Pressure on old girl to put on a good show

EAGLE FARM

IT’S not just the track that will be scrutinised when racing returns today to Eagle Farm, with the venue’s ageing facilities also under the microscope.

Brisbane Racing Club vicechairman Richard Morrison admitted to having some nerves about how well the venue would stand up the task of holding its first meet since May 2017.

“When you’ve got facilities as old as ours, there’s always some concern at the back of your mind when you go to turn them on after being turned off for 18 months that’s something’s not going to work right,” Morrison said.

“It’s like starting up a car after 18 months. There’s probably every chance there’s going to be some little problems.

“But our guys have been working feverishly for the past couple of weeks … and before that in fairness, just to make sure that all those little issues are ironed out before we return there. The boys have done everything they can to have the old girl race fit.”

“We’ve got a new substation, and there have upwards of $1.4 million of electrical upgrades in recent months.”

Morrison said the predicted crowd of between 3000 and 5000 today should expect facilities to be in the “same state” as in May last year.

Morrison said GPS timing system Trakus would be trialled today.

“But it’s not something we’ll be putting out on Sky Channel at this stage. We want to make sure it’s all working correctly prior to sending it out to the world,” he said.

New entry arrangements have been implemented at Eagle Farm. There are now two general entry points – vehicles via the infield and pedestrians via Gate 4 (Racecourse Rd).

The infield carpark is accessible only via Nudgee Rd at the northern end of the Racecourse Village Shopping Centre.

There are no other entry points except for disabled parking, horse floats and race meeting participants.