The ‘agitators’ strike back – Racing NSW chair criticised for prize money-focused boast

Racing NSW chair Dr Saranne Cooke’s recent boasts about the health of the New South Wales industry have failed to assuage the doubts of a key industry group, which has called on her and the board to answer a trio of “important” questions surrounding governance.

The Racing Reform Group features influential NSW thoroughbred industry figures and was formed to coordinate industry response to the current review of the NSW Thoroughbred Racing Act being undertaken by former Health Minister Brad Hazzard.

On Monday, the RRG issued a response to a participants’ notice published by Cooke on behalf of the Racing NSW board last week.

In her notice, Cooke highlighted the growth in returns to NSW participants, comparing them to other states, and took aim at “a small minority of agitators have chosen to engage in divisive and personality-driven politics at a time when industry unity and stability are critical”.

While Cooke didn’t name those “agitators”, RRG believes the comment was related to a letter to the editor written by Yarraman Park principal Arthur Mitchell, one of its steering committee members, and published in The Straight and other publications last month.  

The group, whose steering committee also includes Brian Nutt, Helen Sinclair, Julia Ritchie, David Walter, Jason Abrahams and Will Johnson, has said the growth in prize money in NSW racing in the past decade should be commended, but that there are other measures which should also be applied to measure the health of the industry.

“Strong returns to shareholders alone cannot be the sole KPI for a modern sporting industry, nor any public company for that matter,” the RRG said in its response 

“Governance, transparency in decision-making, appropriate use of funds, the health of race clubs, infrastructure investment and long-term strategy are equally important to the health and future of our sport.”

It has asked Cooke to also address three other questions, which it says are important to the industry’s function.

The first regards whether CEO Peter V’landys is using industry money in defamation action taken against industry publication, The Thoroughbred Report, while the second seeks answers to the whereabouts of the strategic plan, which NSW legislation says the regulator must develop and release with industry consultation every three years.

The most recent strategic plan available on the Racing NSW website is for 2017 to 2019, while a draft strategic plan was released in 2024, but a finalised version has not appeared publicly.  

The third question from the RRG of the chair, is if there is a board response to the findings of the NSW Parliament’s Privileges Committee, which voiced its concerns in 2025 that Racing NSW had engaged in conduct that may have had the effect of deterring potential inquiry witnesses from coming forward to give evidence for fear of reprisals.

“These are serious questions of governance that go to the performance of the board and its chair, as well as the fitness for purpose of the current regulatory structure”, the RRG statement said.

The RRG said the characterisation of critics of Racing NSW as ‘agitators’ motivated by ‘self-interest’ risked deflecting what it said were “legitimate concerns that are held widely across the industry on many issues such as governance, welfare, infrastructure and education and training.”