Penfolds ends partnership with Victoria Racing Club and Melbourne Cup Carnival
The Victoria Racing Club is dealing with another painful blow to the hip pocket.
Major sponsor Penfolds — Australia's most famous winemaker — is cutting ties with the Melbourne Cup Carnival and will no longer feature in Flemington's famous Birdcage enclosure.
Penfolds also had naming rights to the Victoria Derby.
It is a serious blow for VRC chief executive Kylie Rogers.
The VRC's financial issues are well documented and last year it was forced to cut jobs due to their grim fiscal predicament.
'After careful consideration, we have decided to end this partnership to shift our efforts and investment to other strategic priorities, with continued focus within the Australian market,'' Penfolds said.
'We remain committed to delivering innovative and disruptive Penfolds experiences to wine lovers and consumers.''
The VRC confirmed the news, saying the mutually beneficial partnership between would conclude in July this year 'as per the current agreement'.
'We look forward to providing an exciting update on new partners shortly,' the VRC said.
Last year it was revealed the VRC had suffered a $24.2 million loss for the financial year.
That result followed on from the previous loss of $14.9 million. In fact, over the past four years, the VRC has posted a combined loss of $70 million since splurging on a $128 million grandstand that opened in 2018.
The VRC has also borrowed $75 million from the ANZ bank, has invested in capital works projects around Flemington (from $7.3m to $11.1m in the last financial year), has been stung by climbing interest rates while facing a fall in industry distributions and wagering revenue.
Penfolds said it was proud of its achievements it had shared with the VRC, 'including three consecutive years delivering world-class experiences within Flemington's Birdcage'.
It is not known how much the Penfolds contract was worth to the VRC, but it has been reported that a significant part of it 'was made up of contra Penfolds product'.
Penfolds did serve its famous Grange — which retails for more than $900 a bottle (at its cheapest) — for wine tasting at the Penfolds Cup Week marquee.
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