‘They have erased my grandfather’s name’: Ex-horse breeder slams Caulfield over race change
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Former small-time breeder Bill Cockram has accused the Melbourne Racing Club of stripping his family name from the organisation’s history books because he “stood up” to former chairman John Kanga last year.
Cockram said he was devastated to find out last week that the MRC had changed the name of the group 3 Cockram Stakes to the Courtza Stakes, “erasing” a race named in 1992 in honour of his late grandfather.
Bill Cockram (right) presents Mick Sharkie with the 2016 Cockram Stakes trophy won by Ocean Embers.Racing Photos
Cockram said he was never contacted by the club about the change. The Courtza Stakes will be run on Saturday, August 29.
“It is the lowest act that a racing club can do, and to not notify the family, to completely erase the race, you know, honestly, I have no words … it is a disgrace,” he told The Age.
“They have just put a line through my grandfather’s name. ”
The Cockram Stakes was named after the late Wally Cockram, a former vice chairman of the Victorian Amateur Turf Club, which now trades as the MRC and governs Caulfield, Sandown and Mornington racing clubs.
The MRC said its committee changed the race name as part of a review ahead of its 150th anniversary celebrations this year.
The club also changed the name of the group 3 Moonga Stakes to the Harry White Stakes in recognition of the Australian Racing Hall of Fame jockey.
“These were decisions of the Melbourne Racing Club committee, made in what it considered to be the best interests of the club and to better recognise its history through the naming of its feature races,” the club said in a statement.
The club said it stood by the decision. Courtza won the 1989 Blue Diamond-Golden Slipper double.
But Cockram believes the decision stems from last year, when he was critical of the MRC and Kanga’s leadership.
The Age reported in August last year that Cockram was banned from the club’s committee room, claiming he was told by club CEO Tanya Fullarton during a phone call that “Kanga was uncomfortable” being around him.
But the MRC told this masthead Cockram’s invite had been revoked because he had been “rude and aggressive towards staff”. Cockram denied the allegation.
Kanga resigned as chairman on the eve of last year’s Caulfield Cup after questions from this masthead about his car being used in a drug trafficking case. Kanga denied any wrongdoing and was never accused of any crime.
He was replaced on the board by racing powerbroker Jonathan Munz, who stepped in as vice chairman under Cameron Fisher.
Bill Cockram (second from right) with winning connections of the Cockram Stakes in 2017, won by Savanna Amour.Racing Photos
“It does not take Einstein to work out that this decision has been made because I stood up to John Kanga, and now you’ve got Munz in there [on the board],” Cockram said this week.
“And now the committee as a whole has just completely bent the knee to this decision.
“My grandfather would be turning in his grave. Dad’s been fighting cancer for two years, and they forget that all the members own this race club, not the committee, not the chairman, the members, and they’d be horrified.”
Kanga rose to become MRC chairman in October 2024 by toppling the board in a move backed by Munz. He later appointed Munz’s associate, Fullarton, as acting CEO of the racing club.
But Kanga told this masthead on Thursday he no longer had any involvement in the naming of races or any other decisions made by the MRC.
“Considering I have had no involvement with the Melbourne Racing Club since my resignation in October 2025, any suggestion that I had anything to do with this is simply incorrect,” Kanga said.
“Personally, I recognise and respect the significant contribution the Cockram family has made to Victorian racing over the years, and I wish them all the very best for the future.”
Cockram said his family had been attending the Caulfield committee room for more than 20 years to help present the Cockram Stakes trophy, a tradition he was about to hand down to his son, Ted.
“They knew last year that my son was about to take over the role of representing our family – a fourth generation,” he said.
John Kanga resigned from the Melbourne Racing Club board last year.Eddie Jim
“And these people on the committee have been in racing five minutes – five minutes compared to our family’s four generations, and now they are erasing history. It’s just so disappointing.”
But the MRC said Cockram was not a member of the club, had never held an official role at the club, and had “made no contribution to the Melbourne Racing Club”.
“His dealings with the club have included unacceptable behaviour towards staff and outrageous and unsupported allegations and public statements,” the MRC said.
“He is unwelcome at the club, and his sense of entitlement is entirely inappropriate.”
Cockram admitted that he faced a magistrates court in 2018 on an assault charge – he was fined $1000, without conviction – but said that had nothing to do with his relationship with the MRC.
He said the court appearance, stemming from an incident in Bannockburn, involved him standing up for a female friend and her children because they were frightened, and he would do it again.
He has also continually denied being rude to MRC staff.
“They never ever gave me any explanation [for the committee room ban last year],” Cockram said.
“There was nothing. In fact, it was all lies. They lied to the members, they lied to me, they lied to the public, and now they’ve erased the race.
“They’re not doing it for the good of the club. It’s a downgrade. They’ve erased the history of a man who was honoured.
“With all respects to a wonderful racehorse [Courtza], it’s a downgrade, and they think that’s appropriate?
“This is beyond a joke. How can you just erase this wonderful person from the history of the racing club and put a good racehorse in his place?”
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