“What I will say is I’ve spent most of my life in racing, I’ve always had a passion for the sport, and if the ATC thought I could help, I’d be more than interested.
“I’d be more than confident I can help the ATC become one of the leading race clubs in Australia.
“They have everything there. They have a good product. In two or three years, I could see the club humming. I’ve known a lot of people and trainers for a long time, and I’ve always worked well with Peter – every club needs to have a good working relationship with Racing NSW to succeed.”
It emerged in September the ATC owed Racing NSW $145 million in the form of a non-interest loan, which is only repayable if it sells a major asset. The club also owes the Commonwealth Bank $30 million, which is due in October 2026.
The ATC sacked its CEO Matt Galanos, in September, which led to two directors, Ben Bayot and Natalie Hewson, quitting the board in the same week. Bayot said it was “untenable to continue working with a dysfunctional board”.
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The botched $5b sale of Rosehill to the state government in May heaped pressure on the ATC to perform financially. The club posted a $2.59m operating loss last financial year, but claimed $2m was spent on making sure members knew exactly what they were voting for when it came to the Rosehill deal.
Hale wrote to members to inform them the “club’s core businesses are performing well”, and they had the benefit of owning the land at Rosehill and another racetrack, Canterbury.
A record crowd attended Everest Day at Randwick in October to witness Hong Kong champion Ka Ying Rising win the $20m showpiece race. Crowds at Rosehill, however, have continued to dwindle the past decade, which was pointed out by those in support of selling off the western Sydney track for housing purposes.
Fletcher was responsible for delivering Hawkesbury its first Saturday stand-alone meeting, and boosted profits when he built on the outskirts of the track.