Bailey off to Singapore

Racing Victoria searching for a new chief steward

LEVIATHAN owner Lloyd Williams has blamed a lack of high-level support from Racing Victoria executives for the departure of its chief steward Terry Bailey, saying a failure to publicly back him had eventually “worn him down”.

A six-time Melbourne Cupwinning owner, Williams said he could understand why Bailey had quit to take up a position as chairman of stewards in Singapore, given he received little or no recent public support from Racing Victoria chief executive Giles Thompson and other racing administrators.

News Corp this week detailed that speculation on Bailey’s future was rife late last week — sources suggesting he had told close associates of his plans — with confirmation of a long-mooted move to Singapore coming early yesterday.

“Having had a lifetime of experience in racing, I have been disappointed in the fact that the chief steward has had very, very little support from the powers that be,” Williams said yesterday.

“As a former major employer … it is incumbent on the chief executive to support his general managers in public.

“That hasn’t happened and if you don’t support the people who are in your management positions, why should they (stay)? I think they have worn him down.”

Williams admitted Bailey had been “uncompromising” in his role, but said: “If you want to be the custodian of integrity, you need to be uncompromising.”

Williams yesterday also expressed his frustration that too many modern racing administrators do not have the same grassroots, ‘hands-on’ feel for the sport that their predecessors had. Racing Victoria will immediately launch a farreaching search for a new chief steward.

“Terry has given tremendous service to Racing Victoria for more than a decade and he has our support and best wishes as he embarks on the exciting next chapter of his career abroad,” Racing Victoria chief executive Giles Thompson said.

Bailey, who took over from Des Gleeson as chief steward in 2008 but who has been with Racing Victoria for 13 years in total, will work through until July 11 before taking a short leave of absence.

It ends his contentious reign as RVL’s chief steward, where he was never far from the headlines during a time of significant upheaval in Victorian racing.

He was in charge during the long-running and messy cobalt saga that dragged on through a number of judicial hearings across several years and split a number of participants in the industry on the matter.

He was also at the helm during the Aquanita Racing scandal which came to light on Turnbull Stakes day last year, and led to the suspension of a number of high-profile racing identities, including leading trainer Robert Smerdon.

Bailey was involved in a bitter feud with jockey Danny Nikolic, with Nikolic deemed “not a fit and proper person” to ride in this state after verbally abusing the steward.

The unflappable chief steward also revealed he had received death threats during his time in the role.