Jonathan Munz’s influence in Victorian racing grows, but he denies he has any conflicts of interest

There are 35 sector votes in total – the three metropolitan clubs get five votes each, with Country Racing Victoria’s 10 votes and a further 10 votes split between the owners’ (three), breeders’ (two), jockeys’ (one) and trainers’ (two) associations, as well as the bookies’ (one) and jumps racing (one) associations.

Munz tried to dismiss five board members at an emergency general meeting in February last year, but the motion was lost by 15 votes to three, with 15 abstentions.

Munz was first appointed as TROA’s representative to the five-person negotiating delegation.

But the situation blurred when he joined the MRC board last week (filling the vacancy left by John Kanga’s resignation), effectively making him a representative of both organisations.

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But Munz said it wasn’t a problem for him and Fisher to be on the same interview panel.

Munz said he was a panel member representing TROA, the trainers’ association, the breeders and the jockeys’ association, while Fisher represented three metropolitan racing clubs.

The MRC said Victoria Racing Club and Moonee Valley Racing Club rotated their seats on the panel each year. However, the remaining stakeholders each elect their own sole representative, he said.

“It is written in the constitution that participants will elect their own representatives,” he said. “The participants all wanted me to do this because I was the best person for the job.”

Munz said the current five-member advisory panel consists of talented, like-minded individuals from the racing industry who work responsively and collaboratively to interview candidates to make recommendations to the minister.

“It doesn’t really matter where they (panel members) come from,” he said.

“Melbourne Racing Club has nothing to gain from the VRC, from the MVRC, from the trainers, from the jockeys, from the nationals – we are all on the same page, we just want good directors for the RVL and for the good of racing in general.

“We are all absolutely on the same page. The MRC has no particular interest.”

When this imprint asked Victorian racing minister Anthony Carbines if he had concerns about the composition of the panel, a government spokesman said: “It is up to the nominating bodies themselves to determine their representatives.”

“The structure of the advisory panel is set out in Racing Victoria’s constitution – the minister does not select or appoint panel members as these positions are constitutionally nominated by industry bodies,” a government spokesman said.

Munz, who made his fortune from the family’s worldwide plumbing supply business, denied there was a conflict of interest in being TROA president while also serving as MRC vice president.

“There is almost zero direct interaction between TROA and MRC,” Munz said.

“If anything was required of the MRC by TROA then I would recuse myself. The chances of this are very slim at the best of times.

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“So in terms of everything else in racing, the owners and racing clubs are completely on the same page about everything they want in the industry. They’re all working together, so there’s no problem with that.”

Many consider Munz the most influential person in Victorian Racing; it’s the state’s answer to NSW chief executive Peter V’Landys, who wields enormous power as the state’s racing CEO and also chairs the NRL.

Munz said he would be at Flemington on Thursday to watch the Danny O’Brien-trained three-year-old filly Getta Good Feeling start as the heavily backed favorite in the VRC Oaks.

“When you have an assertive favorite, you want it to work like an odds-on favorite,” he said.

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