Exclusive: Stablehands speak out over concerns horses at Melbourne’s famous track are suffering due to event noise
It’s home to the Melbourne Cup and has become a de facto venue for some of Australia’s biggest festivals, drawing international acts and tens of thousands of fans every summer.
But just a short distance away, those working at the Flemington racecourse stables say the events are creating problems for an unseen audience.
Allegations made by three stable hands that concert noise is causing distress to horses just 500 metres away have been collected by Victoria’s Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and referred to animal welfare authorities.
The Victorian Racing Club (VRC) said Flemington had been “safely hosting outdoor events in line with its EPA permit and conditions for more than a decade”.
While the EPA says it has no evidence that suggest noise limits have been breached, the three stable hands – who work in the 18 stables located on Flemington’s Stables Drive and spoke to Guardian Australia on the condition of anonymity – say the music was nonetheless loud enough to cause distress, and at times seemed louder than was permitted.
“I can’t sit back and watch the animals suffer,” one says.
“The racecourse has moved completely away from what it’s meant to be. It’s no longer about the racing, it’s now a rave venue.”
The stable hand had been concerned about music events at the racecourse for some time but says they came forward after “over-the-top” house music events in mid-December.
At 9pm during one show, that stable hand received a text asking them to come to the stables to help “calm the horses”. When they arrived, they say it was “out of control”.
“They were going berserk. They wouldn’t stop moving around in their stables, jumping around – some were even rearing,” the stable hand says.
“It was clear to anyone who saw them that they were distressed – and who could blame them? The music had such a heavy bass I could feel it in my chest. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for them.”
The stable hand says they were concerned that the animals could injure themselves.
“These are million-dollar horses, owned by some of the most prominent families in racing.”
Another stable hand says horses at their stable were also distressed during the same event. They say they had to put them on a walker to keep them occupied, and used a combination of hoods and earplugs “on the more nervous ones”.
“Horses are pretty resilient, they can handle noise, but the frequency of events has definitely increased and they are getting louder and louder,” they say. “There’s also been an increase in use of pyrotechnics – the lights and smoke – which spooks the horses.”
The third stable hand alleges it is now “common practice” to place horses under their care in padded hoods before events to mitigate the noise.
Complaints have been made to the EPA, which, under its legislation, is only able to assess noise-related risks of harm to human health and the environment.
They have referred the complaints to Animal Welfare Victoria for investigation. Animal Welfare Victoria did not respond to request for comment.
Christophe Delaire is the chief executive of Marshall Day Acoustics, which previously studied the impact of noise from the 2008 Big Day Out on horses stabled at Flemington. He says the horses generally showed “little response” to the music, except when it was associated with visual stimuli or when it involved “short bursts of high-pitched singing”.
“I will save you trying to guess which act was doing that – it was Björk,” Delaire says.
“The horses were, funnily enough, much calmer when Rage Against the Machine were performing.”
He says the EPA limit for outdoor events of 65dB fell within the range of noise horses experienced in the stalls during the 2007 Melbourne Cup carnival, which was 55-70dB. In the mounting yard, the noise during the carnival was even louder at 76-78dB.
But Delaire says the advice provided in 2008 remained the same.
It is understood that it is the VRC’s practice to have a licensed veterinarian within the stable precinct for the duration of outdoor events and during sound checks.
In a statement the VRC said: “We value our relationship with the local community and have a range of measures in place to manage sound levels, including an onsite independent sound acoustician to ensure outdoor events remain within the specified EPA limits, operate a hotline for residents, and provide a post event report to the EPA.”
The VRC has become more reliant than ever on non-race day events. According to its annual report, they had a “record year” in 2023-24 with 10 major events, drawing 360,000 people and generating more than $5m in revenue.
The same year, the club reported a $24.2m deficit, building on a $14.9m loss in 2022-23.
February is expected to be the racecourse’s biggest month yet, kicking off with the trance music festival Dreamstate on Sunday, followed by Laneway (headlined by British pop star Charli xcx) on 14 February and Knotfest (a festival created by metal band Slipknot) on 28 February.
In a notice to nearby residents, the VRC said the three events would attract 80,000 people.
Georgie Purcell, an Animal Justice party MP, criticised the VRC for putting animals at risk and says most festivalgoers “would be outraged” if they knew the horses remain on site during the event.
“They are taking a risk on the lives and wellbeing of these animals with every event they host,” she says.
The noise is not just an issue for the horses. In nearby Leonard Crescent, residents have expressed frustration over the sound and frequency of events.
One elderly resident says she moved into a nearby apartment complex five years ago with the understanding there would be spring racing and other occasional events.
“I have no issue with that,” she says. “But lately, the events have become so loud that I have had to put the subtitles on the TV because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to hear it at all.”
Another woman who has lived in the same building for 10 years says there were issues with traffic management and antisocial behaviour by festivalgoers on their journey homes.
Both have contacted the EPA, which confirmed it received 20 noise complaints regarding music events at Flemington in the past year.
