Colourful racing identity John Kanga has added his voice to a growing push for later training start times in the lead-up to Melbourne Cup week, arguing that the welfare of stable staff deserves the same industry attention as the welfare of horses.
Kanga, a former Melbourne Racing Club chairman who obtained a Racing Victoria stable hand licence earlier this year through the organisation's Stable Start program, says the industry's long-held tradition of 4am starts and split shifts needs a thorough review now that stables are also dealing with the added demands of twilight and night race meetings.
A Welfare Issue for Racing's Workers
Kanga said he joined the Stable Start program not to reclaim an official role but to better understand the pressures facing trainers and their staff, regularly spending time at Flemington stables to observe conditions firsthand.
"We quite rightly spend an enormous amount of time talking about the welfare of our horses," he said. "Surely, the welfare of the people looking after those horses deserves just as much attention."
He also pushed back on the notion that tradition alone should determine industry practice. "I've never been a great believer in doing something simply because we've always done it that way," he said, adding that the best ideas in racing often come from the people doing the work, not from boardrooms.
When asked whether he planned to return to the sport in a formal capacity, including a possible tilt at the upcoming Victoria Racing Club board elections, Kanga was measured in his response. "I've never needed a title to contribute to racing, and I'm not about to start now," he said.
Corstens Pushing for a 6am Start
Kanga's comments align with those of Australian Trainers' Association president Troy Corstens, a second-generation trainer based at Flemington who has been campaigning for a 6am stable opening for some time.
The Victoria Racing Club took a step in that direction in July, moving Flemington's course opening from 4am to 4.30am. A 5am start is set to be trialled after the spring carnival concludes. But Corstens believes that does not go far enough.
"Ideally, if we started at six, we'd need a closing time of 10am, and the VRC would have to work with their track staff and renegotiate their EBA," he said, referring to the enterprise bargaining agreement that governs track-management workers' hours.
Corstens argues the shift would make racing a far more attractive career option for young people. "I think it will attract a hell of a lot more people to the game," he said. "I think sleep is the most important factor in anybody's life. And if you're starting at 3 o'clock in the morning, these kids can't have a life. They are having to go to bed at seven and 8 o'clock at night, they can't do anything."
He acknowledged the toll personally. "My family's used to me going to bed at 8 o'clock every night. Would I like to spend more time with them? Of course, I would, but a lot of the time I'm buggered, and I need to hit the hay."
A Century-Old Tradition Under Scrutiny
Pre-dawn training has been standard practice in Australian racing for more than a century, driven by a mix of practical factors: trainers holding second jobs, wanting first access to grass tracks, working horses in the cover of darkness, and curators needing racecourse access before race days. Some trainers remain opposed to any change.
"Everyone's entitled to the way they want to do it," Corstens said, "but I just think it'd open things right up if we had a look at it and did have a change."
Visa Reform Called For to Help Fill Staffing Gaps
Corstens also used the moment to call for government action on the visa process for international track riders, saying regional training centres and the thoroughbred breeding industry struggled to attract suitable staff at different times of year. He described the current immigration process as unnecessarily complicated and said streamlining it would help service the Victorian industry more effectively.
"I think the process could be simpler, a lot simpler than it is," he said.
