Booze, punts and fancy hats: What it’s really like at Rosehill on race day
The proposal to sell Rosehill racecourse for housing has upset the punters who are loyal to the fortnightly races.
By Kayla Olaya
Rosehill Gardens Racecourse, with Parramatta in the background, has been earmarked to be transformed into a “mini-city”.Credit: Nick Moir
Arrowfield Stud owner John Messara points over the lawn to a chestnut horse called Autumn Glow with the jockey in the yellow and black checks.
He tells me to put my luck on it; after all, Messara had paid $1.8 million for the yearling, and it was her first race. Midfield during the race, Autumn Glow strikes at the post and wins.
Connections pump their fists in the air, engage in hugs and retire to the winners’ room where Messara and his family are greeted with champagne and canapés.
It’s a scene played out every second Saturday at Rosehill before a typical crowd of 4000 people. Days such as the Golden Slipper can draw up crowds of up to 20,000.
But the famed track has become a flashpoint in Sydney’s housing crisis.
Owners, trainers and jockeys trackside at Rosehill Gardens racecourse.Credit: Sydney Morning Herald
What has become a political battleground for multibillion-dollar housing and transport projects is a racecourse with an extensive history, loyal members, up-and-coming stars and tenured industry figures.
At a parliamentary inquiry in early August, Australian Turf Club chairman Peter McGauran made the point that Rosehill’s race crowds didn’t fit the demographic of the “high Indian population” in the Parramatta area.
Nestled inside the M4, Parramatta Road, Victoria Road and James Ruse Drive, is the 60 hectares of prized land that has the NSW government, Australian Turf Club (ATC) and Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys all making heart-eye emojis for a sale.
That’s if ATC members agree to sell. Here is what they had to say.
In the caller’s box at Rosehill racecourse.Credit: Sydney Morning Herald
The members
Jocelyn and Frank Pride have been members at the ATC since 2012, and attend every meeting. They always sit at the same table and enjoy the race from the window, and when asked how they felt about the track potentially being sold, they say: “Absolutely devastating.”
“We love Rosehill,” Jocelyn says. “Randwick is much more difficult to access. Here, we can park easily and there’s a trolley that brings us right to where we need to go.”
Coleen Brennen sits at sunny table with a group of girlfriends, who have just opened the first bottle of champagne of the day. They’ve all come out from Penrith, and this is an occasion that brings them together.
“If it was a vote, I’d be voting no. I am part of a group called the thoroughbred girls. We own shares in not only in horses, but promoting for women in racing,” Brennen says.
“From a woman representative, pretty much all of us don’t want this sale to go through, and we would vote no.” Her girlfriends all nod in agreement.
“It’s a premier track”: Paige and Zach Churcher and Gabby Nutt.Credit: Sydney Morning Herald
Paige and Zach Churcher and Gabby Nutt all work in the racing industry, and say Rosehill means more to them than just a job – it’s a premier track where punters want their horses racing.
“There’s so much history here, and I think it’s an iconic track of Australia, and it’d be such a shame to see it go,” Zach Churcher says.
Other members, such as William Clegg and Judith Shaw, have expressed in letters to a parliamentary inquiry their support for the sale, looking at the long-term benefits it could provide to racing and improvements to other facilities such as Royal Randwick.
Members will vote on the proposed sale by the end of the year. So, who else cares about the track sticking around?
Racing Stakeholders graphic.Credit: Kayla Olaya
The jockeys
Champion jockey James McDonald, who goes by the nickname “J-Mac”, has opened up about what the track means to him.
“It’s a fantastic racecourse first and foremost, and it’s part of a rich history that we really enjoy coming here as competitors because it’s fair. It always produces a great atmosphere,” he says.
James McDonald at Rosehill: “I’ve had some brilliant highlights here, some of my best ones actually.”Credit: Getty Images
“I’ve had some brilliant highlights here, some of my best ones actually. So it holds a really good part of me as well, because I enjoy riding here.”
One of Australia’s Hall of Fame jockeys, Darren Beadman, who now represents the stable Godolphin, says suggestions for replacement tracks don’t compare to Rosehill.
“This place has been steeped in history, and yes, if they did have a sufficient ground to be able to cater for racing to replace it, but for what they’ve suggested, it doesn’t even come close,” Beadman says.
The NSW government is keen to turn the land into a mini-city of 25,000 homes with a metro station.
A letter from McGauran to ATC members last Monday says the board would consider supporting a sale if its own due diligence showed there would be a replacement track with improved leisure facilities.
Rosehill has also meant a great deal to jockey Rachel King. She has won the Tancred Stakes, and placed second in the Golden Slipper. But the sport, as King shares, can also be empowering.
“Racing is pretty much the only sport, that I can think of anyway, that we compete on complete level terms,” King says.
“There’s no exception for you being a female. You’re expected to compete on level terms. We all get paid the same. We all compete the same”.
Rosehill means a great deal to jockey Rachel King. She has won the Tancred Stakes, and placed second in the Golden Slipper.Credit: Sydney Morning Herald
The trainer
The esteemed trainer of 140 horses at Rosehill, including Autumn Glow, Chris Waller is another in the racing industry opposed to the sale.
“It’s an attraction of a different kind,” he says. “It’s not a footy game, it’s not a Taylor Swift concert, but it attracts a lot of people from all walks of life.”
The bookie
Bookmaker Robbie Waterhouse says a sale is unlikely to pass.
Bookies at Rosehill Racecourse.Credit: Sydney Morning Herald
“Well, it’d be like asking a cricket fan why does he care about the Sydney Cricket Ground staying. Or golf courses, they make great developments,” Waterhouse says.
“The board may want to sell it, but the members don’t want to sell it. The board are there to serve the members, not the other way around. I think that’s the key. I think the vote would be 96 per cent to 4 per cent in favour of not selling it.”
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