Setting the stage

27 October 2022 • Written by VRC

Spring racing at Flemington has begun, and Cup Week is here. The smooth running of an event of this scale takes many hands, heads, hours and a lot of dedication and passion. We meet some of the people behind the scenes.

Leigh Jordon is Victoria Racing Club’s Executive General Manager – Racing and he has been a prolific part of Victoria’s racing industry for the past 35 years in a series of key roles. In 2006, he began managing the recruitment of international horses, helping to make the Spring Carnival a world-renowned event.

“I’ve owned horses and that gets in your blood. I can’t see myself doing anything else but what I am doing now.

The VRC and Melbourne Cup run through my veins and to be involved in the Carnival is fantastic. It’s a very busy week but to be part of one of the world’s best racing carnivals, and to have a leading role in how that unfolds, is a dream come true.

I’m responsible for all the horse areas on the course – from the horses arriving in the float carpark to the horse stables, the horses coming into the mounting yard and the mounting yard operation. On Cup Day we have full-time staff, including my operations manager and we have another person dedicated to looking after the owners and trophy presentations. We also have race day casuals and the track staff report to me, too.

It’s very busy as we look after horses and trainers and the winning owners. We have 37 races over the four days of the Cup Carnival and each race has to run like clockwork, so we begin reviewing the race programming and logistics early on. We start planning each Carnival at the start of the new year.

Track preparation happens all year round because we race through autumn, have a break, then race in April, May, June and July and at the start of August things ramp up in terms of preparing the track for the Carnival.

On Cup Day I get in at 7.30am and check every area, ensure we have the right race order, coordinate race times and I make sure the trainers are having a good experience. It’s a long day and things can pass by in a blur. But there’s nowhere else I’d rather be when the Carnival is on.”

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Setting the stage

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