Sydney racing’s training and racing infrastructure will receive further significant investment over coming months under a jointly-funded program between the Australian Turf Club and Racing NSW.
A total of $1.5 million will be invested on a resurfacing of the Warwick Farm A Grass, an 1800m-circumference grass track used for training and barrier trials.
Work on the surface at Warwick Farm – the Sydney basin’s largest training centre catering for approximately 700 horses – will begin in early November immediately after The Everest Carnival.
The Canterbury Park course proper and the Kensington Track surface at Royal Randwick will also undergo renovations, with de-thatching, aerating and top dressing of both tracks to commence during scheduled fixture breaks post-spring. Additional sand grooving will be undertaken at Canterbury Park.
Work across the tracks comes after record rainfall during winter and as Sydney’s four racecourses have shouldered extra meetings post the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival.
Australian Turf Club Chairman, Matthew McGrath, said: “Warwick Farm continues to be at the forefront of our future racing plan and the investment in these facilities is a game-changing development for this training precinct.
“The Australian Turf Club looks at the performance of our tracks at the end of each racing season and during the back end of spring, we undertake renovations to Canterbury Park and Kensington Track racecourses as these shoulder significant workload across the summer period.
“Our tracks have withstood an unprecedented period of wet weather and it is important we implement programs to ensure they are in optimum condition to meet our 12-month racing schedule.”
Racing NSW Chairman, Russell Balding AO, said: “This work at Warwick Farm is particularly important as this training surface accommodates a large proportion of the horses trained in the Sydney basin.
“This project is jointly funded by Racing NSW and the investment in these training and racing facilities will significantly benefit participants across Sydney, NSW and beyond.”