Munz weighs into Eddy’s chair appointment – again
Outspoken Racing Victoria (RV) critic Jonathan Munz, the chair of Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners Association (TROA), has doubled down on his dissatisfaction that the state’s peak racing body has appointed Tim Eddy as its new chair.
Tim Rourke and Mark Player were recently appointed to the RV board with Eddy stepping up as chair to replace the retiring Mike Hirst.
“I have nothing personal against Tim Eddy, but he was not considered good enough to replace Brian Kruger as chairman 12 months ago and was passed over as acting chairman for Mike Hirst. How is he suddenly the correct choice now?” Munz said in a statement on Sunday.
“We have of course wasted months while they waited for the original preferred choice, Gill McLachlan, to accept the position. The Victorian racing minister, Anthony Carbines, promised Gill would lead a refresh of the board, together with the new directors, Tim Rourke and Mark Player. That was after originally undertaking to procure the replacement of a majority of the incumbents.
“Unfortunately, we are now stuck ‘back to the future’, with the original incumbents we were complaining about remaining, being the very directors that the minister promised to help refresh and remove.”
Munz revealed Eddy had contacted him since his appointment and the TROA president emphasised the changes he desired.
“The things that need urgent fixing include reversing incorrect race programming, eradicating the failed tenth metro race, cutting bloated RVL overheads, ending misallocations of prize-money for foolish pop up races like the All-Star Mile, reforming poor regulatory vet performance and getting rid of non-performing staff,” Munz said.
“Even more importantly, it also means consulting with, and working constructively with, race clubs and industry participants, who they have arrogantly disregarded.”