INVESTMENT IN RACE TRACK A CERTAIN WINNER
The $38m transformation of the Gold Coast Turf Club precinct will deliver on many levels for the city, primarily providing a world-class entertainment destination
YOU’VE probably heard the old saying of “never look a gift horse in the mouth’’. It perfectly sums up the lucrative opportunity that beckons for the Gold Coast as the city emerges from its postpandemic funk.
With skyscrapers leaping out of the ground and the Gold Coast being swamped by Victorian and NSW immigrants, the need for extra tourism investment has never been more crucial.
This week, one of the most iconic sites in the city – the Bundall racecourse precinct – was gifted an extraordinary opportunity to become one of the finest entertainment venues in Australia. Note the term “entertainment’’ and not “racing’’ showpiece.
This $38m transformation of the turf club is not simply about improving the racing industry. Far from it. Yes owners, trainers, jockeys and punters will benefit from a better calibre of racehorse and more prize money through increased wagering.
But this is about tourism. It’s about enterprise. It’s about transforming the Gold Coast Turf Club into the Hong Kong of the South Pacific, attracting visitors from all over the world. It is a once-in-ageneration opportunity.
The state government, through Tourism Queensland, Destination Gold Coast and the Gold Coast City Council
It’s about transforming the Gold Coast Turf Club into the Hong Kong of the South Pacific, attracting visitors from all over the world.
must seize the day and combine to market the Bundall precinct – operational since 1946 – into a world class entertainment drawcard. There is no better site on the Gold Coast to combine statesponsored track upgrades with private investment. It is a five- minute drive from Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, the city’s two most popular accommodation sites.
It follows the announcement by the state government that the Gold Coast Turf Club will get $38m to transform the precinct, including state of the art lighting to enable night racing. The project will go to tender later this year.
What city power brokers need to grasp is that this is not a gambling mecca story. This is about turning one of the city’s prime parcels of land into a thriving entertainment hub, with plans for residential, commercial and upgraded facilities. This is about giving holidaymakers to the Gold Coast another “must do’’ in their planning diary. This is about adding a night at the races to the theme parks, the hinterland and the beaches.
It is a damning indictment on the strength of the green groups in this city that this is the first major tourism
infrastructure spend on the Gold Coast – other than major property and shopping centre projects – in 25 years. The message to bureaucrats is simple – get out of the way and let the government-sponsored racetrack transformation be combined with private enterprise to deliver a worldclass venue.
If there’s an endangered frog or snail colony that might be affected, rehome them to Guanaba. If there’s a few ibis skulking around looking for scraps, send them to Byron Bay. Can you imagine the buzz of night racing – with the Surfers Paradise skyline as the backdrop – attracting the best horses, trainers and jockeys to coincide with the big race meets at Moonee Valley and Canterbury?
As somebody who’s been lucky enough to attend night race meetings at Happy Valley in Hong Kong and Moonee Valley in Melbourne, there’s nothing quite like the atmosphere of a big race meeting under lights.
With Friday the favoured evening for night racing, holidaymakers would clamour at the chance to have a beer, a bet and a feed to usher in the weekend. As part of the redevelopment, the racing surfaces will be completely modernised with an allweather synthetic track, the latest technology in lights for night racing, and an in-field tunnel to provide increased equine welfare and health and safety benefits.
The turf club is currently assessing the long-term
commercial benefits attached to such a valuable site. By the time the new facilities are ready, the south-east corner will have thousands more hotel rooms and tourists, including a new hotel and apartment tower at The Star Gold Coast casino.
Throw in the wildly successful Magic Millions carnival, with purchasers coming from around the globe in non COVID-19 times, and the turf club is already backing plenty of winners.
With Eagle Farm a basket case because of its botched racing surface, the Gold Coast is fast cementing its reputation as Queensland’s top provincial circuit. The Gold Coast needs this to be a raging success. We can’t let the usual doomsayers lodge a frivolous protest.