Ambassadors
The Victoria Racing Club is delighted to have the support from a number of Australian racing and sports most highly regarded personalities who have made guest speaking appearances at international dinners, cocktail parties and national networking events.
Bruce McAvaney OAM
Described as "The Master Sportscaster", Bruce McAvaney OAM is a trusted sports broadcaster in Australia. Bruce started his career in radio in 1976 and moved across to television two years later.
He has since gone on to host and commentate nearly every mainstream sporting event around the world. This includes the winter and summer Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Melbourne Cup Carnival, Australian Open, Australian Masters Golf, World Athletic Championships just to name a few.
He is synonymous with thoroughbred racing and the Melbourne Cup Carnival and plays a leading role as host and commentator during the Carnival. Bruce McAvaney OAM has won numerous media awards and is a Channel 7 media and sports personality.
JB (Bart) Cummings AM
Bart Cummings AM sobriquet is "The Cups King" and rightly so. He has won Australia's greatest race, the Melbourne Cup a record 12 times.
The quietest of all turf achievers, Bart Cummings became a licensed trainer in 1953. He bought his first yearling in 1958, and he won his first feature race, the South Australian Derby, in that same year. Ever since, he has proceeded to smash all records with 244 Group One victories to his name. Bart's reputation is world renowned for his timely precision with a racehorse. Bart is applying the same zest to winning his 13th Emirates Melbourne Cup as he did to winning his first.
Lee Freedman
Lee Freedman, trained his first winner in 1983 and had his first major success in 1986. During a stellar 22 year career, he is only the third trainer to ever achieve 100+ Group One winners and the youngest trainer to be inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. Lee's record boasts an incredible 4 Melbourne Cups, 4 Caulfield Cups, 4 Golden Slippers (in a row), countless other feature races including Derby's and Oaks and more than 3,000 winners.
In 2005, he prepared super mare Makybe Diva for her third Emirates Melbourne Cup win in a row, and thus creating Cup history. In June 2007 his champion mare Miss Andretti blitzed her rivals to win the King's Stand Stakes (1000 metres) at Royal Ascot.
Guy Grossi – leading Australian Chef, presenter & food media personality
Guy Grossi is globally recognised as a leading Australian chef and food personality. For more than twenty years he has owned and managed numerous renowned Melbourne restaurants. He is devoted to Grossi Florentino and sister restaurant, the aesthetically inspiring Mirka at Tolarno Hotel. Guy launched into his career early under the watchful eye of his father, Pietro, a renowned chef himself who was instrumental in defining the true pleasures of the Italian table in Melbourne. In 1996 Guy received an award from the President of Italy in recognition of his contribution to la cucina Italiana abroad.
Guy's insights spring from incredible love and passion — a personal quest for that delicate balance between revering traditional, time-honoured fundamentals and Often involved in numerous projects simultaneously, Guy is the author of two exquisitely presented and definitely delectable books: Guy Grossi ~ my Italian heart and Grossi Florentino ~ Secrets & Recipes, which won the Australian Food Media Book of the Year Award in 2004. Guy also enjoys sharing his insights and ideas through culinary demonstrations, radio and television appearances. In addition to contributing to public speaking forums and making corporate appearances, Guy Grossi acts as consultant on various projects, developments and special events.
A highly acclaimed food connoisseur, he has played an integral part in developing the food and wine culture surrounding Melbourne and the Melbourne Cup Carnival. In 2010 the VRC went looking for a Celebrity Chef with the task of designing the menus for the International Melbourne Cup Tour, Guy was instrument in creating culinary delights at the Tokyo, Los Angeles, Dublin and London international events.
