McHugh v Australian Jockey Club Limited (No 13) [2012] FCA 1441

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

McHugh v Australian Jockey Club Limited (No 13) [2012] FCA 1441 Citation: McHugh v Australian Jockey Club Limited (No 13) [2012] FCA 1441

Parties: BRUCE MCHUGH v AUSTRALIAN JOCKEY CLUB LIMITED, VICTORIA RACING CLUB LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RACING BOARD LIMITED, THOROUGHBRED BREEDERS AUSTRALIA LIMITED and AUSTRALIAN TURF CLUB LIMITED

File number: NSD 1187 of 2009

Judge: ROBERTSON J

Date of judgment: 19 December 2012

Catchwords: COMPETITION – s 45 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) – thoroughbred horses – Australian Stud Book – thoroughbred horse racing – artificial insemination – restricting or prohibiting the entry in the Australian Stud Book of thoroughbred horses bred by artificial insemination – restricting or prohibiting the entry into races of thoroughbred horses bred by artificial insemination –whether contract, arrangement or understanding – aggregation of provisions – whether provisions have or likely to have effect of substantially lessening competition in a market – thoroughbred breeding market – thoroughbred acquisition market – scope of market – whether thoroughbreds bred by natural cover or by artificial insemination sufficiently close substitutes – appropriate counterfactual – rules of sport TRADE AND COMMERCE – restraint of trade – reasonableness of restraint when imposed – relevance of later events – whether later events foreseeable

Legislation: Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) s 45 Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) ss 81, 128 Racing Act 1958 (Vic) Racing Act 1999 (ACT) s 92 Racing Act 2002 (Qld) ss 91, 79 Racing and Betting Act 1983 (NT) ss 23, 42, 44 Racing and Wagering Western Australia Act 2003 (WA) s 45 Racing (Proprietary Business Licensing) Act 2000 (SA) s 25 Racing Regulation Act 2004 (Tas) ss 11, 111 Thoroughbred Racing Act 1996 (NSW) ss 4, 13, 14, 42