Re-elected Racing Victoria chairman Michael Duffy says he is "cautiously optimistic" about working harmoniously with new Victorian racing minister Dennis Napthine.This was despite a call by Napthine before the Liberal Party won the state election last month that Duffy had "reached his use-by date".Duffy, 72, was unanimously re-elected as RV chairman for a three-year term at a meeting of the newly-constituted RV board on Thursday."I think there will be issues we won't find common ground on but th

Re-elected Racing Victoria chairman Michael Duffy says he is "cautiously optimistic" about working harmoniously with new Victorian racing minister Dennis Napthine.

This was despite a call by Napthine before the Liberal Party won the state election last month that Duffy had "reached his use-by date".

Duffy, 72, was unanimously re-elected as RV chairman for a three-year term at a meeting of the newly-constituted RV board on Thursday.

"I think there will be issues we won't find common ground on but that's been the case with governments and the racing industry for a long while, nothing different in that," Duffy said.

"But one would hope once things settle down it will be a constructive relationship. That's what we have got to work towards.

"I'm cautiously optimistic."

Duffy was federal Attorney-General between 1990 and 1993 under Labor Prime Ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.

He was deputy chairman of RV when it began in 2001 and has been chairman for the past three years.

At Thursday's RV annual general meeting, the appointment of three directors - Duffy, Graeme John and the newly-elected Michael Caveny - was formerly declared following the recent two-week election process which involved voting by RV's 14-member shareholders.

Deputy chairman Peter Sinn, who was not up for re-election, and chief executive Rob Hines will next Wednesday meet for the first time with Napthine in his capacity as racing minister.

Duffy said he would not be at the meeting because of a long-standing appointment.

Meanwhile Hines said RV would appoint a consultant to compare its current gross revenue model for charging product fees to a turnover-based structure.

The firm that is appointed will make recommendations to the board and RV will announce a decision on which model it adopts in the first half of next year.

Hines said the total turnover - local, state and international - on Victorian racing had increased by 4.5 per cent last year and the projection for next year was $5.7 billion, $1.3 billion of that amount coming from corporate bookmakers.

"We hope we'll see are going to see a similar increase next year which is fabulous," Hines said.

"For an industry they keep telling us is in trouble and everything else, we're continuing to see growth."