🔒 🔒 Racing NSW sizes up Southern Highlands properties as Newmarket vision gathers steam

Racing NSW is renewing its quest to acquire a property suitable for a purpose-built Newmarket-style training facility south of Sydney.

The Straight can reveal that the thoroughbred industry regulator’s long-held ambition of establishing a large-scale training facility modelled on the famed UK racing town is back on the agenda.

More than seven years after Racing NSW first stated its intention to buy a parcel of land in the Southern Highlands region capable of housing more than 1000 horses in full training, it is understood new sites have been identified for the audacious project.

Property developer Steve Grant, the founder of Capital Corporation and owner of Southern Highlands thoroughbred stud Silverdale Farm, confirmed he had dealings with Racing NSW this year about potential properties. 

“There was a property that I identified down there probably (a little more than) three months ago that might’ve been worth looking at, but I haven’t heard if they’ve made a move on it or not,” Grant said. 

“But certainly, as I drove back (recently) from a little bit further down the freeway from the Southern Highlands than where we are (at Silverdale Farm) … I kept looking to the right and to the left and there’s some great properties down there I know that will suit.” 

Stables, training tracks, potentially a racecourse and associated facilities would be constructed if Racing NSW was able to purchase land large enough and with the right terrain to turn its vision into a reality.

Properties within 160km of Sydney’s central business district have been on the radar for some time.

In 2019, long-serving Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys, who is currently on four months’ long-service leave while executive chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, spoke about his Newmarket vision for the Southern Highlands.

“It is not easy to find that much land but we have looked at a couple of options,” V’landys told the Sydney Morning Herald at the time.

“Ideally it would be centred around a country town, which would be revitalised by the investment and become Australia’s Newmarket.”

The project was again referenced in Racing NSW’s 2024 strategic plan, indicating it had not been abandoned by V’landys or the board chaired by Dr Saranne Cooke. 

Grant’s revelation about zeroing in on a site also indicated that the regulator’s board and executive were continuing to explore their options.

“A Newmarket-style major training centre will be developed in close proximity to Sydney to future-proof the industry and provide trainers with an opportunity to acquire their own training base as an asset for their businesses,” Racing NSW wrote in its latest strategic plan.

“This initiative will increase the number of horses in training close to Sydney and support a continued uplift in field sizes. 

“Importantly, this new facility will be developed with state-of-the-art training infrastructure that will provide an industry-leading, efficient and effective centre for training.”

Identifying and procuring the right site had caused delays in Racing NSW pursuing the project that would account for the “long-term needs of the industry”.

“The site will need to service up to 1000 horses in training, with multiple training surfaces and ancillary infrastructure such as walkers, treadmills, aqua walkers and pools,” the latest iteration of the strategic document said.

“Providing trainers with an opportunity to acquire a parcel of land within this training centre for their own business is one of the key requests received. 

“Currently, trainers conducting their businesses on racecourse lands pay rent for the use of their stables but are rarely able to procure any such assets within their business.

“Accordingly, the new training centre will provide an opportunity for trainers to sub-divide portions of land for their own stables in particular and potentially housing.”

The plan also pointed to the development of staff housing on the site.

Grant revealed he was also involved in drawing up plans for the large-scale racehorse training developments.

“The ones that I’ve designed for different groups centre around the trainer being able to buy premises and go from there,” he said.

“But at the same time, it’s up to the regulator or the club that might own that facility to have them also available for lease to various trainers.

“There’s no reason in the world, with what we’ve got in Australia, that we shouldn’t have those facilities within an hour-and-a-half or 45 minutes of the main racing centre.

“It really provides so many different surfaces for the horses to work on, round courses, straight tracks, hills, all those sorts of things.”

The most recent plans put together by Grant were for a 1250-acre site capable of accommodating 2000 horses.

“At the time I had a bit of debate with the people that were working on the project as I wanted to make sure there was a racetrack there on that site as well,” he said. 

“There was debate about whether we need a circular track? And you definitely need a circular track to train those horses on because that’s how they’ll race. 

“Also, if you’re doing it down a place like the Southern Highlands or somewhere a bit up north or wherever it might happen to be, within 50 years, it will be a suburb of Sydney.”

The Victorian racing industry has invested heavily in training infrastructure at centres such as Cranbourne, Pakenham and Ballarat, a fact acknowledged by Grant.

“For me particularly, as a lover of horses, I just want to see the horses do better, get better facilities and be able to show what we can do with those great facilities,” he said. 

While yet to embark on the greenfield project, Racing NSW has invested more than $125 million in an expansive property portfolio.

It recently added Crown Lodge at Warwick Farm to its investment, with the pristine stable subsequently leased to Ciaron Maher. 

Racing NSW bought the 125-box complex from Godolphin.

As a result of the move, Maher vacated the regulator-owned Bong Bong Farm in the Southern Highlands to consolidate his Sydney base.

Maher also relinquished the lease on Randwick’s Leilani Lodge, which is owned by the Australian Turf Club, allowing Adrian Bott and Gai Waterhouse to take it over.

Racing NSW, which was contacted for comment on this story, also purchased the late Alan Cardy’s Lynton Farm near Goulburn for $5.42 million in 2022.