RACING INTO THE FUTURE

NATHAN EXELBY

AFTER A DECADE OF UNFULFILLED PROMISES, THE GOLD COAST TURF CLUB WAS FINALLY GIVEN THE GREEN LIGHT BY GOVERNMENT IN OCTOBER FOR A $38MILLION PROJECT THAT WILL ALLOW THE CLUB TO ENACT A VISION TO TRANSFORM AND SPECTACULARLY LIFT THE RACETRACK PRECINCT, AS WELL AS PROVIDE NEW AND FUTURE TRAINERS THE FACILITIES THEY HAVE LONG DESIRED.

INTERSTATE and international visitors are well versed with the Gold Coast Turf Club and its spectacular skyline view from annual visits to the January Magic Millions sales. But the familiar view across the road from the sale grounds is set to change dramatically over the next few years, thanks to a Queensland state government announcement on the eve of the 2020 election.

The commitment to funding, which had been made several times prior, but never come to fruition, will enable the GCTC to provide better facilities for their trainers in tandem with unlocking a master plan that includes a Hotel and residential developments and potentially, a Happy Valley style infield at the track, which stares back to the famous Gold Coast skyline.

It also may mean the Magic Millions is one day run under lights, as Racing Queensland surges ahead with its plan to develop an internationally renowned night racing circuit.

The Gold Coast is already home to some 500 horses in training, but trainers have long yearned for better facilities, with tired training tracks hampering their best efforts and in turn stalling potentially welcoming other stables

from interstate. At the same time, punters have desperately sought an upgrade to the course proper, as have GCTC officials in their bid to host more metropolitan race meetings.

Then Racing Minister Stirling Hinchliffe committed $31.5Million of funds from the Racing Infrastructure Fund, in addition to $1.5M from Racing Queensland and an additional $5M from the GCTC to build an all-weather synthetic track, a full refurbishment of the racing surfaces, lights and the construction of a tunnel to the infield.

GCTC Chief Executive Steve Lines said the project will put the Gold Coast on the map as a world class facility and racing surface and with the tandem development of the Traintech complex to enable bigger horse numbers, the precinct will become more desirable for more trainers.

“A lot of trainers want to set up satellites from down south. Once we get this done a lot more people will come from down south,” Lines said. “That means improved quality of horses and improved quality of racing. We don’t hide behind the fact we see ourselves as the next metro club. That’s about us growing up and having the facility we want it to be. We’re a profitable organisation

and this further enhances the business becoming more self-sustaining. It will be something where people can come and enjoy an experience they can’t get at the moment. The facilities will be something the punter will really be able to enjoy.”

Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch said the upgraded facilities at the venue will add another dimension to sales around the year. “The Gold Coast is very important to Magic Millions and for the racetrack to reflect that and showcase it to our buyers and vendors is an exciting prospect,” he said. “To be able to repay the support they give us with a facility in the calibre of what’s been indicated is something to really look forward to. It is home to Queensland’s biggest raceday of the year and we’re excited by the prospect of having an upgraded training and racing facility that meets the standard of horse that races not just on that day, but for everyone else around the year.”

The lights also bring the option of a Magic Millions raceday being run at night, with the backdrop of the glitter strip lights showcased to the world. “The prospect of a night Magic Millions is something we would definitely consider when the time is right,” Bowditch said.

GCTC Chairman Brett Cook said trainers had been “more than patient” and the announcement was finally a win for their years of standing by the club. “There was some volatility three years ago because of the stop start nature of the project and that’s very understandable,” he said. “But they have also been prepared to help lobby government and without their help doing that, I don’t think we would have been able to achieve it. They were very instrumental in getting it over the line.”

Locals like Toby Edmonds and Gillian Heinrich were vocal over a long period of time and in recent years, Chris Waller also played a key role as his Gold Coast satellite stable grew. Waller made an impassioned plea to government in September to give the goahead to the project, noting facilities did not measure up to standard. “Gold Coast is just a great place. It has the location, climate and it’s such a vibrant city. It deserves a better racetrack,” he said.

Cook reiterated Lines’ belief that when the training tracks are brought up to standard, it will pave the way for other southern trainers to look at the Coast as an option. “Interstate and overseas trainers have been telling us for some time they want to relocate to the Gold Coast,” he said. “It will only be better for racing

in the state if we can attract that calibre of trainer and that will bring more owners into the area as well.”

Trent Edmonds and his father Toby have prepared feature race winners right down the eastern seaboard from their Gold Coast base, but believe the proposed enhancements to training facilities will open up even more opportunities. “It’s been something we’ve all been wanting and have been desperate for the last 10 years,” Trent Edmonds said. “The promises have been made the last 10 years, so we’re not getting our hopes up until the first sod has been turned. But it’s something that is desperately needed. We feel we have done a good job competing Australia wide through carnivals with our better quality horses given our training facilities have probably been the poor cousin for a good while. To be catching up with the rest of Australia, with a synthetic training track and complete overhaul, it’s going to mean the world to all of us down here. It will help us get horses fitter and keep them sounder, which means they can race for longer. It’s all a positive.”

The course proper itself will be revitalised, expanded to be 28 metres wide, given a much needed facelift and have some of the ‘kinks’ that punters currently aren’t fond of, ironed out.

“We’ve been copping backlash for over a decade about on track bias, the dog leg. All that will be fixed up under the new works,” Cook said.

Cook has been on the GCTC board since 2007, the last nine as Chairman. He orchestrated a constitutional change to the club in 2014, so he could stay at the helm long enough to ensure those previous unfulfilled commitments came through. “In my first two years as Chairman we had two Racing Queensland boards, a change of government, three Racing Queensland Chairmen and a lot of disruption to the industry,” he said. “The club thought it was important I stay in that role (for stability). Infrastructure had been the key area for this race club for well over a decade before my time. It was knocked on the head in 2014. So from that date to now, it has been something we have worked very hard at getting over the line. My key goal was to fix the training tracks, have a licensed club off site and on course accommodation to go hand in hand with the events centre we had built. We have shown a commercial trading profit the last two years. Racing Queensland wants clubs to be self-sufficient and there’s no doubt this (Master Plan) will make that a reality. By doing this first stage, it opens up two things; the training tracks, which everyone knows is critical, and the tunnel to the inside of the course

proper, which opens up the opportunity for us to implement our master plan and develop the whole precinct in conjunction with other stake holders, including Magic Millions and local property owners.”

The Master Plan, which Cook says is a “seven to 10 year project in a perfect world,” includes provision for a residential precinct and a 150 room Hotel and Tavern facility to provide onsite accommodation options for visitors.

With the tunnels included in the $38M funds, it opens up the opportunity to maximise the use of the infield, where one proposal is for a recreational lagoon, offering “the allure of beach life” and activities and events that would make it a catalyst for new revenue streams.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF LIGHTS WILL MAKE THE GOLD COAST QUEENSLAND’S THIRD ‘NIGHT’ VENUE AND RQ CHAIRMAN STEVE WILSON HAS LONG MADE IT CLEAR HE FEELS IT IS THE PERFECT DESTINATION TO SHOWCASE QUEENSLAND RACING TO THE WORLD IN THE VALUABLE EVENING WAGERING SPACE.

Cook said that while night racing is an exciting new frontier for the Coast, it is also important to preserve the cornerstone of what the club has been built on. “We understand how important night racing is to the Queensland industry and we support Racing Queensland’s policy on trying to increase more night racing,” Cook said. “But we have to be considerate of our local trainers and jockeys of how many times we race on a Friday night and we need to make sure it doesn’t have a detrimental commercial impact on the club. It needs to be balanced. We don’t want to race more. We in fact have no problem racing less as an overall number, but just have to be a bit smarter as to when we do race. We want to work in with our sister club Beaudesert, so that when we race Fridays our members have somewhere to go on a Saturday.”