Lady Bay for a piece on racehorse trainers breaching the rules. I didn’t expect to actually see the rules being broken, but there they were – breaking one rule after another, bold as brass, no qualms at all.

Racehorses running past people strolling on the beach. Riding in threes and sometimes fours. Running at pace in the soft sand, churning it up like butter. Horses shitting on the beach, horses shitting in the sea.

Just another day at the office, it seems (#notalltrainers).

What is so striking about this flagrant breach of the rules today, is that the Warrnambool City Council is meeting with the Warrnambool Racing Club this week to try and sort out the multiple breaches reported by the public in the past 19 days.

The busting of the rules began as soon as the training season re-opened on March 1 and frustrated members of the public started to send me (and the council) a string of photos.

After asking the council two weeks ago what it planned to do about these breaches, it finally responded yesterday that a meeting was scheduled with the WRC this week.

The council has also already been in contact with the club via a letter.

“Council is committed to ensuring that the regulations under which horse training is permitted on Lady Bay are adhered to,” the spokesman said via email.

Given this, I turned up this morning expecting to find model behaviour, but to find the polar opposite was eye-opening, to say the least. Either the trainers aren’t reading the rules, or they have no fear of the consequences of breaking them, in which case they aren’t remotely scared of the Warrnambool City Council.

I can see why, because, to date, there have been no consequences.

Let’s take the soft sand example.

Council rule #3 includes, in bold type for emphasis, that “galloping or continual work on the soft sand is not permitted anywhere on the beach”. That sounds straight forward enough.

And yet, in reality, the majority of racehorses (#notalltrainers) are run down the beach toward the surf club on the wet sand, turned, and ridden back at full pelt in the soft sand: this is the common circuit and it is why the soft sand looks like a moon surface by 10am each day.

That moon surface is there for all to see and yet there has been no attempt, so far, to stop it. Why not?

According to the council, it runs regular spot checks and the WRC employs a supervisor but both, obviously, are turning a blind eye. Why? You can only speculate that the WCC doesn’t want to ruffle the trainers’ feathers.

As I have written before, if trainers (#notalltrainers) are prepared to ignore the rules in the public eye at Lady Bay, imagine what must have gone on – and will go on again from later this year – at Levy’s Beach, which is far less public?

In the meantime, the beach between the breakwater and Worm Bay is a mess.

What was once, and not that long ago, a popular swimming and walking spot is now like an industrial zone from a combination of poor beach management, coastal erosion and a daily pounding by up to 96 racehorses for nine months of the year.

There is a huge wall of dirty grey sand pushed up by council bulldozers in what passes for beach cleaning and the erosion is now so bad that the ti-tree roots clinging to this wall of sand are fully exposed.

I found a photo of this area that was taken in 2011 by former Warrnambool resident Lisa Gervasoni and it showed yellow sand and a much lower dune ‘wall’ (see above).

Just eight years on, the same stretch of beach is scoured and suffering. We won’t even talk about what a paradise it looked like in the 1960s. I wonder what it will look like in another five years?

That is the bigger picture, but for now the focus is on whether the WCC is prepared to flex some muscle to bring errant trainers into line (#notalltrainers) and remind them that access to a public beach is a rare privilege.

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Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Take a close look at the photos above because they show a terrible accident at Warrnambool’s Lady Bay waiting to happen – and on the Labour Day holiday yesterday, it came close.

The first shows a small child standing at the shoreline near Worm Bay while three powerful racehorses come running along behind.

According to my source for these images, the child turned and began to walk toward the horses before the father – having anticipated the danger – reached his child and held on as the racehorses passed. (In the second shot, they are now standing past the first set of footprints on the sand.)

This mixture of children and racehorses on a main public beach, on a public holiday weekend, is legally sanctioned by the Warrnambool City Council.

From March 1 to November 30, up to 96 racehorses a day, every day, can train along Lady Bay from dawn until 10am, irrespective of whether it is the middle of winter or a major public holiday weekend like that which just passed and saw hundreds of campers staying along the foreshore.

By 10am, many campers have been down to enjoy the beach, as you would expect. What they didn’t expect, perhaps, is to be confronted by racehorses in flight.

This is nothing to do with supporting or not supporting horse racing, but instead an important issue around public safety where, it seems, the council and Warrnambool Racing Club are prepared to take extreme risks. These same risks would be unthinkable at a racecourse.

If you want a clear example of the dangers, watch the video below of an out-of-control racehorse belting along Lady Bay after throwing its rider. This footage was captured in July 2017.

There are rules in place for this strange, legalised game of Russian roulette between the general public and racehorse training, but they are being broken.

Already there have been four breaches recorded since training resumed at Lady Bay on March 1: less than a fortnight ago.

Two of those involved riding three abreast – as is happening in the first photos – with the maximum number of horses in any group set at two, with 50m between them.

Another was a rider training two horses at once, with a second, unidentifiable horse being pulled alongside. Another chose to ride in the soft sand, not the hard sand.

All of these actions are illegal under the rules set down by the WCC and WRC and they are the ones we know about because they have been recorded by the public.

To date, I have not seen one public report by the council or WRC on what breaches have occurred at Lady Bay since 2016 and what has been done about them. We just don’t hear about it and we don’t get told.

I sent several of these images to the council directly more than a week ago for comment on what happens in response to these incidents and have had no reply, other than to check what date the photos were taken. (Glad to be of help.)

A quick hashtag here – #notalltrainers – but there are repeat offenders who know the rules and, it appears, just don’t care.

In the meantime, is it really the job of the public to police the racing industry at Warrnambool’s main local beach?

If so, no wonder we are all justifiably sceptical that any rules will be followed at Levy’s Beach, which is much further from the public eye, when dozens of racehorses are allowed to move in there later this year.

WorkSafe has a detailed set of guidelines for racehorse training safety at racecourses, but not public beaches. In the case of Lady Bay, which is clearly a “work site” between dawn and 10am, WorkSafe looks to the council and WRC to develop and enforce the rules. (Anyone with safety concerns at Lady Bay can also contact WorkSafe direct on 1800 136 089.)

Many locals are wondering how the public beach at Lady Bay transformed from a place where a few trainers gathered to run and swim their horses, to become a virtual extension of the Warrnambool racecourse, even though that same racecourse has had had millions spent since 2017 to upgrade its on-track facilities.

There was no environmental impact study, no public opinion survey, no broad consultation, no compelling research to justify the move – it just happened.

And, as a result, it is now permissible to have racehorses mixing with children at a beach at 8am, 9am – or whatever time it was – and for a child to no longer be able to run freely without the risk of being trampled.

This is not the beach of my Warrnambool childhood, but it is now, sadly, of theirs.

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Carol Altmann – The Terrier

News today about the ructions within the local Liberal Party branch was interesting on all sorts of levels, including the fact it exposes – yet again – the thick ties between the Warrnambool City Council and the Warrnambool Racing Club.

Let’s check the count so far. If you have been reading The Terrier:

Cr  Kylie Gatson: We already know that Cr Kylie Gaston ran for the Labor Party at the last state election and Labor Racing Minister Martin Pakula was the main force behind ensuring the Warrnambool Racing Club got what it wanted from the council in accessing Levy’s beach for large-scale racehorse training

Cr Peter Hulin: We already know that Cr Hulin, who supports the Levy’s move, was a former Liberal Party member but handed out how-to-vote cards at the last state election for former MP and racehorse owner James Purcell, whose son, Aaron, is a local racehorse trainer.

Cr Sue Cassidy: We already know Cr Cassidy, who supports the Levy’s move, is married to David Cassidy who operates sign company, Cassign, that sponsors races at the Warrnambool Racing Club. Liberal Party member Peter Herbert, the mayor’s brother, is a mate of David’s and not very happy about the “plover lovers” – as he likes to call them – who are opposed to racehorse training at Levy’s because the endangered Hooded Plover nests there.

Mayor Tony Herbert: We already know Cr Herbert, who supports the Levy’s plan, chairs the council’s Visitor Economy Advisory Committee that includes Warrnambool Racing Club CEO Peter Downs.

And now, in today’s story, we have Mayor Herbert also turning up as a rusted-on member of the Liberal Party where the chairman of the Warrnambool Racing Club, Nick Rule, is a significant player.

Mr Rule owns a racehorse with Federal Liberal MP Dan Tehan.

In his maiden speech in Federal Parliament, Mr Tehan thanked Mr Rule for being part of the Liberal fundraising team that saw him elected to the seat of Wannon.

Now Mr Rule, as chairman of the Warrnambool Racing Club, has to deal directly with the council – and Mayor Herbert in particular – to get the approvals that are still required to allow racehorse training at Levy’s Beach.

The fact they already share a connection, through the local Liberal Party branch, might explain the letter sent by Mr Rule to the Mayor on January 16 this year.

This was an important letter.

It was asking the council to provide consent for the racehorse training and assurances to the Environment Minister that this was in line with all coastal and marine management plans and policies.

It also asked for the council executive staff to be given the power to issue training licences.

These were both “critical” requirements, Mr Rule said.

Despite the importance of this letter, Mr Rule didn’t even bother to sign it or put it on Warrnambool Racing Club letterhead.

It arrived, unsigned, from Hammonds Paints, where he is managing director.

“Hi Tony…..As per our discussion earlier today…..

Kind regards, Nick.”

There is such a lack of formality, such an expectation of being heard without having to be all official about it, that all that is missing is “maaaaaatttteeeee”. (You can see the full letter here).

Lo and behold, the letter was tabled and dealt with by the council just 17 days after it arrived. (By contrast, the residents in south Banyan St lobbying to have street trees planted have been waiting about four years.)

The same fast-tracking happened last December.

Mr Rule wrote a letter to Mr Herbert on December 10 – this time it was signed and on WRC letterhead – saying the club had asked the Planning Minister to change the planning rules so racehorses could train at Levy’s. If the change went ahead, the club wanted the council’s support as well, the letter said.

“This is a matter of great urgency,” Mr Rule wrote.

No problem! Kazaam!

The council called a special meeting and gave almost unanimous support (vote: 6/1) on December 21 – just 11 days later.

I remember, in 2014, I needed council permission to place a scissor lift and five witches hats near the Robert Ullman whale mural, in East Warrnambool, which was being restored over a weekend.

The little permit took more than a fortnight to be processed.

Like the people waiting for their street trees in Banyan St, I obviously don’t have the right connections.

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