Local racing's baying press gallery were thrown a bone yesterday with the appointment of a new stipendiary steward for next season.
Jamie Stier joins the panel of embattled chief stipendiary steward Clinton P. Pitts Jnr and will replace South African-born Andrew Erasmus, whose contract the Jockey Club did not renew.
Stier has worked in the racing industry in his native Australia for 13 years and is considered one of a new breed of stipes.
He was the second person to graduate from the Australian Jockey Club's innovative cadet stipe training programme, which was the first of its kind to insist on a high level of formal education as well as a horse-racing background, and has worked for the past 13 years in the industry.
Stier is currently deputy chairman of stewards under Ray Murrihy at the New South Wales Principal Racing Club.
His appointment adds muscle to the panel which came in for staunch criticism in the wake a series of controversial decisions during the season, which closed on Sunday.
Still in his 30s, Stier will be the youngest member of the five-man panel.
