JOHN Brumby has weighed into the 'Midgets' Cup' controversy, saying the Cranbourne event was hurtful to small people.
Mr Brumby said today he realised people had different views about the race but he thinks it should not have happened, the Herald Sun reports.
"What occurred may well be humorous to many people but I think the test is whether it's hurtful to people and what occurred is quite hurtful to a number of people,'' he said.
“So I think it's tacky.''
But one of the dwarf "jockeys" involved in a race at a country cup that has triggered a furore, angering racegoers and the Racing Minister says it was “all in good fun”.
Professional entertainer Jeremy Hallam said this morning he thought if anyone should be going into bat for dwarves, it should be dwarves themselves.
The 50 "Midgets' Cup" held at the Cranbourne Cup has angered racegoers and Racing Minister Rob Hulls, who has described the event as "an embarrassment.
Three punters piggy-backed the dwarfs, wearing racing colours, in the race which saw one dwarf fall and crash headlong into the turf, but was unhurt.
Champion jockey Damien Oliver and racing officials also say people should "lighten up".
Thousands of racegoers watched the race at Sunday's Cranbourne meeting.
Mr Hallam said he was surprised at the uproar.
“I think there was nothing wrong with it. It was all in good fun. The people were involved for a bit of a laugh and a bit of entertainment, which is what we were there for,” he told Neil Mitchell's program on Radio 3AW this morning.
“It wasn’t too over the top. I didn’t see it as degrading, because it was taken professionally, so I don’t see any problem with it.”
“We were all told about the gig … and we could have put our objections up, but we were all fine with it because we are entertainers and we’ve done a lot of work like this before.”
He said the entire performance was “handled professionally”.
But he was open-minded about whether people were now too politically correct to see the funny side of the performance.
“Everyone has their own sense of humour … each to their own I guess,” Mr Hallam said.
But Mr Hallam was adamant about his own limits, when asked if there was anything he wouldn’t do for entertainment.
“Definitely wouldn’t be tossed. Definitely not. But apart from that, as long it’s professional and I can see the funny side in things and not just taking the piss, then definitely.”
In fact, Mr Hallam took his performing so seriously, he had established a company hiring out dwarves for entertainment.
While he was taken aback at the reaction, "then again I’ve been in my fair share (of controversy) … when I was the dwarf in the Jagermeister shot pouring thing last year.”
During that controversy, Mr Hallam, found himself at the centre of a storm over promoting binge drinking after he strode topless along a St Kilda bar handing out free shots of Jagermeister.
Photos of that incident sparked equal measures of anger and applause.
The stunt was sanctioned by the Racing Victoria Limited marketing department.
But Mr Hulls said the race was an embarrassment and would do nothing to promote the racing industry.
He said he was puzzled by what it hoped to achieve.
"At a time when racing should be fighting hard for that discretionary dollar and fighting hard to get young people back to the track, this type of event does nothing to promote the industry as vital, modern or innovative," Mr Hulls said.
Meredith Tripp, former president of Short Statured People of Australia, said events that made fun of short people made it harder for them to get through life without being subject to ridicule.
"For a big corporate group, seeing some sort of comical side to such an event is unfortunate," Ms Tripp said.
"We hope to it make easier for short-statured people to participate in society without being bullied or laughed at or stared at. But things like this set us back a little bit."
Dozens of racing fans who contacted the Herald Sun yesterday were outraged by the midgets' race.
But RVL boss Rob Hines said it was just a "bit of fun".
Mr Hines said he was not at Cranbourne, but saw the stunt on YouTube.
He said RVL had canvassed the support of the Victorian Jockeys Association, including Oliver.
"The little guys were dressed up in jockey silks and that was the purpose of it. They were basically jockeys on punters," Mr Hines said.
"We would be very surprised if any of the jockeys on the day had any issue with it.
"From what I gather they all thought it was a bit of fun.
"It was done as a bit of fun, that's all it was. If we have offended anyone then we apologise to those people."
Oliver said he thought the race was "hilarious" and added "people should lighten up".
Victorian Jockeys Association chief Des O'Keeffe said he had concerns when the race was first mooted.
"It had potential for a shemozzle," he said.
Mr O'Keeffe said he wondered if there would be any upside to the stunt.
"I had an awful feeling about it, but the feedback from my members was that they were not offended," he said. "But I can understand if some people were - it was very odd."
Cranbourne Racing Club chief Neil Bainbridge said the club received no complaints on the day.
"I'm surprised to hear of any negative feedback. It was never put on to be distasteful to anyone," he said.
Mr Bainbridge said the event was an RVL initiative staged in conjunction with his club.
Source
Midget Cup Racing Video
