Breeders’ body blasts Greene’s return to the Racing NSW board

NSW Racing Minister David Harris’ decision to select former director Kevin Greene to return to the Racing NSW board has drawn the ire of Thoroughbred Breeders NSW chairman Hamish Esplin who has described the decision as “bitterly disappointing”.

Esplin, a respected breeder and head of TBNSW since 2021, says his objection is nothing to do with the professional capability of Greene, the former Racing and Gaming Minister who previously served on the Racing NSW board from 2011 until 2018, but everything to do with the sign it sends the rest of the industry.

“TBNSW is extremely disappointed at the announcement that the best candidate that they could find for a new appointment to the Racing NSW board was a former member,” Esplin told The Straight.

“I have not met Kevin Greene, and I have not met (newly elected chair) Saranne Cooke at all, so this is not a personal comment on their skills.

“But we have just gone through several months of very public statements about the role of corporate governance of Racing NSW and the involvement of government in the decision-making as to what goes on there, in respect to leadership.”

Esplin said that despite the “calamity that occurred” with the attempt to extend the board term of previous chairman Russell Balding in December, the government had chosen a previous board member.

“What kind of message does that send to everyone else in the industry when you pick someone who has been on the board before and can only get back on because of a change to the legislation in 2019? That was derided at the time by industry participants as being out of touch,” he said.

TBNSW took the unprecedented step of writing to Minister Harris in November to express its legal concerns over the attempts to extend Balding’s time on the board.

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Esplin said it was one of two new moves involving advocacy for the interests of its members. The second was to employ a lobbyist to connect to the government.

“Many people may not know that, but I’m happy to let them know. It’s on the public record,” he said.

“That was done with the desire, not to be negative, but to build some relationship with government because we have none, and we don’t have anything where there is an exchange of ideas,” Esplin said.

“The world has changed in terms of organisations like Racing NSW and certainly race clubs.

“Once upon a time it was a dinner jacket-type of place and you sit in a room, you put on a few races, but the world has changed, money has changed everything and now these issues have massive ramifications.”

Esplin said the recent reaction to the proposed sale of Rosehill as well as the political issues with the Racing Victoria board were other examples of the broader concern and discontent about the decision-making of PRAs and race clubs.

“What kind of message does that send to everyone else in the industry when you pick someone who has been on the board before and can only get back on because of a change to the legislation in 2019? That was derided at the time by industry participants as being out of touch” – Hamish Esplin

But he said that discontent has been boiling along for several years, with the Rosehill debate, which involved significant interventions from Chris Waller and Gai Waterhouse, just the latest flash point.

“In our view, that discontent was sewed several years ago. The first instance was when they extended the board terms from eight to 10 years in 2019,” he said.

“We said it again when they wanted to extend the board terms again. We have made that point over several of those issues.

“Yes, there seems to be a headway of people who are disappointed with the way the industry’s assets and the future of the industry is being managed, but we would say, these issues have been manifesting for a time and they haven’t listened to participants like TBNSW.”

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Esplin said the board appointment process was “opaque” and he believes that a rule precluding anyone from sitting on a related industry board like TBNSW from nominating for the Racing NSW board for 12 months was counter-productive.

“Those who clearly have an involvement and an interest and a desire to promote this sport and come from a variety of backgrounds are not able to put their name forward,” he said.