Bendigo will be the Victorian racing spotlight with its standalone meeting. As training becomes increasingly decentralised, the opportunity is there for the track tagged the “Nursery of Champions” to become one of the major hubs of the industry.
Amid the shifting demographic of Victorian horse racing and training, where the line between city and country has become blurred, Bendigo has been the sleeping giant.
Cranbourne, dismissed a generation ago as a basic venue for small-time country trainers, is now Victorian racing’s epicentre.
Southside, a merger of Cranbourne and another awakened giant, Pakenham, is Australia’s Newmarket or Chantilly, a status some still can’t grasp. Strong words were exchanged in a recent industry sub-committee meeting when Southside dared declare itself “metro”.
Ballarat has also sprung to life. Seven hundred horses are worked at one of Australia’s coldest training centres. All up, Southside has around 1700.
Flemington, once the king of training, has just 600 on the books.
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