A man was arrested in relation to a Jan. 7 fire at Caulfield Racecourse that caused extensive damage to racecourse facilities.
Police have confirmed that a 51-year-old was arrested at Mordialloc railway station at about 1:45 p.m. local time after reports of several grass fires in the area.
The arrest came almost eight hours after firefighters descended on the racecourse following reports of a fire in the Norman Robinson Stand. Sixty-five firefighters and 16 firetrucks attended the incident before the blaze was put out.
The fires at Caulfield and Mordialloc have been treated as suspicious, with Racing.com reporting there is closed-circuit television footage of a person allegedly lighting the fire in the Caulfield grandstand.
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“Investigators are investigating links between the three grass fires, in the vicinity of Attenborough Park and reserve in Mordialloc about 12:30 p.m. and the grandstand fire this morning,” a Victoria Police statement read.
“The man, whose last known address was in Wangaratta, will now be interviewed by detectives.”
No one was injured in the Caulfield blaze, but repairs are estimated to cost millions of dollars, with the club expected to be without the Norman Robinson Stand, the 1876 Bar, and the Medallion Bar for next month’s Blue Diamond Stakes Day.
Melbourne Racing Club chairman John Kanga said repair works will start as a matter of urgency.
“We are going to rebuild and make it bigger and better,” he said. “We are fully insured and we will start as quick as we can. There won’t be any delays.
“The positive thing is no one was injured. It’s pretty ugly, a lot of superficial damage to the bars. Structurally it will be fine. We will rebuild it accordingly.”
Incident controller at Fire Rescue Victoria Dennis Smith said there was “significant” damage done to the grandstand by the fire.
“Thankfully with their quick work and some really good work from the internal fire systems, they were able to stop it from spreading to the adjoining grandstands,” Smith said.
“It [the grandstand] is timber, so it burnt pretty well. The 1876 bar behind has also been impacted by fire.
“This area, being such an old building, there was potential for it to become a very significant fire. It could have been a lot worse.”
Caulfield’s Heath track was set to host a meeting on Wednesday, but the fixture will now take place at Mornington.
“Whilst the racing surface was not impacted, building surveyors, health officials and investigators are currently inspecting the venue,” an RV statement read.
“Accordingly, the MRC believed it was in the best interests of all parties to make the call now to transfer tomorrow’s race meeting to avoid any further disruptions for participants and patrons.
“Mornington was deemed the most appropriate transfer venue with Sandown still a few weeks away from its planned resumption following a major renovation.
“Race times, field sizes and prize-money will remain unchanged at Mornington, with the first race at 3:40 p.m. and the last of eight races at 7:30 p.m.”
