Sydney trainers are pushing for a delay to a stable rent price hike after the Australian Turf Club hit its tenants with a 10 per cent rise on its daily fee with just a week’s notice.
The ATC, in an email to trainers on Monday, informed them that it would increase its per-box charge to the cohort based at its three city centres of Randwick, Rosehill and Warwick Farm from $11.50 to $12.65 a day.
The timing and communication of the fee increase, which is set to take effect next Monday, have angered the Sydney training fraternity, with its representative body airing its concerns to recently elected ATC chair Tim Hale on Wednesday.
After meeting with NSW Trainers’ Association chief executive Richard Callander, its chair Richard Pegum, and board member, Group 1-winning trainer John O’Shea, Hale has agreed to take their grievances back to his fellow board members, with a response due within the next 48 hours.
Hale, who was elected chair in July as the replacement for Peter McGauran, acknowledged the trainers’ concerns about the 10 per cent price rise, which is set to occur two months into a new financial year, but defended the ATC’s position.
“The difficulty, of course, is that we have increasing costs, the costs of maintaining the facilities and the (training) services, and the view of the ATC is to reinvest a percentage of these increases for further upkeep and maintenance across the stables and training facilities,” Hale told The Straight.
“We have to budget ourselves; we have to do our own budgets, just like the trainers have to do their own budgets … but I am taking Richard Callander’s concerns back to the board, and I've also had discussions with John O'Shea and Richard Pegum (about the issue).”
Callander said “we know the ATC is under financial pressure, but that doesn't mean they just look at their first target being the trainers to get some quick money”.
“As I said to Tim, it's all about communication. Just imposing a charge on us (trainers) with no explanation as to why and with a five-day effect, it just isn't good business governance,” Callander said.
“Most businesses will forecast what their costs are going to be (for the next financial year) in May, then they can plan for that, and my trainers have done that with their businesses … and then out of the blue, a 10 per cent hike in rent appears out of nowhere.
“Tim has taken our concerns back to the board and he'll come back to us this week and we have urged them to delay any increases until we get the opportunity to sit in a room together and have a discussion about what the best way forward is.”
The ATC suffered a $7.9 million loss on the upkeep of its training and tracks, spending $20.5 million on maintenance and infrastructure, which generated $12.4 million in returns.
It is estimated that the stable rent increase will generate an additional $500,000 in income from Sydney trainers annually for the ATC, which has about 1200 boxes across Randwick, Rosehill and Warwick Farm.
Callander revealed that he wrote to the ATC on Sunday, as rumours had been circulating that the club was about to increase stable rent, with confirmation expected on Monday via an email to trainers following a board meeting.
“The whispers had become too loud that this is happening, so I wrote to them asking, ‘is it happening? Why have you not spoken to us about this?’,” the trainers’ association chief executive said.
Trainers will have to consider whether their businesses can absorb the extra rental costs or pass them on to their owners.
