The Australian Turf Club will feature in two Supreme Court cases on Friday as a decision is handed down by the Court of Appeal in the club’s case with Racing NSW over the regulator’s move to place the club in administration.
The move was ruled to be legally invalid earlier in the year by Justice Francois Kunc, who ruled Racing NSW’s powers were limited to the regulation of racing as referred to in the Australian Rules of Racing by the Thoroughbred Racing Act. It could not be extended to financial concerns about race clubs or their corporate governance.
Racing NSW chief operating officer Graeme Hinton, who will become interim chief executive for four months in July when Peter V’landys takes long service leave to run the NRL, explained the reasons for the appeal on SEN Track last month
“What that case is about is just confirming the way that our Act has been structured and what powers it provides to us,” Hinton said.
“Our board had little choice but to run the appeal because the judgment that came down had some very … what we consider to be odd rulings that made some pretty significant restrictions on our Act, and we needed to have those clarified.”
The appeal was heard at the end of last month by a panel of three judges, Justices Jeremy Kirk and Kristina Stern and Acting Justice John Griffiths.
They will decide if Racing NSW has the power to put the ATC into administration after hearing arguments from both sides.
Racing NSW has stated it had to appeal because of the narrow interpretation in the original judgement, which would limit its power to place clubs in administration.
Meanwhile, in another courtroom, there will be a directions hearing in the ongoing case between the ATC and Mirvac over the failed unit development of a car park across the road from Canterbury racecourse.
