Club says it’s time for work
AFTER 11 years of promises, Gold Coast Turf Club chairman Brett Cook says the club’s time for waiting on infrastructure needs to end.
With the introduction of tomorrow’s $1.5 million QTIS Aquis Jewel meeting, the Gold Coast hosts three of the nine richest days of racing on Queensland’s calendar, headed by $10 million Magic Millions day in January.
As far back as 2008, former Racing Queensland chairman Bob Bentley announced infrastructure developments for the Coast.
The business plan for an overhaul of tracks and tunnels was approved and sent to Treasury in 2011.
But changes to the Racing Queensland administration and bungled projects at other tracks have seen the Coast stuck in neutral.
With the Ipswich racecourse’s ongoing woes, there has been speculation a renovation of the Bundamba track will supersede plans for the Gold Coast’s Aquis Park but Cook said there could be no more delays for his club.
“The time for talking is over,” he said.
“Since that original announcement (in 2008), our club, trainers and owners have been very patient and out of industry necessity have taken a back seat.
“We have supported other track upgrades taking precedence over ours, including the two times at Eagle Farm and Toowoomba getting its grass back. Now the synthetic training track at the Sunshine Coast is getting done again.
“We understood those projects were critical to the sustainability of all those clubs and in Eagle Farm’s case it was critical to the entire racing industry. Based on this we need to be the next major infrastructure project off the rank.”
Plans on the table include an under-track tunnel, a new synthetic training track and the installation of lights.