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ATC and the future of Rosehill
The future of Rosehill Gardens is the single most important issue impacting the future of thoroughbred racing in NSW, so Save Rosehill is encouraging members to ask ATC Board candidates to be fully explicit about their position on the proposal to sell Rosehill Gardens. No evidence has yet emerged of a viable alternative to Rosehill Gardens, if it were to be sold for development, and we know that first-class racing in metropolitan Sydney cannot prosper without a second Group-One quality track alongside Royal Randwick.
It is Save Rosehill’s view that the ATC leadership should not have entered into a memorandum of understanding with the NSW government to sell the Club’s most important asset, without first having identified and secured another Group One racetrack in western metropolitan Sydney. As a consequence, we believe the ATC Board should withdraw from the sales process it is undertaking with the NSW Government.
In the upcoming election, we believe that candidates’ positions on the threat to sell Rosehill should be a threshold issue when members consider their vote. Save Rosehill is confident that ATC Board candidates Annette English and David Walter understand the vital importance of preserving two Group One racetracks in metropolitan Sydney and are opposed to the sale of Rosehill Gardens if there is a possibility this principle may be compromised. We believe these two candidates possess the necessary governance skills and commercial acumen to contribute to the future of our Club. We respectfully ask you to consider voting for these candidates.
The Save Rosehill campaign is supported by many highly respected leaders in the racing industry who are also members of the ATC, including Julia Ritchie (former AJC Vice Chair), Debbie Kepitis, Matt McGrath (former ATC Chair), Frank Cook, Greg Kenny (former STC Vice Chair), Neil Werrett and Jason Abrahams.
A number of leading Sydney trainers have already publicly expressed support for the campaign.
The Save Rosehill Group submission to the NSW Legislative Council Inquiry is available here: https://www.parliament.nsw.
Please feel free to contact us via hello@saverosehill.com if you wish to discuss this.
Public hearing - Select Committee on the Proposal to Develop Rosehill Racecourse
Evidence given by Kiersten Fishburn, Secretary of the Department of Planning, is well worth listening to because it confirms the Brick Pit at Homebush is not an alternative to any development and questions the narrative of how the total redevelopment of Rosehill Gardens came into play. Evidence given by Terry O’Brien of the Office of Racing confirms its very limited role in any meaningful discussion of strategy in racing’s future and the Premier’s Chief of Staff evidence creates even more questions than answers about how this proposal actually came about.
Sydney Olympic Park Authority CEO rejects ATC's endangered frog assessment
Video evidence by Sydney Olympic Park Authority CEO rejecting ATC Chairman’s assessment of the endangered frogs and why the brick pit’s development potential is so severely limited.
Errol Chant letter to the Board of the Australian Turf Club
Dear Directors,
RE: YOUR CHAIRMAN MR. McGAURAN
I refer to the recent letter to members from Mr. McGauran dated 26th August 2024 sent after evidence was recently given by a range of interested parties at the Parliamentary Inquiry.
A number of serious concerns have emerged from that evidence and Mr. McGauran’s letter including the following:-
Special report on a possible contempt in the inquiry into the proposal to develop Rosehill Racecourse
Rosehill inquiry committee asks the NSW Upper House to refer Racing NSW correspondence for investigation because it may constitute a substantial interference with the work of the committee and therefore be a possible contempt.
Latest video evidence from the NSW Select Committee Inquiry
- Julia Ritchie responds to NSW CEO accusations and Jason Abrahams explains Save Rosehill's concerns about process and governance at 05:01:53
- Racing NSW CEO makes extraordinary claims against industry participants who made submissions against Racing NSW at 02:48:00
- ATC Board members Caroline Searcy and Tim Hale on members’ frustrations, governance and valuation concerns at 01:18:00
- Racing NSW’s Garry Charny on governance challenges in racing and lack of facts about the proposed sale of Rosehill at 01:48:32
- ATC Chair Peter McGauran and key executive Steve McMahon take questions on how the proposed sale of Rosehill came about at 00:16:23
Latest from the NSW Select Committee Inquiry
- Gai Waterhouse’s powerful opening statement (00:03:15)
- Leading Trainer John O’Shea on the absurdity of selling Rosehill and industry’s broken funding model (00:09:00)
- Former AJC Chair David Hall’s perspective on the industry’s power dynamics (01:19:11)
- Thoroughbred Breeders’ Hamish Esplin on breeders’ governance concerns (05:18:00)