Randwick at the Crossroads

The recent announcement by the AJC of the proposed metropolitan club merger and financial support from the State Government for renewal of the Randwick spectator facilities is good news for all of us.

Apart from the obvious strategic and financial benefits that will flow from the proposed club merger, the new funding will enable the merged club to increase spectator capacity and importantly the quality of the racing experience. In addition, if the “theatre of the horse” (or parade ring) is developed as is presently contemplated, Randwick’s facilities should be able to compete with the best racetracks in this part of the world. On that score the AJC committee should be congratulated for persevering in their negotiations with the State Government. The Government, for its part, also deserves a pat on the back for recognising the role that racing plays in Australian culture and the opportunities that will arise for “major events” of the racing kind at a renovated “headquarters”.

Naturally, in this transaction the devil will be in the detail. It is essential that the loan to the AJC is of a non-recourse nature and only repayable from Trackside revenues. The Club does not otherwise have the capacity, in the current environment, to sustain such borrowings. Presumably a proper due diligence of the Trackside concept, as applicable in NSW, and the AJC’s exposure thereto will be undertaken.

These developments mark only the beginning of the long climb back for Randwick. The challenge for the new metro club and Racing NSW is to deal with the fundamentals of racing and bring together the best talent available to improve the programming and presentation of our sport’s unique attraction, the racing event. This will require racing scholarship, a flair for marketing and a strategic approach at a level not previously seen in the club sector.

It is for this reason that I am concerned at the model selected for the composition of the merged club board. It is said that it will comprise of seven directors, two from each of the clubs and three selected by the two Clubs and Racing NSW. I am afraid this is unlikely to produce the very best governance model for what will become our largest and most important race club enterprise. It could, in fact, perpetuate the outmoded structure which has contributed to racing’s failure to compete with other leisure and entertainment options. At the very least, the clubs ought to be excluded from the selection of the “independent” directors.

Of equal concern is the concept of maximising non racing income through the intensive redevelopment of significant parts of the Randwick lease.

I can support a development proposal that is sensitive to Randwick’s primary role as a racecourse, and the jewel in Sydney’s racing crown. However, I believe the present generation has a responsibility not to cap the growth of the sport at Randwick by making irreversible decisions based on temporary circumstances. This is at the heart of my personal objections to the massive redevelopment that was, or is contemplated by the AJC as additional stages to the recently announced grandstand plans.

I do not share the AJC’s apparently negative view of racing’s future and I believe that appropriate structural reform of the race club sector and our ultimate success in the corporate bookmaker challenge can significantly change the landscape and indeed the possibilities for the growth of our sport.

We ought to acknowledge that the Randwick lease, granted for a peppercorn, was for the creation of a leisure park to include a provision for racing and training facilities for Thoroughbreds, and not as a development site required to yield investment profits[ irrespective of the future application of those profits]. It is for this reason that we have precincts like Centennial Park, the Botanic Gardens and Hyde Park which will always remain as they are and have been for a hundred years.

Likewise, we must preserve our 220 acre Randwick racecourse as the pre-eminent centre of racing and training in NSW. For this, it needs to have the beauty, tranquillity and functionality expected of a world leading equine park and it must offer scope for future growth. In my view, racing must remain the priority in any development that takes place at Randwick. A horse haven within 6 kilometres of the centre of the great city of Sydney is something very special – change that and it will lose its aura forever.

For this reason I believe that areas such as the stretch alongside the straight should be preserved for direct racing spectator dwellings only; office buildings and hotels should never be contemplated anywhere near that location.

Also I note that the High Street stables are to be relocated to an area near the mile start so as to vacate the High Street frontage for residential/commercial redevelopment. There is no doubt the training facilities at Randwick are in dire need of refurbishment. However, the intended area allotted to the new training facilities is only about 40% of that currently occupied by the trainers. With the space available at Randwick there is an opportunity to create a facility that would be the envy of any trainer or racing jurisdiction in the world. The stables should not be cramped into a reduced space dictated by the redevelopment of the land currently used as stabling, for commercial return. Any developments on the High Street side should, in my view, be restricted to land never likely to be of direct use for racing and training and the proposed dwellings and their occupiers should not interfere with the race day experience or the training facilities in a visual, traffic or other way.

Surely the AJC, led by its undoubtedly enthusiastic and hard-working board members, will not make such drastic and far-reaching decisions about a major industry asset without detailed consultation and review by stakeholders and others beyond the boardroom doors.

Randwick’s future must be shaped by a strategy that acknowledges its central place in the industry, and its immeasurable value to the sport, and to Sydney. That’s the best reason for making sure the new merged club board includes people who can think outside the club and beyond the present.