Dear ,

As 2008 draws to a close it is an opportunity to wish all our members a wonderful Christmas holiday season and also a chance to reflect on what has been an intensive year of activity for the Club.

This time last year we were still not fully aware of how World Youth Day would impact Royal Randwick. We were pleased to see it eventuate into a successful event, but most importantly, it did not result in any damage to our tracks.We are now pleased to report that we have now reached full and final financial settlement with the Government. While the event caused a massive disruption to the AJC and was a significant diversion to the management team, the Club has been granted significant legacy benefits, one of which has been new training facilities at Warwick Farm.

We can report to members that Warwick Farm is almost at 100% occupancy, and we welcome Patinack Farm as a new and substantial tenant. By January the Club will have a total of 1370 horses in work, positioning us as the largest training entity in Australia, almost double that of the next largest, with over 700 horses in training. It was pleasing to note the success of horses trained using AJC facilities at this year’s Melbourne Cup, with eight out of ten winners on Derby Day alone.

Our sizeable community of trainers is a very important part of the AJC. Day to day training activity at Royal Randwick and Warwick Farm is a major service offered by the Club. However, provision of those services is also a major cost to the Club, with stable rents and track fees accounting for only a small percentage of the actual cost. We will, as a matter of urgency, be putting a case for a more equitable sharing among industry participants of this cost to the new Board of Racing NSW. In the meantime the Club has for the first time succeeded in establishing proper and standard lease agreements with all trainers. All trainers at both Royal Randwick and Warwick Farm have now signed their new AJC Trainers’ Facilities Licences, and they are operating successfully.

Construction work for Stage One of the masterplan for Royal Randwick is well underway with the new High Street roadway, taxi boulevard and new race day stalls precinct, scheduled for completion by next year’s Autumn Carnival. We are also in the final stages of building eight new horse walking machines for the trainers at Royal Randwick. We appreciate this is an ambitious timetable but one which we have targeted to achieve.

The Club is in the fortunate position of currently having no borrowings and benefiting from very competitive pricing in respect of its construction tenders. Disruption to the racecourse during construction is being minimised where possible, and we thank members for their understanding and patience during this brief period. We encourage all members to keep up to date with the building program by viewing the masterplan section of our website.

We are incredibly proud of Lynell Peck and her talented hospitality team at the AJC. After being awarded the NSW Caterer of the Year, Lynell and her team went on to win the highly prestigious ‘Australian Caterer of the Year’ competing against the best in the hospitality industry across all states. The AJC hosts over 300 functions and events and accounts for half of our non wagering revenues and we believe there is potential to further grow and develop this business as we realise improved facilities through the masterplan.

It seems not one business is immune from the current economic downturn. The impacts to the AJC are being managed to ensure the Club remains strong and sustainable through this unprecedented period. Although our industry and offering has some resilience, like all events based businesses, we are experiencing softness in the corporate hospitality and events market, and a corresponding reduction in spend on race days. This was particularly evident on Melbourne Cup Day. The Club’s function business is holding up relatively well through Christmas, however the second half of the
year looks to be more testing as corporations review their spending.

Be assured your Club is also undertaking a complete review of its cost structure. All discretionary costs are being targeted to drive greater efficiency in the Club’s administration and operations. Our investment in a new consolidated events based IT system (EBMS), that replaces twenty one separate systems which had evolved over many years, is beginning to pay significant dividends.

A disappointing outcome for the Club was the recent announcement by Racing NSW, on the eve of the appointment of the new Board, that the historic link between Easter Saturday and racing at Royal Randwick is to be broken from 2010 onwards.

While the AJC is supportive of our Racing Carnival gaining higher profile as a signature event in the NSW and Australian calendar, we believe it could have been achieved without relinquishing any Easter Saturdays at Randwick. Thank you to the many members who wrote to the Minister and to Racing NSW in support of our ‘Save Easter’ campaign.

Despite the decision by Racing NSW our time honoured races the David Jones AJC Australian Derby, the Emirates Doncaster, the Oaks along with our other treasured races will still take place at Royal Randwick. As a cornerstone of the wider racing industry the AJC will work with the new schedules and do all we can to ensure the success of all Autumn Carnivals in the future.

We are pleased to have signed up some 300 new members from the commencement of our new financial year on 1 August, using the new more simplified application form which can be viewed on our website. We especially welcome them as we stage some great race days on our calendar, Villier’s Day on 20 December, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and head towards our Autumn Carnival in 2009.

Next year’s Schweppes Sydney Cup falls on ANZAC Day and the AJC is preparing a special day of activities to honour the ANZACS and commemorate the AJC’s contribution to the war effort.

If you have a story you’d like to share or you have some memorabilia you would like to include in this commemoration please contact Stuart Hodge – AJC Media & Communications Manager on 02 9663 8400 or email anzacday@ajc.org.au

On behalf of the Board and staff of the Australian Jockey Club we wish our members a safe and happy holiday season and look forward to seeing you trackside over the holiday break and in 2009.


Norman Gillespie
Chief Executive