Justice Perram delivered judgment today in the Federal Court challenges by Betfair and Sportsbet and found that the Race Fields Legislation and Regulations are valid.

His Honour found that Betfair had not proved its case in that its arguments as to why the Race Fields Fee was invalid were not correct.

In the case of Sportsbet, Justice Perram accepted that overcoming the issue of 'free riders' on the NSW thoroughbred racing industry was a legitimate object. However, his Honour ruled that the way the Race Fields Fee was applied was invalid.

The reasons his Honour found in favour of Sportsbet included his interpretation of a commercial settlement of a dispute with Tabcorp and his view that a $5million fee free threshold imposed by Racing NSW was intended to protect New South Wales bookmakers.

Whilst Racing NSW (headed by Peter V'Landys, pictured) does not accept these findings, one immediate consequence of the judgment is the removal of the existing $5million fee free threshold and all wagering operators (including Sportsbet and other corporate bookmakers) will now be required to pay more.

Racing NSW takes issue with a number of the findings of Perram J in the Sportsbet judgment and is taking advice on its rights to appeal.

In respect of the considerable Race Fields Fees collected to date, Racing NSW is exploring all available avenues to retain and distribute that essential funding to the thoroughbred horse racing industry in New South Wales.

Sportingbet Australia issued the following statement: "Sportingbet Australia chief executive Michael Sullivan has strongly refuted claims made by Racing NSW that today's Federal Court decision gives them licence to charge corporate bookmakers a fee of 1.5% of turnover.

"The right of Racing NSW to charge a fee of 1.5% of turnover was not before the court in relation to corporate bookmakers," Sullivan said.

"What was before the court was whether Racing NSW actions in granting an approval with a fee of 1.5% of turnover was invalid. And that was a resounding 'yes' it was. The money that has been paid to Racing NSW has been ordered to be paid back. I'm not sure what judgement Racing NSW is reading, but nowhere in the decision does it say a fee based on turnover is valid; in fact in the Betfair Case, Justice Perram ruled that a fee of 1.5% of turnover was clearly discriminatory. If Racing NSW thinks that this decision means that they can now charge corporate bookmakers 1.5% of turnover, then I guess Mr V'Landys has another fight on his hands. And this time it won't just be with the corporate bookmakers, but all wagering operators."