A win for racing

By Melissa Grant and Bridget Brady
Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) gave the Pakenham Racing Club the green light to relocate to a new track near Nar Nar Goon, and also revealed that the Cranbourne Training Centre would receive a mammoth upgrade.
After six months of discussions, RVL has backed the Pakenham Racing Club’s plans to relocate to a 570-acre site between Nar Nar Goon and Tynong.
The estimated $40 million state-of-the-art complex will be the first track to be built in Victoria since Bairnsdale in the ’70s.
Pakenham Racing Club racing manager Michael Hodge said the club would host 30 race meets at the new venue from the 2012/13 racing season. Night racing will also be catered for, he said.
A 2300-metre grass track will be the centrepiece of the facility, complemented by a large grandstand.
“It’s a very bright future,” Mr Hodge said.
In Cranbourne, race meets will be doubled from 22 to 42 a year, and after August 2011 meets will be relocated from the current Cranbourne Turf Club site to the Cranbourne Training Centre.
New grass tracks will be installed at the training centre, which will be expanded to be 2400 metres in circumference. These works will start within six to nine months. Lights will also be installed for night racing.
It is anticipated the upgrade will inject $200 million annually into the local economy and create up to 400 jobs.
Cranbourne Turf Club chief executive Neil Bainbridge said the upgrades were everything the club had hoped for in its master plan.
“We’re delighted with the outcome and it gives our club and members a clear path and direction forward,” Mr Bainbridge said.
About 800 horses are trained at the centre each morning and the turf club hoped the upgrades would allow between 1200 and 1500 horses to be trained at Cranbourne each day.
But Mr Bainbridge said the Cranbourne Turf Club now had to hold up its end of the bargain by developing state-of-the art customer facilities at the training centre.
He estimated it needed to raise about $5 million to do so.
“There is a significant amount of work that needs to be done but it is a very exciting future,” he said.