Former AFL chief Gillon McLachlan won’t be Racing Victoria’s next chairman, ending months of speculation in a period of transition for the state’s biggest racing body.
As far back as February, McLachlan had been floated as the man for Racing Victoria and take the fight to Peter V’Landys run Racing New South Wales.
It would have been McLachlan’s first step back into the limelight after leaving the AFL at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
But it’s now understood McLachlan will not put his hand up for the role, with acting RV chairman Mike Hirst confirming as much on SENTrack’s Giddy Up.
“He has been very clear from the start that he wanted to settle a day job, he’s relatively young in terms of a corporate career and believes there’s another good role for him on a full-time basis and he wants to nail that down before he commits to anything else and I believe that’s a smart move on his part…” Hirst said.
Leading trainer Wayne Hawkes was the first to suggest McLachlan would not be joining RV in late May.
News Corp reports McLachlan could be announced as the CEO of Tabcorp in the coming days, a position that would exclude him from joining the RV board with a conflict of interest.
Hirst finishes up his tenure at RV on June 30.
Racing Minister Anthony Carines appointed two new directors to the RV board on Friday morning, Tim Rourke and Mark Player.
“A couple of really good decisions there,” Hall remarked.
As for Hirst’s replacement, RV director Tim Eddy, who has been on the board since 2019, is now the overwhelming favourite.
“Tim Eddy is $1.10 to take over, he’s already on the board…” Hall added.
RV is still searching for a new permanent CEO following Andrew Jones’ resignation in late April.
McLachlan has one of the best reputations of any sports administrator in Australia for his tenure at the AFL, where he’s credited with fast-tracking AFLW and steering the league through Covid.