Breeding & Racing Magazine

Pakenham Pushes Tynong For 2nd Vic Synthetic Track

Meanwhile Pakenham Racing Club, "on the verge of selling up & moving to a new course at Tynong, is adamant Victoria's 2nd synthetic track should be laid there" reported The Herald-Sun. With Racing Victoria short-listing Tynong alongside Melbourne metropolitan tracks Flemington & Caulfield for the all-weather racing surface, Pakenham chief executive Michael Hodge insisted his club was "the best placed" & noted he expected the sale of the Pakenham course (for between $35 million-$45 million) "to be finalised by the end of the month". The cash "would be ploughed into building a state-of-the-art course, training facilities & amenities at Tynong" with work on the grass track starting "at the end of this year". Hodge declared: "The synthetic track is central to our entire business model. We designed it first. The grass track was designed around the synthetic track. And that was done so we could get the 1400m & 1600m chutes & still have a circumference of 1970m. It makes it world class." Hodge said the club's "other compelling advantage" was that it could have the synthetic track "built, installed & ready for racing in early 2013". He summed up: "I think we could deliver synthetic racing as early as the end of 2012 if need be - there's no doubt about that. We tick all the right boxes: lights, horse training, night racing, design & cost."