Trainer Chris Waller denies endorsing letter to Racing NSW

Sydney-based trainer Gary Portelli, whose name was also on the letter, said he had no interest in entering into racing politics. “I saw the letter … I didn’t sign it, based on the fact I don’t want to get involved,” he said. “It’s something I want to keep out of.”

Another racing identity, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they had only agreed to have their name on the letter if Waller was backing it.

Horse owner Max Whitby, a slot holder in the $20 million sprint race the Everest, said he didn’t realise he’d endorsed the letter, but blamed himself for the error.

He said his fight was simply against the Rosehill sale process.

Others named in the correspondence to Harris included renowned trainer Gai Waterhouse and her bookmaker husband Robbie Waterhouse, trainer John O’Shea and bloodstock executive Vin Cox, a board member of the Victoria Racing Club, which hosts the Melbourne Cup carnival.

The rest were mostly from the thoroughbred breeding sector, among them Winx part-owner Debbie Kepitis.

The letter was emailed to Harris’s office by owner and breeder Julia Ritchie, a former director of the Australian Turf Club, which owns the Rosehill track, and a spokeswoman for Save Rosehill.

Ritchie was contacted for comment on Friday.

The letter to Harris did not specifically name V’landys, who has run Racing NSW for two decades and is also chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, saying “this is not about politics or personalities”.

But it said last year’s parliamentary inquiry into the Rosehill sale proposal had revealed “an erosion of trust in the governance structures currently in place” in racing and “a growing divide between the controlling body and those it exists to represent and serve”. It called for a review of the Thoroughbred Racing Act, under which Racing NSW’s authority is established, to be independent and free of interference.

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“The future of racing cannot be built on fractured trust, opaque decision-making, or resistance to scrutiny,” said the letter, whose contents were first reported by The Australian Financial Review. “We believe in the power of this industry to evolve and thrive – but only if the structures that govern it are reset with integrity, transparency, and fairness.”

A spokesman for Harris said the minister had previously committed to a review of legislation with the purpose of determining whether it was still fit for purpose. Racing NSW and V’landys declined to comment.