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MEDIA RELEASE : 01 November 2005

Joint Response to Richard Turnley’s Press Release on Black Type Races

ATA (NSW) and NSWROA Presidents, Ron Leemon and Max Whitby, said today that Mr Richard Turnley's attempt to deflect criticism of the workings of the Australian Pattern Committee regarding decisions on Black Type races does nothing to dispel the concerns of other industry participants, especially owners and trainers, at the preponderance of breeding interests on the Committee.

“Mr. Turnley’s press release said that only three members of the Committee come from breeders and agents”, they said. “However, he failed to say that the other seven members are all representatives of the regulatory and administrative arms of the industry in each state. There are no Committee members to represent the interests of the principal investors in racing – the owners – nor of those upon whom the industry depends for the level of competition – the trainers”.

“For the position of the breeders on the Committee to be bolstered by the inclusion of a member to represent those who exist to sell the breeders’ product is totally unnecessary and is merely a throwback to the inception of “Black Type” over 40 years ago, when it was just a marketing exercise for yearling sales”, they said.

Whitby said that Black Type has long since transcended the confines of a sales catalogue; “It has become the defining indication of the level of prestige attached to performance in a race and thus to the stud or breeding potential of a horse. Breeding inevitably becomes tailored to the pattern, reinforcing the structure of racing that the Committee favours”.

This affects the interests of all participants in racing, he said; “particularly those who buy the stock and pay the bills”. Aside from the state racing authorities, whose function is to ensure the smooth day-to-day running of the industry, the only other members of the Committee are breeders or those who depend on the breeders for their livelihood.

Whitby and Leemon declared that if the Australian Pattern Committee is to retain the confidence of the industry and reflect the diversity of interests that support Australian racing, “then the Australian Racing Board must re-constitute the Committee to include representatives of owners and trainers”.

Contact: Max Whitby
Tel: 8274 3113 / 0418 212 206

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