Cover image courtesy of the Australian Turf Club
While Sydney was waking up on Monday morning with heavy hearts over Sunday's Bondi Beach shooting, Racing NSW sent out an early morning press release announcing they had appointed an administrator to “conduct the affairs of the Australian Turf Club (ATC).”
The events around the Bondi shooting are still being investigated by state and federal authorities, but as at Monday afternoon, 15 people had died in the shooting which targeted the “Hanukkah by the Sea” event and has been labelled as a terrorist attack. Randwick Racecourse is approximately 6km from Bondi Beach.
TTR extend our deep condolences to those affected.
From Show Cause to a court appearance
On Monday morning, Racing NSW announced they had appointed an administrator to operate the Australian Turf Club. Racing NSW has gone through this administrator process for other clubs under its jurisdiction with administrators appointed for Wyong and Queanbeyan in 2014, as well as Hawkesbury and Tamworth in 2021. At this point in time, only Hawkesbury remains under administration.
“Racing NSW has appointed a professional administrator who will report to a committee to be established. This committee will be constituted of the necessary expertise and may include a mix appointed from current ATC Board members, ATC members using a best practice skills matrix and other suitable persons,” said the Racing NSW press release.
“This committee and administrator will replace the functions of the Board of the ATC. The day-to-day operations will continue to be managed by the ATC’s executive team and there will be no impact on the conduct of race meetings or events at ATC venues.
“This administration period will provide an opportunity for the ATC to improve its financial performance, address the serious financial issues and develop a robust and best practice long term strategy for the club, using the best possible skills and expertise.”
This statement appears to outline that Racing NSW has already appointed an administrator. TTR emailed Racing NSW to ask who had been appointed, and to enquire about the process that would be used to appoint the committee.
A Racing NSW spokesperson replied to TTR on Monday, confirming the appointment by saying, “the administrator is from a high profile accounting firm and has the appropriate experience for the role.” Racing NSW also stated in the email to TTR that the process around the appointment of the committee would be confirmed soon.
The ATC position and response
The ATC owes $30 million to Commonwealth Bank in the form of a loan due to be repaid by October 2026, and also a further $145 million interest-free loan to Racing NSW that is repaid conditionally on the sale of a major asset. However, the club has assets worth multiple billions of dollars, making the decision to appoint an administrator a difficult one to reconcile.
On Monday afternoon, the ATC released the following statement.
“The ATC Board does not accept that Racing NSW has the legal power to remove or displace the duly appointed directors of the Club, or to install an administrator in their place. The Board remains in office and continues to regard itself as the lawful governing body of the ATC under the ATC Constitution, the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the Australian Jockey and Sydney Turf Clubs Merger Act 2010 (NSW)," said the ATC statement.
“The ATC Board does not accept that Racing NSW has the legal power to remove or displace the duly appointed directors of the Club, or to install an administrator in their place.” - Australian Turf Club
“Given the position now taken by Racing NSW, the ATC has no choice but to seek urgent relief from the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The Club will ask the Court to determine whether Racing NSW has any power to appoint an administrator to conduct the affairs of the ATC in place of its Board, and to examine the way in which this decision has been reached, including questions of predetermination and independence.
“Pending the Court’s determination, the ATC Board will continue to act in what it considers to be the best interests of the Club, its members and the broader racing industry. Day-to-day racing and events at ATC venues will continue as scheduled, and the Club’s focus remains on delivering safe, successful race meetings and high-quality experiences for participants, members and customers.
“As this matter will shortly be before the Court, the ATC will not be making further detailed comment at this time.”
The case will be heard at around 10am AEDT on Tuesday, December 16.
Engagement in the process is disputed
Racing NSW made the claim that the ATC could not prove their ability to properly govern the club and its future.
“Throughout the Show Cause process, the ATC Board was repeatedly invited to provide detailed submissions, present its proposed strategy to improve the Club’s financial performance, its future solvency and respond comprehensively to concerns regarding corporate governance,” said the Racing NSW statement.
“Specifically, the ATC Board was unable to demonstrate it could develop and implement a strategy to improve the commercial performance of the club, or rectify the serious financial issues. Further, the corporate governance concerns had not been appropriately addressed.”
“The ATC Board was unable to demonstrate it could develop and implement a strategy to improve the commercial performance of the club, or rectify the serious financial issues.” - Racing NSW
The ATC statement disagrees.
“Throughout the show cause process, the ATC has engaged constructively and in good faith. The Club has provided detailed written submissions, extensive financial and strategic material, and independent expert advice addressing the issues raised by Racing NSW.
“The Board rejects any suggestion that it has failed to develop or present a coherent strategy to improve the Club’s commercial performance or to address governance concerns and does not accept the characterisation of its response in Racing NSW’s statement,” the ATC statement said on Monday afternoon.
How did this stoush begin?
The proposed sale of Rosehill racecourse by the ATC began a long and involved saga that has led to this showdown in the NSW Supreme Court. During the past two and a half years, there has been many threads to this process, including the NSW government inquiry.
Let’s go all the way back in time to 2023 when the first whispers about a proposed sale of Rosehill first began to be heard. The first official announcement of the proposal occurred on December 7, 2023, and from there, after some political football was played, in May 2024, the NSW Legislative Council established a Select Committee to investigate the proposed sale of Rosehill Gardens.
The inquiry was prompted by concerns over the use of the Unsolicited Proposal process, the lack of early consultation with ATC members, and questions around government involvement.
During the inquiry, in August 2024, Racing NSW CEO Peter V’landys denied any misconduct and accused critics of running a smear campaign.
Peter V’landys | Image courtesy of Racing NSW
The NSW government inquiry’s final report was tabled in December 2024. The inquiry led to the establishment of a review into the Thoroughbred Racing Act of NSW. This review is ongoing and the opportunity to make submissions has now closed.
The inquiry report noted that it received confidential evidence raising allegations of bullying and unacceptable behaviour within Racing NSW, including concerns from whistleblowers that pointed to a culture lacking transparency and accountability, serious enough for the Committee to recommend a separate inquiry into the organisation’s governance.
The current funding model is not part of the review into the Thoroughbred Racing Act, nor is the relationship between the NSW government and Racing NSW.
The ATC's funding is tied to wagering, but not to the Racing NSW race fields or point of consumption tax income. Racing NSW's annual report of 2025 states, “$315.9 million was received from other wagering revenue from Racing NSW initiatives.”
According to Racing NSW, “A frequent claim is that ATC should simply receive all wagering revenue generated by betting from all wagering operators on all its races. Based on this claim, the ATC would receive $80.1 million. The actual money it receives from Racing NSW from wagering highlights why this argument is absurd given that in 2025, the ATC actually received $233.1 million in total funding from wagering revenues (TAB distribution + Racing NSW contributions). That’s $153 million more than the ATC generated itself.”
This statement outlines the difference between income received from direct wagering versus income Racing NSW has gained through the race fields income, despite being earned on races held at the ATC.
A month before the final report was released, on November 28, 2024 at the ATC AGM, Tim Hale was re-elected as a director on the ATC board and Annette English became a new director - both strong 'no' sale campaigners. Leading into the final vote on the sale of Rosehill by ATC members, the ATC board was effectively split between Team Yes led by Peter McGauran, and Team No lead by Tim Hale.
Members voted in May 2025 with 56.1% against the sale of Rosehill and 43.9% in favour, with 4413 members voting “No” and 3451 voting “Yes”.
The No vote changed the leadership at the ATC
The no vote resulted in an ATC board shake up with Peter McGauran resigning as chair and as a director on July 10, 2025. Tim Hale was appointed chair on July 21, and Caroline Searcy was appointed vice-chair.
Peter McGauran | Image courtesy of the Australian Turf Club
Things seemed quiet for a couple of months as everyone grappled with the result.
And then on September 16, 2025, ATC CEO Matt Galanos was asked to resign his role. Galanos had been in the role for two years, having previously been the Chief Financial Officer for the decade prior. This period covers much of the time leading up to the proposed sale of Rosehill, which was deemed ‘necessary’ by then-Chair McGauran who cited a financial decline by the club due to falling wagering figures.
On September 16, Steve McMahon was promoted to interim CEO. Four days later, club-elected director Ben Bayot and government-appointed director Natalie Hewson submitted their resignations from the board, citing governance issues as a key reason. This left the ATC with a board who had largely been on ‘team no’ for the sale of Rosehill.
Ben Bayot | Image courtesy of the Australian Turf Club
The current ATC Board consists of Chair Tim Hale, Vice-Chair Caroline Searcy, and Board of Directors David McGrath and Annette English. There are two vacant positions after the resignation of Bayot and Hewson. The process to elect new Directors is a lengthy one, so a three-month gap is not unusual.
Almost immediately following Bayot and Hewson’s resignations, on Friday September 19, Racing NSW sent a Show Cause email to the ATC citing concerns around governance. The deadline to respond was initially two weeks, but this was extended due to the timing of The Everest and the Sydney spring carnival.
During the week following the Show Cause notice, Racing NSW sent out a Participant’s Bulletin alleging that RNSW has been heavily subsidising the ATC with both operating and capital funding, that it had bailed the ATC out on numerous occasions, and that the PRA was concerned about governance going forward.
This is all a moot point now. An administrator has been appointed. The ATC will defend themselves in court.
Plenty on for Racing NSW
It's been a busy end to the year for the legal professionals engaged by the New South Wales industry regulator.
The Racing NSW court appearance on Tuesday to face off with the ATC follows legal letters sent to TTR, The Straight, and ANZ Bloodstock News late last month. The follow up to this is ongoing.
It was covered by the Australian Financial Review's Mark Di Stefano on Friday, including discussion around who was paying the legal bills.
At the same time, Racing Australia is under immense pressure from the Asian Racing Federation's Pattern Committee about the lack of an Australian Pattern Committee over the last eight years, with Racing NSW remaining at odds with the other states on the topic.
There’s no quiet transition into Christmas for Racing NSW's leadership and directors. Nor for the Honourable Brad Hazzard, as he delves deeper into the review of the NSW Racing Act, continuing to engage with industry stakeholders, ensuring that their voices are heard amid ongoing discussions.
