The Australian racing industry has been stunned by a proposal to sell off one of its most famous tracks.
Rosehill Gardens in Sydney, home of the iconic Golden Slipper, could be sold in the next five years with the site developed with up to 25,000 new homes.
That could netthe Australian Turf Club up to A$5 billion, some of which will be used to improve Sydney’s other tracks at Canterbury, Warwick Farm and Randwick as well as build a new training centre at Horsley Park.
The ATC will investigate sites across Sydney that could be used to develop a new racecourse if that is deemed needed.
The sale and development comes in association with the NSW State Government as they look to ease the Sydney housing shortage and will ultimately require state government approval on many levels.
NSW premier Chris Minns said the project was a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
“The Government sees this as an opportunity to put its money where its mouth is and build more housing, close to transport links, with plenty of green space for new families,” he said.
“This is exactly the type of proposal my Government has been talking about over the last six months. The more supply we have, the more we can drive down cost-of-living pressures, whether it’s for renters or those wanting to buy their own home.”
ATC chairman Peter McGauran said the proposal was the most significant opportunity in the history of Sydney racing.
“This future-proofs Sydney racing for a century to come,” McGauran said.
“It will cement Sydney racing as the best, most modern and financially secure jurisdiction anywhere in the world.”
Champion trainer Gai Waterhouse was among those to condemn the plan and there is sure to be plenty more resistance in what looms as a long process before the final plans are confirmed.
Even if the sale eventually goes ahead it is not expected to affect racing at Rosehill for the next three to five years.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s racing editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
