Peter V'landys, under whose 22-year leadership the AU$20 million Everest (G1) and the two-week Championships festival were established, is to leave the role as chief executive of Racing New South Wales in November to take full-time charge of the National Rugby League, the chief Australian club competition in Rugby League.
Leading trainer Chris Waller described the contribution V'landys has made to racing in Sydney and beyond as "immense," while Racing NSW chair Dr. Saranne Cook described the 64-year-old as "the most effective and successful administrator in the history of Australian sport."
Since his appointment in 2004, V'landys is credited with reinvigorating racing in Sydney and across New South Wales, earning the sport millions in fresh revenue through his insistence on charging wagering operators a fee for using the racing product—Racing NSW estimates that race-fields legislation has garnered AU$2 billion since its introduction—while he generated millions more through agreements with the state government to share tax revenues.
His tenure has not been without controversy, with gambling companies unsuccessfully challenging the race-fields legislation in the courts, while the rise in prize money and the increase in the black-type program in New South Wales led to confrontation with Racing Victoria.
But V'landys is widely seen as a hugely effective leader of the sport, and his appointment to the new role of executive chairman of the NRL will leave very big shoes to fill at Racing NSW. V'landys has been chair of the Australian Rugby League Commission since 2019 and took leave from Racing NSW in July this year to take over the running of the NRL.
"Naturally, this is a very sad day for me," V'landys said. "I have put my heart and soul into racing for 22 years. I have been fortunate to work with outstanding, loyal, and hardworking boards of directors and staff.
"I was just a member of a dedicated team of professionals who were able to generate outstanding outcomes for Racing NSW. As a team, we went from a struggling jurisdiction to a world-leading jurisdiction. I take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been in our team. I will miss them greatly and I wish the industry every success."
Waller said that critics of V'landys would "understand just how good he was in about six months," adding: "His impact on Australian racing, as well as Sydney racing, has been immense, of the highest scale.
"He's created competition, he's taken racing from the doldrums back into the headlines. He's given racing its name back and at the same time he's put the horses first, animal welfare; he's even included the stable hands, making sure they get more money.
"It's an across the board project for Peter when he puts his mind to something. Racing in New South Wales has been the benefactor but also competition throughout Australia and even around the world. They're all talking about Peter, and what he's achieved."
The new revenue streams V'landys championed enabled Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club, the major racecourse group in Sydney, to innovate in terms of their race program, with The Everest first run in 2017, three years after the inaugural Championships across two weekends at Randwick, Australian racing's self-styled 'Grand Finals.'
"Peter V'landys has been, without doubt, the most effective and successful administrator in the history of Australian sport," Racing NSW's chair Dr. Saranne Cook said. "His contribution cannot simply be measured by the extraordinary growth of racing in New South Wales during his tenure.
"Peter has fundamentally changed the trajectory of racing in this country and made New South Wales one of the world's leading racing jurisdictions. He has fought relentlessly for participants, challenged long-established conventions, created new revenue streams and consistently ensured that racing was protected during two decades of challenges."
Dr. Cook added: "Most importantly, he has always understood that the strength of racing begins with its participants: the owners, trainers, jockeys, breeders, stable staff, clubs and communities all around NSW whose livelihoods depend upon a strong and sustainable industry.
"There would be very few people involved in Australian racing whose circumstances have not been improved directly by Peter's leadership."
