Rosehill trainers supportive — but guarded — of plan to sell racecourse

If the plan to sell Rosehill racecourse goes ahead, Group 1-winning trainer Richard Freedman believes there needs to be adequate support and compensation for those affected.

Trainer Richard Freedman.

A majority of Rosehill Gardens trainers would support a radical plan to transform the racecourse into a new Western Sydney suburb but only if a proposed state-of-the-art training facility made the potential track closure a viable option for their stables.

It was revealed on Wednesday that Rosehill racecourse could be set to be ripped up and turned into a new community with up to 25,000 homes, a metro station, and a school.

The bombshell proposal from the Australian Turf Club is being considered by the NSW government and was only disclosed to Rosehill trainers just hours before the news went public.

READ | ‘The saddest decision’: Gai slams call to sell off Rosehill

Despite being kept in the dark, most trainers said they would support the idea if adequate compensation was provided and a new training complex at Horsley Park ensured they were not disadvantaged compared to other Sydney stables.

The proposed Centre of Excellence training facility at Horsley Park would be built alongside the International Equestrian Centre, to cater for current Rosehill trainers.

Upgrades to infrastructure and stables at Royal Randwick, Canterbury and Warwick Farm would also be made under the plan.

If the plan is to go ahead, Group 1-winning trainer Richard Freedman believes there needs to be adequate support and compensation for those affected.

“There are seven trainers being asked to uproot their businesses and to a large degree their lives,” he said.

“People will have to move and their children to shift schools. They are asking those seven trainers and their stables to carry the load for the rest of the industry.

“As long as those trainers are adequately compensated and supported and if the benefit is substantial, and is going to be substantial for the industry, then I am sure we can all entertain it.

“No one moves somewhere for it to be just as good, or slightly better, it has to be substantially better than what we’ve got now.”

Freedman, who trains with his son Will, added at the moment there were “more questions than answers” about the proposed project.

Trainer Gerald Ryan.

It is understood the plan could generate as much as $5 billion for the ATC, which they say would be reinvested in the industry.

Trainers Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou were understanding of the enormous financial impact it could have on racing in the state but were adamant that the money needed to be spent accordingly.

“If it’s a benefit for racing then it is alright,” Ryan said.

“At the end of the day it’s a lot of money and there is no use arguing about not being able to train there because there won’t be a racecourse.

“If they look after us and build what they said they are going to build for us, then I am all for it.

Trainer Lee Curtis.

“If they are getting that much for it, the new place would want to be up to scratch.”

Fellow Rosehill Lee Curtis, who trains with his wife Cherie, believes the Horsley Park complex had to be among the world’s elite facilities if it was to be a success for impacted trainers.

“They are going to upgrade Randwick, so it will be fantastic, then you are training down at Horsley Park where they don’t have races so is an owner going to give you a horse to train down there if they have to go elsewhere? It needs an attraction,” he said.

“If it has a hook and that hopefully it will be the facilities. Hopefully it’s like ‘oh my God, what a place to train, it’s the greatest place to train in Australia’.

“That would override that but if it’s equal to Randwick, they are going to give their horses to a Randwick trainer.”

David Payne, a trainer of more than 100 Group 1s, has been training in Australia since 2002 after making the move from South Africa has seen first hand the benefits of training centres.

“I think it’s a win-win for everyone,” he said. “I come from South Africa where we had a training centre that was much better for horses. It was open.

“Let’s race it. Rosehill for horses is a concrete jungle. They are out of the box, on the walker and then back in the box so I think it’s a win-win for sure.”

Under the proposal, the ATC would search Metropolitan Sydney to find a location for a brand-new, world-class racetrack.

Alexiou says finding the right location for that venue will be crucial to the future of Sydney racing.

“There is no good doing up Canterbury and Warwick Farm if there is no second metropolitan racing track because all the money they are getting is just going to plummet with turnover if they don’t sort something out,” he said.

Every stable that has their main training base out of Rosehill Gardens was contacted for this story.