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Amendments to the Rules of Racing of Racing Victoria (Local Rules)

The Racing Victoria Board has approved the following amendments to the Victoria Local Rules of Racing.

AMENDMENT TO LOCAL RULES OF RACING: AR 2 Dictionary - Definition of Serious Offence removing AR 129(2), AR 227(b), AR 233(b), AR 240 (1) and (2) and AR 251.

Amendment to Serious Offences definition

SUMMARY OF AMENDMENT
As per current AR 2 (Dictionary) practice, offences such as Running and Handling (AR 129(2)), Breaches of the Rules (AR 227(b)), Other misconduct offences including harassment or bullying (AR 233(b)), Presentation offences (AR 240(1) and (2)), and Possession offences (AR 251) have historically been referred directly to the Victorian Racing Tribunal (VRT). This practice has recently been the subject of review.

The reason being that often it is beneficial to both the participant and the RV Integrity to deliver swift justice and timely procedural fairness internally. Due to the VRT’s heavy case load, efficiency may not be achieved by the current practice of direct referral of these above offences to the VRT.

Therefore, consideration was given to the above charges to allow them to be heard in the first instance by RV Stewards, with discretion given to each case on its merits by all parties.

Accordingly, the Racing Victoria Board has approved the following Local Rule of Racing amendment effective from 1 July 2025.

AR 2 BE AMENDED AS FOLLOWS:
AR 2 Dictionary
…
Serious Offences
Serious Offence means an offence under, or breach of, one of the following rules:
(a) AR 255(1);
(b) AR 115(1)(c) and (e);
(c) AR 116;
(d) AR 236;
(e) AR 129(1),(2), (3) and (5); [(2) deleted 1/7/25] (f) AR 227(b); [deleted 1/7/25] (g) [deleted 1/2/24];
(h) AR 229(1)(a), (b), (c), (d);
(i) AR 231(1)(a) and (b),(2)(a) and (b),(3);
(j) [deleted 1/2/24];
(k) AR 233(b); [deleted 1/7/25] (l) AR 237(1),(2) and (4)-(7);
(m) AR 240(1) and (2); [deleted 1/7/25] (n) [deleted 22/11/21] (o) AR 242;
(p) AR 244;
(q) AR 245(1);
(r) AR 246;
(s) AR 247;
(t) AR 249;
(u) AR 251; [deleted 1/7/25] and
(v) [deleted 1/2/24];
(w) LR 94C.

• [Serious Offence definition part (a) amended 23/4/19]
• [Serious Offence definition (g), (h), (k), (l) amended 22/11/21]
• [Serious Offence definition (g), (j), (v) amended 1/2/24]
• [Serious Offence definition (w) added 1/2/24]
• [Serious Offence definition (e), (f), (k), (m) and (u) amended 1/7/25]

Amendment effective from 1 July 2025

Source: Racing Victoria

RICHARD ANDREWS TO LEAD THE ATA QLD

We are delighted to announce Richard (Rich) Andrews as the ATA’s new Queensland State Executive.

Rich has worked at a variety of high-profile organisations across 30 years, including Racing Victoria, Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria, CrownBet and Betr.  He also worked with Australia’s largest stable, Ciaron Maher Racing, helping them navigate operations through the COVID period (2020-2022) as their Head of Marketing.

Since moving to Queensland in 2023, Rich has held the position of Chief Operating Officer for digital racing platform, RacingX.

The ATA is very fortunate to obtain an experienced executive in Richard who has a deep understanding of the racing industry and its challenges, making him a great asset for Queensland trainers.

We would also like to thank the man Rich will replace, Cameron Partington, for the enormous job he has performed over 15 years in Qld.  He was a tireless contributor, always working in the best interests of the training community.  We wish him all the best in his future endeavours, hopefully he won’t be lost to Industry.

Lastly, Tony Fenlon, who assisted Cam in recent years as Regional ATA Executive has also decided to step away from that role.

Calling for New Committee Members

With the change in State Executive, and after long tenures of their own, both Kelly Schweida and Les Ross have decided the time is right for the ‘next generation’ of leaders to step up, and have advised they will not re-nominate for their roles on the ATA QLD Committee.

Kelly served the committee for 10 years, with 2 as President, whereby Les committed 15 years to ATA QLD as secretary.  The ATA thanks both Kelly & Les for their dedication and commitment to the ATA.

As a result, the ATA QLD is now on the search for new Committee members as it enters the next era. We are seeking committed individuals willing to volunteer some of their time to meet quarterly as a committee, and to engage on industry issues that affect racing and training in Queensland.

If you are interested in making a difference, please reach out to either Richard or I.

Nominations close not later than 12:00pm (noon) Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) Tuesday 17^th June 2025.