Rumours fly on Sandown

PLANS for a $300 million redevelopment of Caulfield have sent rumours about the future of Sandown in to overdrive and the Australian Trainers Association fears the suburban track will be sold to fund the new works.

All Victorian trainers have been contacted and asked for their thoughts on the Sandown discussion which ATA president Robbie Griffiths will put to the Melbourne Racing Club at a June 26 meeting.

The MRC, which controls both Caulfield and Sandown, announced its bold plans last month including new grandstands and building a second racing track. Phase one is set to begin as early as the end of this year.

MRC executive general manager of racing Jake Norton said after the release of the plans there would be no immediate changes to Sandown, but Griffiths said the ATA wanted to get “on the front foot”.

Several trainers have already voiced their strong support for keeping Sandown.

“We are being proactive among our members to see how they feel,” Griffiths said.

“If they are going to redevelop Caulfield and put another track in and have more racing, that will reshape what their thoughts are with Sandown. If we don’t say anything, and they sell it, they could say we didn’t care.

“Change is inevitable, and you can’t have assets sitting there not working for you. Nobody is against that. But if we are going to coexist as an industry, we need to listen to all parties. We’re not against the MRC, we just don’t want to sit in silence, because we care about what happens to Sandown. We don’t want to lose good tracks.”

Griffiths said trainers were a significant part of the industry but were being left in the dark when it came to the future of Sandown. “The rumour mill is growing strong,” he said.