Victorian Country Racecourse and Training Facilities Infrastructure Plan For the three year period 2015/16 to 2017/18
Overview Executive Summary The need to develop a plan which provides for efficient use of industry infrastructure was identified in Racing Victoria s three-year Strategic Plan which was released in November 2013. Titled Racing For The Future, the Strategic Plan gives consideration to some of the longer-term issues and opportunities impacting thoroughbred racing in Victoria, while outlining a path from which growth and further success can be achieved. Specifically, Racing For The Future outlined the need to: Resolve a clear plan for best use of available assets and infrastructure across Racing Victoria and the Club network and investing in the right Club and facility footprints over the longer term, to drive sustained growth. Racing Victoria (RV) and Country Racing Victoria (CRV) commenced a process of consultation and review in early 2014 to develop a future plan for country racing and training infrastructure. This process incorporated a four month consultation period where Clubs and other industry stakeholders were afforded the opportunity to provide feedback ahead of the development of this three-year plan. The plan provides country Racing Clubs, owners, trainers and industry participants with a clearer understanding of the future direction across country Victoria and aims to deliver optimum facilities and financial strength for individual Clubs and the broader industry. Clubs are required to deliver on various standards including track preparation, performance of race meetings, presentation of training facilities, observance to OH&S standards and adherence to guidelines for the use of capital funds. Country Racing Snapshot A Size and Scope of the Industry Report released in 2014 confirmed the importance of country racing to Victoria and in particular the impact it has on the economy and social fabric of regional communities. There are more than 8,000 full time equivalent jobs in country racing and it contributes more than $850 million to the Victorian economy. In addition to the economic benefits, country racing is an integral part of the sporting life and cultural traditions of people in regional Victoria with 62 country racecourses spread across the state. Clubs foster social cohesion through their events and facilities and provide benefits to a broad range of individuals and community organisations. RV and CRV recognises the importance of country racing and is committed to developing practices to ensure future growth. During the three year period of this plan, incorporating the 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 racing seasons, the following will be achieved: Current tracks maintained RV and CRV are committed to continuing racing at each of the 62 country tracks currently racing across Victoria. Sustainable racing models for Clubs RV and CRV will work with Clubs to develop sustainable business models. Geographical spread of key venues A key racing and training venue will be located on each major arterial in Victoria. Development of night racing Country night racing options will be developed with Pakenham Racecourse identified as Victoria s preferred third night racing venue should the appropriate funding for lighting be confirmed. Opportunities for other venues will also be explored during the three-year period of the plan. Track upgrades A number of track upgrades will be implemented to improve country tracks and provide increased opportunities for racing and training. Training Track Maintenance Fund The plan identifies venues that will receive industry training funding. Capital funding strategy Industry capital expenditure will be focused on racing and training infrastructure over customer facilities which will be largely a Club responsibility. Race meetings plan summary The plan determines that the current number of race meetings across country Victoria will continue to be delivered. 1
Current Tracks Maintained Sustainable Racing Models for Clubs RV and CRV are committed to continuing racing at each of the 62 country tracks located across Victoria. It is considered that a reduction in small racetracks across the state would impact racing s marketability for communities and provide limited economic benefit to the industry, given the small amount of funding required to operate these venues. Community engagement remains the key to successful clubs and they must continue to play a strong community role within their region. They provide a footprint to promote and showcase thoroughbred racing across the state. The safety of participants is of upmost importance and OH&S risks which may jeopardise this could influence the industry s long-term ability to maintain racing at all current country venues. RV and CRV will work with Clubs to ensure long-term sustainability. Generally sustainability of Clubs is influenced by their operating model and most fit into certain categories, however there are some varied models that operate unique but successful operations. The number of race meetings and other community activities conducted at each Club will determine the type of business model required, as follows: Once-a-year Clubs These Clubs generally conduct successful feature race days. The number of venues which race once-a-year is likely to increase in the long-term. Clubs that race between two and six times a year These Clubs generally conduct successful feature race days with either small training operations or none at all. Opportunities will be explored for these Clubs to become more sustainable and assist the industry by conducting jump outs and trials. Clubs that race between seven and 13 times a year These Clubs generally conduct a mixture of feature and non-feature meetings along with mid-scale training operations. Clubs conducting 14 meetings or more These Clubs provide wagering and training operations at a larger scale. 2
Geographical Spread of Key Venues The need to develop key racing and training centres accessible to each major growth corridor of Melbourne was outlined in Racing For The Future. At present, the Hume Highway corridor is the main arterial that does not have a key racing venue, however the planned $6 million upgrade of the course proper at Seymour will ensure that it develops into a significant racing and training centre and that each major arterial out of the metropolitan area is serviced. The project will widen the track from 18 to 23 metres to give it greater flexibility for racing and training and provide expanded geographical spread and wagering options for the industry. The race meetings plan on the final page of this document reflects Seymour as having the current track for 2015/16 and a new track for the following two seasons. However, given the construction phase is likely to be 14 months, a sizeable amount of race meetings will need to be distributed from this plan to other venues until the project is completed. Development of Country Night Racing Exploring opportunities to expand the night racing circuit was one of the priorities of Racing For the Future as a way of maximising audience engagement and wagering opportunities. A second country night racing venue will be developed at Pakenham in the 2015/16 season, should the appropriate funding for lighting be confirmed. Pakenham has been identified as the next venue because of its ability to host turf and synthetic racing at a purpose built venue with an efficient operating model. It also has access to the large horse population east of Melbourne. Future programming will also include early evening meetings across Victoria (during suitable daylight hours) to ensure opportunities for more fans and participants. Future country night racing venues will be considered following the establishment of night racing at Pakenham and the evaluation of wagering performance at this venue. Mildura Manangatang Swan Hill The Hume Highway corridor is the major route that does not have a large, more developed track with Seymour being 18 metres wide. Kerang Gunbower Wodonga Wycheproof Echuca Towong Warracknabeal Nhill Donald Wangaratta Tatura Benalla Dederang Murtoa St. Arnaud Seymour Horsham Bendigo Stawell Edenhope Avoca Merton Great Western Yea Mansfield Omeo Ararat Kilmore Alexandra Casterton Kyneton Swifts Creek Hanging Rock Burrumbeet Buchan Coleraine Yarra Valley Dunkeld Ballarat Healesville Hamilton Melbourne Bairnsdale Penshurst Werribee Pakenham Mortlake Geelong Cranbourne Sale Terang Camperdown Moe Mornington Drouin Traralgon Colac Warrnambool Balnarring Woolamai Stony Creek 3
Track Upgrades Training Track Maintenance Fund Track upgrades will continue to be pursued to ensure the best use of the industry s available assets and infrastructure. These upgrades will also provide increased opportunities for country venues, as follows: Seymour A $6 million upgrade of the course proper will widen the track from 18 to 23 metres to give it greater flexibility for racing and training. Bendigo The inner grass track will be considered for upgrade to allow flexibility for jumps racing and potential transferred meetings. More significantly, it will provide improved grass training options for the region. Geelong To enable year-round turf racing, the Geelong grass track will be over-sowed. Regional tracks upgrade Options to widen and improve the shape of tracks at Wodonga, Wangaratta, Kilmore, Swan Hill and Sale will be investigated to ensure enhanced performance. At present, there are 40 tracks across Victoria which conduct training operations and 28 of these receive a share of $8.3 million which is invested across country tracks through the Training Track Maintenance Fund. Future training funding will continue to be linked to operating requirements including an annual review of facilities and starter numbers. for training facilities at Bairnsdale, Mildura, Terang and Stony Creek will be transitioned out within the three years of this plan. RV and CRV will work with these Clubs and affected trainers in relation to transition plans. These venues may receive course proper funding - which is provided to Clubs hosting a volume of TAB meetings but no training - in the future, however this is dependent on race meeting numbers. Kilmore, Tatura and Colac have been placed on notice in relation to their future funding for training. Annual renovations All tracks that race more than six times per season will be required to have a coordinated and robust annual renovation process. Meetings will also be spread across the year to ensure individual tracks are not over burdened. Meeting placement Race meetings will be scheduled at the optimum time of year for individual tracks to reduce the need to abandon or transfer meetings. 4
Training Track Maintenance Fund (cont.) Club Training Summary The factors taken into consideration in determining the funding for all training venues include: Starters produced and horse population trends Current status of training facilities Current venue usage Opportunity for expansion Geographic location and proximity to other training venues Future availability of industry funds to allocate to maintenance and capital infrastructure at all Victorian training facilities RV and CRV will continue to support a suitable geographic spread of funded training venues across Victoria and will work with Clubs to investigate options to reduce operating costs for venues and users. The following activities will be undertaken: Locations which have sufficient land to expand their facilities will be further developed All usage (racing, training and trialling) will be considered in venue-use planning Capacity will be built through new developments and better spread of use Other solutions will be investigated for management and use of training facilities In addition, a number of key projects will be undertaken to expand training options across the state: Regional grass track access Availability and access to grass training track options has been identified by trainers as a key issue for horse fitness and welfare. A regional track management support system will be developed to address this. As part of the plan, smaller tracks will be required to support larger venues with grass access within a regional support structure by conducting jump outs and grass gallops. Development of Pakenham training The new Pakenham venue will be developed as a key long term training facility. Training Location 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Bairnsdale Ballarat Benalla Bendigo Caulfield 2017-18 Comment 31/7/2018 Colac On notice Cranbourne Echuca Flemington Geelong Hamilton Horsham Kilmore On notice Kyneton Mildura Moe Mornington Pakenham Sale Seymour Stawell Stony Creek Swan Hill 31/7/2015 31/7/2016 Tatura On notice Terang Wangaratta Warrnambool Wodonga 31/7/2016 Lease training venues A model will be investigated for individual trainers to lease and/or manage tracks for training. Stable developments Non-financial support will be provided to the following Clubs which have plans for on-course stables to build capacity in the system: Cranbourne, Geelong, Ballarat, Wangaratta, Seymour and Pakenham. 5
Capital Strategy Club Race Dates Summary RV and CRV will jointly manage industry capital projects to improve racing and training infrastructure at racecourses across the state. Industry expenditure during the next three years will be predominantly focused on racing and training facilities, and projects will be prioritised by track usage. Clubs are expected to contribute the majority of the capital requirements for customer facility improvements. Race Meetings Plan Summary The number of race meetings to be programmed at each country track for three years commencing 2015/16 has been identified. The key components are: In setting this plan, limited allowance has been made for track reconstruction projects such as the works to be undertaken at Seymour. Such projects will require race meetings to be distributed to other venues. Non-feature dates are predominantly allocated based on wagering performance and geographical spread. A key consideration in developing this plan was not over-working individual tracks, particularly during the wetter months. In each of the final two years of the plan five meetings have been unallocated to provide the industry some flexibility in programming based on performance and track suitability. It is noted that this plan doesn t consider actual calendar race dates but considers the tally of race meetings per venue. Picnic Racing Program Picnic racing remains a central component of racing in country Victoria and RV and CRV are committed to its on-going success. A separate three-year infrastructure plan, incorporating Victoria s 12 picnic racing tracks, is being prepared for completion in March/April 2015. Club Venue / Club 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 Apsley 1 1 1 Ararat 6 6 6 Avoca 2 2 2 Bairnsdale 7 7 7 Ballan 1 1 1 Ballarat 27 27 27 Benalla 10 10 10 Bendigo 23 23 23 Burrumbeet 1 1 1 Camperdown 1 1 1 Casterton 3 3 3 Colac 4 3 3 Coleraine 1 1 1 Cranbourne 23 23 23 Donald 7 6 6 Dunkeld 1 1 1 Echuca 11 10 10 Edenhope 1 1 1 Geelong 35 35 35 Geelong St Patricks 1 1 1 Great Western 1 1 1 Gunbower 1 1 1 Hamilton 8 7 7 Horsham 3 3 3 Kerang 2 2 2 Kilmore 13 13 12 Kyneton & Hanging Rock 14 14 14 Latrobe Valley 3 2 2 Manangatang 1 1 1 Mildura 8 7 7 Moe 14 14 14 Mornington 15 15 15 Mortlake 1 1 1 Mt Wycheproof 1 1 1 Murtoa 2 2 2 Nhill 1 1 1 Pakenham 38 39 39 Penshurst 1 1 1 Sale 18 18 18 Seymour 16 18 19 St Arnaud 1 1 1 Stawell 6 5 5 Stony Creek 5 4 4 Swan Hill 10 10 10 Tatura 3 2 2 Terang 6 6 6 Towong 1 1 1 Wangaratta 8 10 10 Warracknabeal 3 3 3 Warrnambool 18 18 18 Werribee 6 6 6 Wodonga 9 8 8 Woodford 1 1 1 Yarra Valley 9 9 9 TOTAL 413 408* 408* *Additional 5 meetings unallocated at present. 6