Troy Corstens and Calvin McEvoy have weighed into the debate surrounding the size of Australia’s biggest training operations, with the pair discussing potential solutions during the Wednesday Agenda on SEN Track & RSN’s Giddy Up with Gareth Hall.

Corstens, the Australian Trainers’ Association (ATA) federal president, argued that restricting stable numbers was not the answer, while acknowledging the challenges facing the industry as leading operations continue to grow.

“You can’t restrict stable numbers, you just can’t do that. I’m going to get beaten up here because I’m the ATA federal president, but if you took the salary cap out of AFL Football, would you want to watch it in three years?

“It’s not right for me to sit here and say that Chris Waller and Ciaron Maher are getting too big, I just can’t do that,” Corstens said.

“In Hong Kong they restrict stable numbers but it’s completely different because the club pay the trainers. I don’t have the answer, but we need to talk about it.

“I spoke to Mick Price about it and he said two words to me, 'Be better',” Corstens said.

McEvoy agreed that imposing limits on stable numbers would have significant consequences for the industry, particularly for major operations employing large numbers of staff and generating substantial revenue. Instead, he suggested that metropolitan scratching policies could offer a more practical avenue for reform.

“Imagine if you said to Chris Waller who has however many hundred in work that he had to cap his numbers, all the staff he has, his revenue would just plummet. I think the issue could be fixed, if it became harder to scratch in a metro meeting,” McEvoy said.

“The last thing we want in metro racing is scratchings because it does no favours for turnover. So maybe if we did it more like the Hong Kong model, it would stop the big stables from scratching if they’re 50/50 on running.”

The discussion highlights the challenges facing Australian racing as its largest training operations continue to expand, with competition, employment, field sizes and betting turnover all part of the conversation.

While Corstens called for an industry-wide discussion rather than restrictions on stable numbers, McEvoy identified scratching policies as a potential area for change, leaving the industry to consider how best to maintain a competitive and attractive racing product.