It is quite obvious that new Canberra Racing Club CEO Darren Pearce is up to his eyeballs in challenges right now.
The most obvious – and alarming one – is the fact he has lost high-quality trainers.
Star conditioners Luke Pepper, Matthew Dale and Nick Olive have all moved from the region in disgust this year due to workers’ compensation costs, which were too expensive for them under the ACT Government.
Paul Jones also told HorseBetting.com.au last month he would “stick it out for now to see if Darren can get the powers-that-be in government and Racing NSW to review the issues that are wrong with Canberra racing at the moment”.
And veteran trainer Keith Dryden is so angry he told this publication that he would “fight the Greens until my last breath”.
The ACT Greens have made public their desires to end horse racing in the region.
Welcome to horse racing in Canberra, Darren.
If this wasn’t enough for him, there has also been the ongoing issue of trainers in his region believing they’re not getting a fair go from Racing NSW.
This is because they remain at the bottom of the lucrative and regular Highways races held in Sydney, as the ACT is outside the jurisdiction of the powerful governing body.
And then there was the press release which the ACT Government issued on Melbourne Cup Day – of all days – where its Plan B for Thoroughbred Park was to redevelop it and scrap the racetrack in the process.
A taken-aback Pearce said this was “akin to being at an AGM and having a hostile takeover of your company”.
Indeed, Pearce has one helluva job on his hands after only assuming the role three months ago.
But in rare good news for Canberra racing fans these days, he says he is up for the immense fight which faces him on all the above issues.
Not only that, he sees tremendous growth opportunities for what he believes is a wonderful regional racing facility.
And these are the reasons why, as he detailed in a wide-ranging interview with HorseBetting.com.au.
Darren, you’ve got trainers who are disgruntled regarding workers’ compensation costs being too high, and the Highways issue. Canberra trainers don’t believe they’re getting a fair go regarding ballots to get into the Highways races in Sydney. What are your thoughts on these concerns?
We certainly don’t deny anyone their right to an opinion.
And I’d rather that we were having ongoing discussions about things that are challenging them so we can take them on board and work with them.
Some of these things are beyond our control. The workers’ comp scheme is an ACT Government legislation.
That’s a different scheme to the rest of the country. But I can say that we’re in active discussions with the government to put some solutions forward.
We’re pleased with the progress on those, and we look forward to taking them to the next level at the ministerial policy level of government.
Hopefully this year or early next year there’ll be some progress to table on that.
Can you give some more details in terms of the feedback you’ve been getting?
No, not while we’re in active discussions with the government.
From these discussions, does it shine a bit of an optimistic light on the trainers’ concerns, particularly with quality trainers leaving Canberra this year?
The policy position for workers’ comp in the ACT was meant to be about protecting employers’ livelihoods if there was a workplace incident.
It wasn’t meant to be a disincentive to creating jobs in the first place. They (ACT Government) acknowledge that in an industry like ours which has a small insurance pool – and horse racing has inherent high risk – that the model disadvantages ACT-based trainers.
So that’s acknowledged. It’s just about how we solve the problem, which is causing consequential issues under the legislation framework in the ACT.
That’s what we’re exploring, and I’m glad that there’s been an acknowledgement that there is a need for change.
We’re working out the best methodology for change.
Is this one of the biggest challenges of your career right now? There is a push from the ACT Greens to see racing banned. So it must be a difficult balancing act for you in terms of the negotiating role you’re playing right now …
Sure. Again, people are entitled to their opinions. The Greens’ policy and position is well-ventilated. But racing is a worldwide sport enjoyed by millions of people here and overseas. And it’s a significant employment industry in Australia and economic generator.
The facts they’ve based some of their views on are outdated. The industry has absolutely stepped up its horse welfare needs.
And people who are passionate about the industry understand how deeply the thoroughbred is loved and cared for in stables and farms alike.
We’re fighting for the continuation of our industry. We’re not aligned, but they’re only one voice in the ACT Parliament.
Labor, Liberal, other smaller parties and independents support racing.
And it’s democracy at work. We’re making sure we’re a part of our community and seen as adding value to our community.
Not only as a supporter, but as an employer and socially being a part of the cultural fabric of the region.
That’s so those parties continue to support us and we continue to prevail. But yes, our position creates debate, sure.
I don’t see that as being any different to any other jurisdiction in Australia. And some of that debate has led to positive things with horse welfare.
From our perspective, our strategy is about being a bigger part of our community, and being part of a growing and positive social fabric of Canberra.
This is so people who hold a neutral position and could vote either way are seeing that we’re contributing positively to the community.
That way they can support us, and we can achieve our master plan and strategic objectives.
We can then take this club to the position it was once in, and potentially punching above our weight within thoroughbred racing in Australia.
In terms of getting a positive message out there regarding the welfare of thoroughbreds in Canberra, is the club looking at putting out stronger messages to say its trainers are doing many things to look after their animals? This way those neutrals and anti-racing people can see how hard the trainers are working when looking after their horses …
Welfare is a huge part of our culture and a huge part of the industry nationally. But we certainly want to be seen as leaders in that space. I think it’s important that we are leaders in that space, and we’re partnering with Racing NSW with a lot of programs. We also have our own welfare agenda.
Absolutely, it’s an important factor in the social debate. But it’s one of many factors where we need to be a contributor in the community across many aspects.
Certainly, horse welfare is No.1 on the agenda because it all starts with looking after the animal and making sure we provide the best environment for them.
Has it been disappointing, though, to lose quality trainers? Or do you hope this is part and parcel of the highs and lows of racing, and you can continue to attract good young trainers moving forward?
It’s cyclical. It’s a really strong racing region, and there are a lot of opportunities around us with strong clubs like Goulburn and Wagga Wagga.
Our strategy is to have progressive young trainers train here. It’s less than ideal to be losing trainers who are of the quality of Olive, Dale and Pepper, who have professional, growing stables with big upsides.
So the ambition will be to address the challenges primarily around workers’ comp and the Highways, and for this club to be on the right footing strategically and operationally.
The club we’re building to in 12 months, two years and three years will be very different to what the club is today.
It sounds like you’re not just planning for racing to stay in Canberra – it sounds like you’re planning for racing to thrive in Canberra despite those who want to see it coming to a halt …
Agreed. I think there’s more upside than downside when I look at the opportunities before us.
We’re working on improving our operations and getting our strategy right and delivering on our master plan.
A lot of race clubs in Australia are commercialising, raising assets on their balance sheets and investing in their futures.
We’re no different here. We have a very significant opportunity here which could set us up for the next 50 years.
And I’m absolutely focused on driving that project and setting up this club for long-term success.
The Highways – how are talks progressing there? Have you had talks with Racing NSW in terms of trying to improve the conditions for Canberra trainers regarding the low ballots they receive?
There’s no shortage of ideas. But what I’d like to do – when the time is right – is engage with Racing NSW and take a package of opportunities to them.
I think everyone recognises the enormous strength and growth of racing in NSW.
Canberra is a separate jurisdiction, even though it’s an island within NSW.
And we’ve got to be prepared to pay our way if we want to be a part of Racing NSW’s success.
We can’t expect to go there with a beggar’s bowl and get a result.
So part of our strategy is to put together a package of opportunities to take to Racing NSW, where we can work cooperatively together and we can both win.
It’ll show that we’re prepared to pay our way to participate strongly in the incredible depth of racing in NSW.
Your club’s recent announcement of the $400,000 Canberra Speed Series – how excited are you about this, and as you mentioned in the media release – you must see it as a way of attracting top trainers to the ACT for these races, culminating in the Group 3 Black Opal Stakes on March 12 …
I just think there’s a little opportunity in the calendar, particularly with horses who might be looking to go to the Magic Millions, or Inglis two-year-old races in the month following that race (the Clan O’Sullivan on December 30).
There might be horses travelling from the southern districts, Victoria and South Australia through to the Gold Coast.
There was also demand from our local trainers about two-year-olds, and wanting an additional two-year-old race on the program.
They were looking for an opportunity. So we hope that comes together in the form of a great race, and the Speed Series kicks off in style.
But it was also about us hosting the 50th anniversary of the first running of the Opal Stakes. We really wanted to create talkability and momentum for that.
We’ve got an enormous responsibility to showcase that race meeting in style. It is the most exciting race in Canberra.
And if you lined up a whole bunch of trainers and said ‘which one in Canberra would you like to have?’ I’m pretty sure the overwhelming view would be the Black Opal.
So we’ve got a significant obligation to showcase that.
We’ve got some exciting initiatives and ideas around it as we build up to the race in March.
Your comments after the announcement from the ACT Government on Melbourne Cup Day on its Plan B for redeveloping Thoroughbred Park. You were very strong in terms of keeping your racing facility in tact for your community. A month on, do you stand by your comments?
It’s pretty clear that our charter is not to be a property developer. Our charter is to grow the sport of thoroughbred racing and provide a great facility for racing fans in the region.
And for us, property development is a means of raising capital to invest back into our core purpose.
It’s not about property development for property development’s sake.
So Plan B was never going to have our support, particularly as no alternative site or model had been put to us to consider.
And what we have here at Thoroughbred Park is an amazing asset which is minutes from the heart of Canberra’s CBD.
It’s serviced by light rail and it’s in a gateway corridor that is the growing region of Canberra.
To dislocate ourselves from the growing, vibrant part of the Canberra community wouldn’t be ideal for our long-term strategies.
It was certainly a surprise that we were blindsided by that. The government subsequently came out and said it was effectively issued in error, and we can stay here as long as we want.
So again with the debate on animal welfare and the Greens’ position, it’s generated debate.
And we got some clarity from the government, which was a positive.
Do you worry, though, that Labor might be rolling over to the demands of the Greens in situations like this when the government issues this sort of release and it does not come out and strongly say it supports racing in Canberra?
Well, they have. The Chief Minister’s (Andrew Barr) subsequent comments were around him supporting us and the continuation of racing. If you look at his follow-up comments – he said we can stay at Thoroughbred Park as long as we want to. So that is politics, right? People try and amplify their policy positions opportunistically.
That’s just not in this instance – that’s in politics in general. I don’t lose too much sleep over it – I just focus on getting our master plan approved in accordance with the rules.
And having debates and discussions with government in the right way.
Can you go into depth about your master plan, and the positives you see in it moving forward?
It’s about developing the land around the race track – our surplus land.
It provides for over 3000 new dwellings and other opportunities like hotels and mixed-use precincts.
The development will create substantial revenues over a period of time. Those profits will be available to come back to racing.
That’s what will set this club up and drive its strategy because it gives it an investment base.
Big change needs big capital. And this is about raising that big capital to secure our future.
You’re still relatively new in the job. You’ve got all these challenges that you’re dealing with. What else have you enjoyed about your role so far?
I just love being close to the horses and horse people. It’s refreshing. There are a lot of things here which have just been waiting for a spark.
There’s a committee which is getting aligned around what we need to achieve. We’re all pushing together to change the future of Canberra racing with those challenges that we’ve got.
And it’s exciting to be a part of that change, in fact leading it in many ways.
What I’ve got here is an opportunity to stand on the shoulders of many who have gone before me.
It’s an amazing regional race club that just needs to reset and push forward.
Having the opportunity to lead that is exciting. And I’m just loving it.
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