The ownership structure of Rob and Annabel Archibald’s training business is changing. (Photo by Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images)
Hong Kong billionaire Tony Fung’s Aquis will end its role with Annabel and Rob Archibald’s training business, one of Australia’s leading stables, from the start of November.
Annabel Archibald (nee Neasham) has officially welcomed her husband and training partner Rob as a shareholder in a new entity, Archibald Racing.
Daniel Bender, a director of Annabel Neasham Racing and senior Aquis executive, wrote to the trainers’ service providers on Tuesday outlining the change of business structure shortly before Rob and Annabel Archibald informed their clients of the new entity. The handover will happen on November 1.
Annabel Archibald told The Straight that nothing would change in the day-to-day running of the tri-state stable “other than a change of bank account”.
“Rob and I are married now and it just makes sense to just have … an (ownership) restructure, but nothing changes in terms of horses, owners and staff, everything remains the same, really,” Archibald said.
“It’s just a restructure and a rebrand, but it’s certainly business as usual.”
Aquis was contacted, but a spokesperson declined to comment.
Archibald Racing Pty Ltd was registered in July. The new shareholding, with Annabel and Rob 100 per cent owners, was registered on September 15.
Among the directors of the previous entity, Annabel Neasham Racing Pty Ltd, which was registered in August 2020. are Aquis associates Bender and Greg Benneworth.
Fung was the major backer of Archibald when she first obtained her trainer’s licence and set up the business in 2020 where she was and continues to be based out of Sydney’s Warwick Farm racecourse.
Aquis supplied Archibald with a number of horses to train early in her career and transferred talented colt Mo’unga to her after his three-year-old spring campaign in late 2020.
The move paid off with Savabeel colt Mo’unga, who was previously trained by Chris Waller, winning the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas in the autumn and the Winx Stakes as a spring four-year-old.
Since opening her stable, the 13-time Group 1-winning Archibald has expanded her presence to include stables at Eagle Farm in Brisbane and, more recently, at Flemington in Melbourne and Scone in country NSW.
With her husband Rob officially joining her in a training partnership from the start of last season, they have developed into one of the biggest stables in the country at the same time as Fung’s ownership of horses trained by the pair appeared to decrease.
Last season, they finished fourth on the national trainers’ premiership with 236 winners behind Ciaron Maher, who Annabel worked for prior to going out on her own, Waller and Lindsay Park’s Ben, Will and JD Hayes.
They are currently third in the Australian trainers’ premiership behind Waller and Maher almost three months into the new racing season.
Archibald’s first runner as a trainer, Commanding Missile, won at Scone on August 25, 2020, at Scone.
To date, Archibald has trained 760 winners, 468 in her own right and another 292 in partnership with Rob.
Her best horse was European import Zaaki, the winner of four Group 1 races in Australia who was sourced by Archibald and Blandford Bloodstock’s Stuart Boman at the 20220 Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale at Newmarket in England.
“We’ve lost a couple of headline horses who have retired or got on a bit, so we’re looking at the new influx of the younger horses coming through,” Archibald said.
“I’m actually heading to England for a couple of days (next week) for the Horses in Training Sale as well.
“We are always looking forward, trying to find new horses, new superstars hopefully and I’m excited for Rob as well with a little bit of a rebrand.”
Tony Fung Investments has spread its racing portfolio around to a lot more stables in recent years and also joined the James Harron colts and fillies syndicates at the yearling sales in 2025.
Annabel Neasham Racing isn’t the only training business which has had financial backing from outside sources, with the Tulloch Lodge training business sold by Gai Waterhouse to Hong Kong businessman PK Siu in 2016.
Adrian Bott, whose father Tony and brother Aaron run the Siu-owned Evergreen Stud Farm near Newcastle, was installed as the trainer in a partnership alongside the legendary Waterhouse soon after the sale of the Tulloch Lodge business was completed.
Almost a decade on, and the pair remain in a partnership and continue to train from Tulloch Lodge at Randwick and from stables at Flemington.
Waterhouse and Bott have trained almost 1400 winners and 29 Group 1 winners in partnership.