• Berwick Gazette
• Pakenham Gazette

By Melissa Meehan

3rd March 2010 02:00:49 AM

 Purchase this photo from Star Photos

Pakenham Racing Club CEO Michael Hodge and Pakenham Business Group president Joanne Staindl-Johnson at last week’s meeting.

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AND they’re off…

One door closes and another one opens as the Pakenham Racecourse prepares to shut up shop and move into a world-class racing facility in Nar Nar Goon/Tynong in 2013.

Pakenham Racing Club CEO Michael Hodge spoke on Wednesday night at the Pakenham Business Group quarterly general meeting about the exciting changes at the club over the next few years.

“There was no long-term future at the current site which was confirmed by the 2008 Racing Industry Plan,” Mr Hodge said.

“So we will remain at our current site on Racecourse Road, Pakenham for four years and start at the new racecourse in 2013.”

He said the club had little decision but to move to the $10 million Nar Nar Goon/ Tynong property as funding would have been stopped if they stayed in town.

“Thankfully we received approval to relocate to the 600-acre site at Nar Nar Goon/Tynong and we will continue to receive funding over the next four years,” he said.

“And the new site will provide for the future of the racing industry in the ’20s and ’30s, not just now.

“The move is all about the future. It will allow for more race meetings to be held at the course and have a state of the art training centre like nothing before.”

To put the size of the new development into context, Mr Hodge said the Cranbourne Training Centre was the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere at 242 acres – the proposed new racecourse is two and a half times that.

“It really shows the future capacity of the site and it is really exciting.”

The new facility will feature a 2400-metre grass track and a 2000-metre synthetic track – with nothing like it in Australia.

It will also include a track design that will provide chutes to enable starts for all distances, track lighting for night meetings and will be fully drought-proofed.

“We see synthetic tracks as the way of the future,” Mr Hodge said.

“We are caught in a time warp with most races held during the day with very, very little presence in the night market.

“The racing industry has decided we need to create a night racing market and this site is perfect for that.”

The first stage of the project is expected to be completed in 2013 with the grass track brought in and current trainers and horses welcomed to the site. A modest grandstand will also be built, as well as customer facilities and racing infrastructure all at a total cost of $35 million.

From 2015 and beyond the synthetic track will be brought in as well as lighting, night racing, a veterinary centre and room for retail and educational buildings.

Development of trainer facilities and allotments is also on the cards.

The current Pakenham Racecourse site will be put on the market halfway through this year. The sale of its land will help fund the new development.

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