'Racing over real estate': Rosehill opponents secure ATC directorships

Annette English, endorsed by the Save Rosehill lobby group, campaigned on the importance of the ATC being more than just its real estate, focusing on engaging the broader community and protecting the cultural and historical significance of Rosehill Gardens.

Tim Hale, returning for a second term, has also been a vocal opponent of Rosehill’s redevelopment, challenging the valuation estimates and advocating for a measured, member-driven approach.

Their election as ATC directors reflects the continuing resistance among ATC members to the sale, signalling a call for more strategic and inclusive dialogue about the club’s future. Both directors bring complementary strengths: Hale’s analytical scrutiny of the sale process and English’s vision for a more community-oriented, sustainable ATC offer strong perspectives at a critical time for the club.

A life rich with racing

English’s election to the ATC board marks the next chapter in a life deeply intertwined with racing and its community.

Some of her earliest memories revolve around racehorses. “It was a truly recreational pastime, punting on the horses,” English recalled, her tone warm with nostalgia. Racing was part of the family culture, with Sky Sports Racing replacing music in their household. English vividly remembers taking down notes on late scratchings for her mother during car rides to sporting events.

Her immersion deepened when she met her husband, Daniel Morgan, during law school. “He was training a racehorse, and that’s where it all went nuclear,” she laughed.

Morgan, the son of a prominent Scone vet and Master of Foxhounds, had extensive experience in the thoroughbred industry, which shaped their shared passion. The couple’s early success with the grey gelding Dangerous Liaison (Sovereign Filou {NZ}), a six-time winner, cemented their involvement in racing.

“That win at the inaugural Sunday meet at Randwick—it was addictive,” English said, recalling the excitement as Dangerous Liaison romped home at odds of 12 to 1.

Australia’s horse capital

“Life took us to the country and we bred horses, we raced horses, the world of breeding was a big part of our life,” said English. “We’ve been sponsors of the Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders Association for god knows how long. Daniel was chairman of the Scone Race Club committee, we were very enmeshed in that and we worked to bring it (Scone Cup Carnival) on to be the big race meeting that it is today.”

The pair dipped their toes into breeding, owning a small farm with a handful of broodmares and pinhooking prospects - “as is the recreational activity of anyone with acreage in Scone” - and had shares in several racehorses.

“I had the most unbelievable formula for the Melbourne Cup that worked ten years in a row - that was before the internationals came in and made it a lot harder!”

What the industry needs

English’s experiences made her fall deeper in love with racing and the racing community, and she could see a niche that desperately needed filling.

“Through all of that and because Daniel has been growing up working on stud farms, we understood the language and the issues in the industry,” English said. “So we basically drifted into what I’d call racing and horse law.”

The pair established Morgan English Commercial Lawyers in 2016, and quickly grew the business to meet the unique needs of the thoroughbred industry. In 2020, their hard work earned them the Australian Lawyers Regional Law Firm Of The Year.

“We did a lot of work with breeders then we opened our own practice in 2016,” English said. “Our legal work focuses mostly on the breeding side of the industry and we do a lot of work with vets and breeders, because a lot of their work is very transactional. We have handled stallion contracts and agistment.”

Morgan and English can name the local breeding giants of Arrowfield Stud, Darley, Newgate Farm, Cressfield, and Emirates Park among their clients over the years.

“We do a day of legal work with the Godolphin Flying Start programme, on all the things they might not know about. We go over all the legal parts, the agreements and registrations, the pitfalls on the business side that often people don't know about or consider.

“Racing is a business, there's a lot of money in the space, and it's about bringing those business smarts to the table.

“We also set up two other businesses that handle debt recovery and occupational health and safety in the industry,” she said. “We also do insurance and work with trainers and the like with debt recovery. We have a lot of trainers in that space. Health and safety is predominantly (for) farms, but also vet clinics.

“I know about a lot of parts of the industry that people often don't come across,” English said. “The idiosyncrasies of getting paid, about training, those sorts of problems. Once you're versed in it, you get a different perspective.”

And thus, her interest in being a part of the Australian Turf Club board was seeded.

A different perspective

“All of sudden you put your head up one day and say, ‘I actually know quite a lot about this industry in a way that not a lot of people do’.”

English brings a unique angle to proceedings, one that she believes will strengthen the ATC board: “I have the capacity to bring a different perspective. You get a lot of people who are invested in and love racing on the board, which I think is really valuable, but the more breadth you can get to the board, the better understanding you have of the consequences of every decision.

“I don't think many people understand that, while the ATC is Sydney-focused, it's really very much a larger community - if you're in the racing industry, it's almost like being in your own country. You get to know a lot of people within it and it's the lifeblood of regional areas.

“A lot of people that I know in the ATC come from the country, and it's a space for them to meet in the city and they're there because they truly love their horses and the community around that.”

English doesn’t claim to have all the answers - she is the first to say “there is a huge amount” that she doesn’t know yet - but she is determined to find them. One large question mark that continues to hang over the heads of ATC directors is that of Rosehill Gardens, and English was as horrified as any other racing industry participant when the Sydney Morning Herald announced last December that the track would be sold by the end of the decade.

More than just real estate

“The dialogue needs to be a broader dialogue than just about real estate,” she stated. “I grew up in Parramatta. There's obviously an emotional attachment for me to Rosehill.

“I'm in the industry and the first time I saw (the news) was on the first page of the Sydney Morning Herald! I thought, ‘how did I not know about that?’, and then I found out nobody knew about it either.

“I went out to Rosehill on the weekend and just watched. There's a very different community to Randwick, it was very interesting to observe that. What I saw the other day was so many bucks parties and people who work outside of racing. There’s a lot of young people in Parramatta, more than in Randwick, more people that are not necessarily hardcore racing people. I feel that gives us a lot of currency.”

She believes that there are ways to redefine Rosehill that do not require selling the asset entirely, “we need to explore other ways and uses, if we want to keep it. We need community spaces, green spaces. The community has lots of different needs, not just housing, so how do we bring that to the table?

“I think there also needs to be an increase in the breadth of racing. We need to engage the non-racing community more so that they value it as an asset as well.”

English has come prepared with suggestions. One option is a different form of membership with the ATC, one that’s less “preaching to the choir” and instead invites in people that wouldn’t necessarily be interested in racing - perhaps enticing them to come have a taste with free entry on select race days. Other ideas examine how to engage and welcome animal rights activists to the table, in order to explore their reasoning and work towards mutual understanding.

“We’re not combating the community,” she said. “We’re bringing them along for the journey.”

Ultimately, she worries that the opacity of the proposed sale will lead to the industry losing more than just one racecourse - it will lose trust in the community, and eventually stability for the future of racing itself.

“It’s about the future of racing, for the next hundred years,” she said. “There’s bigger strategic discussions to be had and sometimes the scare (of the sale) may be enough to get people to have a bigger dialogue.”

Real value

English is far from alone in believing that the clandestine proceedings surrounding the proposed sale, without engagement from industry members and with no clear answer about where to go next, is “crazy”.

“(Referring to) Rosehill as just an asset is exceptionally disappointing,” she said. “It’s exceptionally short sighted. There is a lack of vision for what this is bringing to a broader community, and to sell it off will have massive ripples and will diminish the power and value of racing in the community.”

English is keen to not see that value dip, particularly for an industry so dependent on the passion of its participants. Here is where her business and legal acumen can shine, and she has sworn to ensure that due diligence is done on any proposal set in front of her. Anything to steer the industry that she loves and is so deeply invested within in the right direction.

“The other thing I love about racing is it's such a leveler,” English said. “People you meet are from all walks of life and you're united by your love of the horses. When I go to the races, you're speaking to a whole bunch of people all of the time. You have access to such a broad community that I don't think many other places give you. It's full of true enthusiasm and passion, and everyone sits together and talks about their passion, without worrying where you've come from.

“I saw real value to that the other day at Rosehill. That's why it isn't just about the real estate. It's about the community and trying to broaden that community, and there's lots of ways that can be explored.”