Membership has been the foundation on which Australian racing clubs have been built and its power base remains strong despite having a diminishing relevance on the balance sheet.
When a newly formed Australian Jockey Club decided it could no longer afford to be a tenant beholden to annual rent increases, it had a decision to make.
It was either move to another part of Sydney or risk being trapped in a lease cycle that had the potential to stifle its ambitions.
That was almost 170 years ago but given the fallout over the Australian Turf Club’s proposal to sell Rosehill, the observation that the more things change, the more they stay the same resonates strongly with the racing industry.
Under the AJC’s plan to relocate from Homebush to Crown Land at Randwick in 1860, the terms of a deal with the NSW government involved the annual payment of “one black peppercorn on demand”. Quite literally a peppercorn lease.
This post is for our free members
Thanks for your interest in The Straight. It looks like you are trying to access a free members article via an in-app browser on X, Facebook or LinkedIn. For the best experience, and instant access, sign on via the Social Sign In links below. You should only need to do this once.
If you wish to access or create an email-based account, please provide your email below. You will receive a link to click by email which will then open in your device’s native browser.
