Rowland Veall, of Kilsyth, failed to overturn a Supreme Court judge's finding that his father Keith's final December 2010 will was invalid.

The December 2010 will had named Rowland and his sister Denise as the main beneficiaries of Mr Veall's estate and left nothing for his daughter, Kim, from his second marriage.

Mr Veall's previous will in September 2010 had left the bulk of his estate to be divided between the three children.

The Supreme Court found that a frail and deaf Mr Veall was unaware of the December 2010 will's contents or approved of them when he signed the document, and the Court of Appeal agreed in a judgment handed down on Thursday.

Mr Veall, who was listed in BRW magazine's top 100 rich list in 1990 with an estimated fortune of $54 million, died on October 13, 2011, at the age of 91.

He was recognised internationally as one of the best live pigeon shooters to ever compete.

A May 10, 1966, report published in The Age revealed Mr Veall won a competition in San Sebastian, Spain, after shooting 17 pigeons straight. Each bird would fly from the trap before the shooter took aim and fired.

Mr Veall, who won 19 national championships in Australia before the sport was banned here in 1959, was presented with a trophy in Rome inscribed : "Keith Veall, Sportsman of the World" after he won three grand prix pigeon shooting events in Europe in 1961.

He  took part in the 1966 Mexico game-bird shooting world titles with a first prize of $120,000 but lost, blaming his failure on an inability to acclimatise to the weather.

Mr Veall became a wealthy man when his father, Arthur, passed away in 1983, leaving him shares valued at $10million. But he almost squandered his inheritance after investing in several failed overseas business venture.

His fortune was restored when he acquired shares in the company Auspine, which he later sold for $37million.

Court of Appeal Justices Joseph Santamaria, David Beach and Emilios Kyrou said Mr Veall had three children - Rowland and Denise from his first marriage and Kim from his second marriage.

Mr Veall was a generous father, sometimes giving his children cheques for $20,000, $50,000 and $75,000. In one year, he gave them each $120,000.

He was also extravagant with his money, once spending $250,000 during a 20-day holiday in Thailand, including buying two cars - one to use in the north of the country and another in the south.

The appeal judges said the dispute over his December 2010 will had its origins in 2008 when Auspine share funds were distributed, including  a $5 million payment to Mr Veall and his second wife, Beryl,  $12.9million to Kim, and $1.5million to Rowland to buy his Kilsyth South property.

Mrs Veall, in an affidavit before her death in May 2012, said Rowland claimed Kim had all the money and he had nothing.

She said Rowland had "ranted and raved at her, yelling that his father had promised him money".

Rowland, who said his relationship with his stepmother had become toxic, claimed his father decided to make a new will in December 2010 because he considered Kim had received a disproportionate share of his wealth compared with Rowland and Denise.

But the appeal judges said Mr Veall had told a friend after the Auspine share sale that "each of his kids now had a new home of their own and that the balance of the proceeds would be divided equally between them".

Mr Veall's estate - which had been reduced to $2.8 million by December 2010 - will be distributed to all three children.