News

Horse racing's future on line

20th Jul 2009

Herald Sun - Adrian Dunn - Monday, 20 July 2009

SYDNEY broadcaster and racehorse owner Alan Jones will chair what is deemed a "crucial meeting to discuss racing's future" with a who's who list of invitees.

While designed to thrash out issues relating mostly to New South Wales racing, several Victorians will attend the meeting on Friday week.

Moonee Valley Racing Club chairman Bob Scarborough, Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners' Association chairman David Moodie and multi-millionaire owner and breeder Jon Munz will join a host of prominent NSW breeders who called the meeting.

Arrowfield Stud principal John Messara, Coolmore's Tom Magnier and Gerry Harvey, one of the country's biggest owner-breeders, are among the NSW-based signatories.

The meeting will focus on the issues that are potentially threatening racing's future, with corporate bookmakers' fees to the industry pivotal.

Corporate bookmakers and Racing NSW are embroiled in a legal battle over what is a fair and equitable payment method: turnover, as Racing NSW insists, or gross profits, as corporate bookmakers claim.

A court decision is not expected until November, but its ramifications will flow to Victoria, where corporate bookmakers pay a product fee of 10 per cent of gross profits -- a figure bumped up to 15 per cent during the spring carnival.

According to the invitation, the reductions in prizemoney recently announced in NSW could spread to other states if the issue is not addressed.

"This situation threatens the livelihoods and jobs of thousands of participants - not just in NSW but Australia-wide. We simply cannot afford to stand by and watch the industry we love decline in this way," the letter states.

"The greatest strength of Australian racing has always been mass participation whereby small owners, trainers, breeders and other participants make a major contribution, at every level, to racing's economic success and popular appeal.

"A downward trend in prizemoney will change the character of Australian racing, so that it will more closely resemble British racing, where accessibility is restricted to a wealthy few."

The signatories vow to "fight to preserve our industry and to grow it in the interests of all" and to back Racing NSW's defence of legal action brought against it by some of the corporate bookmakers in relation to the payment of appropriate fees.