Earlier VIC Night Finishes Still Too Late

A trial by Racing Victoria in December will see a Friday Moonee Valley-Cranbourne night double header to test punter engagement and feedback. According to smh.com.au, the trial is among changes to Victorian night meetings, which will also include an earlier finish. Champion jockey Damian Oliver is still concerned that 9.45pm remains too late for running the last event. Meanwhile, Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Jye McNeil brought to light a fellow jockey whose summons to the Stewards room at Moonee Valley saw him or her get home to Mornington at 1am ahead of 5am trackwork at Flemington that morning. This allegedly led to a careless riding charge at that day’s race meeting due to a lack of sleep by yhe jockey. In September 2017 the finishing time was pulled back from 10.15 pm to 10pm, but Oliver would still like to see a finish as early as 9pm. “I still think 9pm or 9.30pm is more reasonable from a participant’s point of view, as far as jockeys, trainers, all stable staff go; they’ve got to back up pretty early the next day and the main racing day of the week, being Saturday, is the next day,” he said.