Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
On August 20, Racing NSW officials attended Berkeley Park Stud in the upper Hunter Valley, within half an hour of many of the country’s commercial stud farms. They established that registered owner and breeder Neale Bruce had disposed of 13 Thoroughbreds. Eight had been shot and five had been sent to Kankool Pet Food’s meat processing facility.
Bruce had neither sought permission from the stewards to euthanise the horses nor engaged a veterinarian to assess them. The stewards found there were no extreme circumstances requiring immediate euthanasia. Bruce’s actions breached Racing NSW Local Rule 114(4), which also prohibits knowingly sending horses to an abattoir.
According to the stewards’ report, released in early November, Bruce admitted guilt at the earliest opportunity, cooperated with the inquiry and provided additional evidence during the investigation. In 45 years in the Thoroughbred industry, he had never previously been disciplined by the stewards.
The stewards determined that the seriousness of the breaches warranted a disqualification of 14 years and six months. They reduced it to six years and six months in recognition of Bruce’s cooperation and personal circumstances. During that period, he cannot own or care for Thoroughbreds or earn income from the Thoroughbred industry in any capacity.
The disqualification was backdated to August 20 and runs until February 20, 2033.
What the stewards found
The report gives little detail about Bruce’s circumstances. The stewards accepted that “genuine welfare concerns” influenced his decision to euthanise three horses, Acadiens (Vancouver), Kitty Purring (Bobby’s Kitten {USA}) and Tennessee Mischief (Desert Prince {Ire}). For a fourth, Mia’s Got Class (Rothesay), they took into account the “particular custodial and financial circumstances” that had left Bruce responsible for the mare.
The decisions to destroy Starskin (Star Witness), Riverina Bella (All American), Winta Chiller (Artie Schiller {USA}) and a yearling filly out of Lustrous (Flying Spur) were motivated by “financial and commercial considerations”, the stewards said.
Of the five horses sent to Kankool, Cindarockinrella (Fastnet Rock) had been dropped out of the studbook. The other four were 3-year-olds ineligible to race because of incomplete mare returns or late foal ownership declarations. The stewards acknowledged that the circumstances in which Bruce had been left to care for those horses influenced his decision.
Four young horses were ineligible to race and still needed daily care. The stewards accepted that three others raised genuine welfare concerns, and that money was a factor in the decisions concerning five of the eight horses Bruce shot. Those are the pressures the report identifies. It gives little detail about how they built up, what options Bruce explored, or whether he asked anyone for help.
The bills keep coming
Berkeley Park Stud was still trading. It took drafts to the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale and the Magic Millions Gold Coast March, National Yearling and National Broodmare sales this year, offering stock by a range of local stallions. As recently as February, the stud was buying stock at digital auctions.
Its past drafts include recent winners Heart Of Vienna (Jonker) and Exceed The Sale (Exceedance), and 21 foals born in 2025 carried the Berkeley brand, some bred for clients and others for the stud itself.
Record sale results tell part of the story. Further down the market, margins can disappear quickly. Demand shifts from sale to sale, and what a horse makes can depend as much on the market it walks into as on the horse itself. By the time a yearling enters the ring, the breeder has already paid to raise it and prepare it for sale.
Magic Millions National Yearling Sale | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Then there are the costs of keeping the farm going. Feed can cost more and have to come from further away, particularly as summer approaches. Fuel, veterinary bills, retaining good staff and maintaining the property all have to be paid for, whatever the last draft made.
An injury or an administrative error can wipe out tens of thousands of dollars in potential income. The four 3-year-olds in the report show one consequence of incomplete paperwork. They were ineligible to race, and Bruce still had to care for them.
For farms keeping horses on behalf of clients, there can also be a gap between doing the work and getting paid. Sometimes the money never comes.
The stewards’ report gives no account of any unpaid bills at Berkeley Park. It does record that the circumstances in which Bruce was left responsible for several of the horses influenced his decisions. For as long as a horse remains on a property, someone has to feed it, provide shelter and see to its care every day.
What can the rule prevent?
Bruce was responsible for the horses in his care. Even where the stewards accepted he had genuine welfare concerns, he acted without a veterinary assessment or the stewards’ permission. A serious penalty was warranted.
How did a breeder with 45 years in the industry and no prior disciplinary record reach the point of disposing of 13 horses? The report gives some of the circumstances behind individual decisions, but leaves much of what happened before August 20 unexplained.
The rule sets out what owners must do before euthanising a Thoroughbred and prohibits knowingly sending one to an abattoir. Is the rule, as it stands, the right way to prevent what happened at Berkeley Park?
Mares and foals | Image courtesy of The Image Is EVerything
Its practical test comes when an owner calls the stewards and says they can no longer afford to keep a horse and have found nobody to take it. What can Racing NSW do at that point? How quickly can it act, and who pays for the horse’s care while a decision is made?
Several of the mares Bruce disposed of produced foals in 2025 that have not been through a public sale, and it can be inferred from studbook records that there may be others on the property.
The Thoroughbred Report has reached out to Racing NSW to ask what has happened to the remaining horses at Berkeley Park.
"This matter remains subject to an appeal," said a Racing NSW spokesperson. Bruce is appealing the severity of the penalty only.
"Mr Bruce has been provided with a reasonable period of time to arrange for all horses in his care to be relocated. Racing NSW’s Integrity and Welfare Departments continue to monitor the welfare of the horses identified at the property and ensure compliance with horse welfare requirements.
"Further, Racing NSW continues to monitor Mr Bruce’s compliance with the prohibitions to which he is subject to as a disqualified person."
Tomorrow, we will look at the options available to breeders in that position, how the approval process works in practice, and whether changes to the rule or the help available to owners could prevent another case like Berkeley Park.
