Racing NSW backs Warwick Farm plans, says it won’t seek Rosehill proceeds

Racing NSW has thrown its support behind the Australian Turf Club’s $802 million renovation of Warwick Farm and indicated it won’t seek any part of the $5 billion windfall the ATC would receive from the sale of Rosehill.

In two letters sent to ATC chairman Peter McGauran last week, Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys outlined the regulator’s position on two key issues that ATC members are closely considering ahead of the vote on the $5 billion Rosehill proposal on May 27.

It is the first official statement on the Rosehill issue from Racing NSW since it used its power to abandon the initial member vote, scheduled for April.

The ATC last week released the full details of the $802 million plans to renovate Warwick Farm, making it a Group 1 centrepiece of Sydney racing.

The plans for essentially two tracks, the course proper and the inner A grass track, have the approval of V’landys and the Racing NSW board.

“Racing NSW provides its support to the plans for the proposed redeveloped Warwick Farm on the basis that the two new racetracks at Warwick Farm (new course proper and A-grass) will be superior from a competitive racing point of view to those being replaced (Rosehill Gardens racecourse and the current Warwick Farm Course Proper),” the letter said.

V’landys told a parliamentary inquiry last year that “The current board policy of Racing NSW is that they need to replace Rosehill.”

The Warwick Farm plan would now appear to meet that requirement.

Furthermore, another letter guaranteed Racing NSW’s support of the governance structure from the ATC’s future fund, which will control the $5 billion, should the government opt to sign on to that deal.

It also confirmed that Racing NSW had no intention to seek to recover any of the $5 billion in sale proceeds, except for the loans it was owed by the ATC.

V’landys and then-chairman Russell Balding had raised the governance and the management of funds by the ATC from a possible Rosehill sale in a meeting with government officials in November 2023.

It is clear from the letter that is no longer a concern for Racing NSW.   

The letters were part of the ATC’s broad rebuttal to members of what it says are several misrepresentations put forward by Save Rosehill.

The ATC says two of the 10 contested points, each of which are branded with “WRONG” alongside them, are answered by the letters from Racing NSW.  The first is that the “ATC may not control the funds” and “No secured, viable alternative to Rosehill Gardens. Warwick Farm is not a suitable replacement”.

On Save Rosehill’s argument that “selling Rosehill means losing top-level racing”, the ATC tells members that “Sydney will still have two premier Group 1 racecourses: Royal Randwick and a fully rebuilt Warwick Farm, which will have dimensions superior to Rosehill Gardens for more competitive racing”.

The ATC denies that a promise made during the AJC/STC merger not to sell any racecourses would be broken, as that period expired in 2020.  

It also said it is wrong to suggest that there is no transition plan for trainers or racing, pointing to a 12-month consultation plan it will implement should the proposal proceed.

“In our draft plans, no trainers at either Warwick Farm or Rosehill Gardens will need to relocate for at least two years. The new Racing Advisory Board will also provide advice and input on transition plans,” it says.

The ATC has also denied that the $5 billion price tag is not guaranteed, saying the resolution ensures the Rosehill sale would only proceed on that agreed price.

“Payment will be secured through a legally binding contract with the NSW government, which will provide a mechanism to safeguard payment,” it said.

The ATC said it has secured land for a training centre, pointing to the announcement this week it has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire the Penrith Golf Club for $350 million.

It denied its loyalty program, a $57 million package involving free membership and free food and drink, was a gimmick, but instead “aims to increase race day attendance and membership by encouraging current members to bring new visitors to experience ATC’s facilities and the excitement of racing”.

Suggestions that the vote would permanently remove the members’ right to decide on the future of Rosehill were also wrong, according to the ATC’s missive.

“If the deal negotiated with the government changes from what is in the resolution or falls through entirely, Rosehill Gardens remains ‘core’ property, and members’ rights are preserved. 

Finally, it denied that the deal could be characterised as a betrayal of western Sydney.

“The ATC will invest over $1 billion dollars in Warwick Farm and the new racing and training centre at the Penrith Golf Club site. This is a resounding endorsement of western Sydney.”   

The ATC requires a majority of voting members to approve the resolution at the extraordinary general meeting at Randwick on May 27 for the proposal to then be passed on to the state government for consideration.