Racing NSW and Racing Victoria "might have had all the goodwill in the world to change the race times for The Everest and Caulfield Guineas meetings but once again neither would blink to make it happen," according to Chris Roots of THE AGE. Instead, punters will have "only 15 minutes" between the A$10M ($7.8M) Everest and A$2M ($1.5M) Caulfield Guineas on Saturday, "when the eyes of the sporting public are almost exclusively on racing." It is a "disappointing result for a sport that remains divided along state lines." It might "affect the bottom line for the day," which the TAB is "expecting to break records" and be behind only Melbourne Cup day in terms of turnover. It took free-to-air provider Channel Seven to "make the two regulators aware of the packed schedule last Friday and it took until Tuesday afternoon for any changes to be made certain." An offer and counter-offer were made, but no agreement could be struck and the times, "which had been in place for many months," stand. Racing NSW CEO Peter V'landys said, "Unfortunately they wouldn't change their times. We tried and they were set on what they wanted and we couldn't accommodate it." Racing NSW GM Scott Kennedy worked on the schedule, which "would have changed several meeting times to secure The Everest clear air in the lead-up, but it was rejected by Racing Victoria" (THE AGE, 10/11).
