Former board candidate slams racing club
While Kanga’s absence at the start of the Caulfield carnival was impossible to ignore, it was business as usual in the hustle and bustle of the assembly yard for trainers such as Peter Moody, Danny O’Brien and Ciaron Maher and gun-toting jockeys such as James McDonald and Jamie Melham.
But interest will increase in the afternoon when Feroce, a horse Kanga owns with Collingwood trainer Craig McRae, runs 3.50 in the $1 million Group 1 Toorak Handicap.
Feroce is trained by a young horseman from England named Dom Sutton, who is mentored by Kanga.
Age Last month, the MRC board announced it was withdrawing from the election race after schoolteacher Brown’s 200-word statement to members was reduced to just 70 words by the club’s board. Official election documents proving Brown’s concerns were seen in this masthead.
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Brown, who was also in Caulfield on Saturday, said his redacted statement was withdrawn because it would have been too humiliating to be presented to members.
He would oppose then-president Kanga and two other board members (Frank Polio and treasurer Alison Saville) who were elected unopposed.
“I applied to Racing Victoria last week for the appointment of managers,” Brown said.
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“One reason for this is that, on the evidence presented by me to Racing Victoria based on precedent, racing rules and common law decisions, the most recent selection should have been annulled for a number of reasons.
“This was a fake election by CorpVote. [the independent returning officer] Its delegated powers were effectively overridden by the instructions of certain executive committee members, and Racing Victoria’s integrity was established by primary documentary evidence of this fact.
“Paradoxically, in my amended candidate affidavit, I proposed the establishment of an independent oversight committee, but this was deleted not by the returning officer but on the instructions of the executive committee.”
When approached with this byline, CorpVote said it could not comment on the election process.
Age It was also reported last month It was stated that 24 memberships linked to Kanga and his family were purchased with a single credit card before the bitter boardroom battle that saw MRC take control of the $1 billion sports club last year. The MRC denied that the membership ban affected the outcome of the club’s September elections and said they had not broken any rules.
Kanga issued the following statement after stepping down as chairman on Friday: “There have been a number of public attacks on me personally in recent weeks. “While I completely deny the nature and veracity of these attacks, I do not want them to be a distraction to the club, its members or the excitement of the Caulfield Cup carnival.
“My decision to withdraw is about putting the interests of the club and the wider racing industry ahead of my own. The MRC is bigger than any one individual and I want to ensure the focus remains where it belongs – on racing, our members, our staff and delivering a world-class spring carnival.”
Racing Victoria released a statement on Friday night saying: “We note Mr Kanga’s decision to resign as MRC chairman and the committee’s subsequent decision to appoint Cameron Fisher as his replacement.
“We have not heard from Mr Kanga about the reasons for this but have noted his comments in MRC’s statement.
“This development will have no impact on the delivery of the Caulfield Cup carnival. MRC will be holding three extraordinary days of racing and entertainment next week.”
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