Barry O'Farrell reneges on stud promise THE Australian Racing Board yesterday accused the O'Farrell government of failing to deliver on its own election promises by refusing to set up exclusion zones to protect NSW's most important stud farms from proposed coal mines. "There were over-confident promises made from the position of opposition that in government haven't been upheld," Peter McGauran, Australia's peak racing body chief executive, said. We understand the Premier and government must follow due process but they must also have the courage of their convictions. Mr McGauran weighed into the fight to save the studs after The Daily Telegraph reported that champion breeders Coolmore and Darley could be forced to move from NSW if two proposed mining projects are approved. One of the projects, the Doyles Creek underground mine - which ICAC has heard was allegedly corruptly awarded by Mr Macdonald to former union boss John Maitland and his backers - would result in a mine operating under about a quarter of the Coolmore stud at Jerrys Plains for about 30 years. Mining giant Anglo American is also proposing to build an open-cut mine, Drayton South, 500m from Darley's Woodlands stud, owned by Dubai Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Coolmore and Darley are critical to NSW's $2.4 billion racing industry, producing champions including Redoute's Choice, Pierro, Exceed and Excel and Fastnet Rock. Together, they employ up to 300 people and are the primary engine of the equine industry in the Hunter, home to more than 100 studs and second in number only to Kentucky in the US. Before being elected, the Coalition promised "a thorough examination of enhanced buffer zones and ring fencing," but such protection was not offered in its strategic regional land use policy released last year. Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner told protesters at a NSW Farmers' Federation rally last year: "If any proposed mining or gas extraction activity is likely to harm prime agricultural land or other important rural industry clusters or the water resources associated with those areas, it will not go ahead under this government." Mr McGauran, a former Howard government agricultural minister, described the NSW government's land use policy as "slow, cumbersome and creating uncertainty." "We'll be doing everything possible to convey to the government that the industry requires a freeze on coal mining in breeding areas that are longstanding," he said. You cannot just scatter these studs to the four winds. You need a critical base of skills in a world-class breeding region and that is what has been achieved in the Hunter. Opposition Leader John Robertson has offered bipartisan support to pass legislation as early as today to suspend the Doyles Creek licence, now held by NuCoal. Five government ministers, including the Premier and Deputy Premier, did not answer specific questions about the issue from The Daily Telegraph yesterday. Planning Minister Brad Hazzard said the government's land use policy was "the toughest in Australia."