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The Australian Turf Club has claimed Racing NSW owes it nearly $10 million in withheld payments as the high-stakes court battle between the two took a fresh twist on Friday.
The Sydney racing club spent months fighting a move by Racing NSW to sideline its board, enjoying victory last week when a judge ruled the regulator’s appointment of an administrator was invalid.
Racing NSW has vowed to appeal and on Friday the power struggle in Sydney racing took a new turn as the ATC alleged in court documents that the regulator had ceased making monthly payments of $7.5 million in TAB takings since January.
The ATC says it is owed $9.45 million by Racing NSW as a result.
The sum the club alleges it is owed includes top-up payments Racing NSW has made over the past four years to cushion the impact of declining returns from totaliser betting.
According to court documents, Racing NSW agreed in 2023 to a monthly rather than a quarterly payment schedule to assist with its cash flow, and to top up TAB distributions to the club to $80.4 million each year. The top-ups totalled $12.2 million in the 2025 financial year.
But in an email sent to then ATC chief executive Matt Galanos on July 31 last year, Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys said the monthly frequency of distributions and the top-ups were both discretionary and “a gesture of goodwill”.
The monthly payments continued to be made late last year but they ceased after the ATC took Racing NSW to the NSW Supreme Court in December, challenging the regulator’s intervention in its affairs.
“Is your client turning off the tap or not?” Justice Francois Kunc asked Racing NSW’s barrister, Oliver Jones SC, as the parties returned briefly to court over a separate dispute related to the alleged theft of food and drinks from racecourse cold rooms by staff.
Jones said he did not intend to speak on that on Friday and the case was adjourned until May 1. Racing NSW is yet to formally respond to the allegations.
The way in which the industry is funded has been raised during the club-versus-controlling body legal tussle.
Race clubs like the ATC, the largest in Australia, are contractually paid TAB wagering fees, and hundreds of millions of dollars in betting-related taxes from gambling on racing are distributed by Racing NSW.
Racing NSW sought to install an administrator at the ATC, citing financial management and corporate governance concerns with the club, which operates Royal Randwick and which owns Rosehill Gardens, Warwick Farm and Canterbury Park racecourses.
The court found in the club’s favour, determining that Racing NSW’s function was to control, supervise and regulate “the racing of galloping horses” rather than off-track, commercial matters.
Racing NSW has made clear it will contest the decision at the Court of Appeal, saying the funding of the industry could be jeopardised if its powers were limited to on-track issues.
While the club and regulator remain at odds, Sydney racing is in the midst of its showpiece autumn carnival and one of the highlights of the calendar, the $5 million Golden Slipper, will be run at Rosehill on Saturday.
Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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