Steve Keene resigns from Murrumbidgee Turf Club to take up position at Scone Race Club

Keene joined the MTC in February 2019 after a four year stint as sales and events manager at Racing Wodonga under Tom O'Connor.

He shocked the MTC on Friday when he offered his resignation.

Keene has accepted the role as the new chief executive at Scone Race Club.

"Over the last two and a half years the MTC has been very good to myself," Keene said.

"I wasn't looking to leave but an opportunity has come elsewhere that I couldn't really say no to."

Keene replaced Scott Sanbrook as chief executive and managed to deliver some outstanding results despite the interruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said it was a difficult decision to leave the MTC.

"It was. I had to weigh up a few factors and things like that. In the end I think I've made the right decision," he said.

"Time will only tell but on my career path, this was a good opportunity to work with some new faces that are very influential in the racing industry.

"It's an exciting time with what's been announced at Scone to really come in and work with them on the upcoming projects."

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Keene replaces outgoing chief executive Heath Courtney, who has been there since January 2017.

It is exciting times at Scone, who recently were awarded $20 million from the state government for projects such as a poly track and on-course stabling.

Keene will finish up at Wagga in mid to late August.

He said he has thoroughly enjoyed his time here despite sill living in Wodonga and travelling.

"It's been amazing. The club's been brilliant. I've been blessed to come to such a strong country club in my first role as CEO," Keene said.

"I think we've continued to grow.

The club was left by Scott Sanbrook in a really strong position and the club's been really fortunate to be able to grow on that and there are some really exciting projects coming up in the future.

"I'm leaving it in a strong position, the way I found it so I'm really happy with that."

Keene oversaw the first ever Wagga Gold Cup carnival that was closed to the general public in 2020, to one of the biggest in the club's history in 2021.

The success of this year's carnival, and the return of the Country Championships qualifier, are some of his proudest achievements.

"The success of Cup this year was quite a great couple of days," he said.

"To cement that as the biggest two-day carnival in Racing NSW, we're quite proud of that.

"It's not just me, it's a team effort and the next person will get quite an accomplished team and be able to keep the club moving forward."

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