Australian Turf Club plans 375 new stables at Warwick Farm racing centre of excellence

The Australian Turf Club plans to regenerate Warwick Farm racecourse into a multimillion-dollar centre of excellence with on-course stables and track upgrades to complement the opening of Inglis' Riverside Sales complex and hotel.

The club has lodged a development application with Liverpool Council for a stabling precinct that would eventually include 375 new on-course boxes with stables, which would be self-contained units with a horsewalkers, sand rolls, offices and accommodation.

The club hopes to start to build the first stable block of 50 boxes this year if council approval is granted and will rebuild the A-grass track as part of an upgrade project for Western Sydney's racecourse.

"The master plan is for 375 boxes on-course but the initial DA is 50 boxes and we are hoping to have a three-month turnaround from the council to start building," ATC chairman Laurie Macri said.

"We have to start to plan for our future and funding of the project would come from surplus cash flows and be rolled out over a number of years.

"We would look to partner with trainers that are keen to develop their future at Warwick Farm and give them long-term leases on stables, which secure their futures and give them certainty.

"We have an option in Western Sydney to have a unique centre, which has sales, training and racing in the one area and showcases the sport to the biggest growth area in Sydney."

The $140 million Inglis Riverside complex will be officially opened on Monday, which is an investment in the future of racing. Inglis also has announced a $3 million race day to be held at Warwick Farm in 2019.

The club is also keen to invest in infrastructure in the area as part of its plan to have more than 400 new boxes in the Sydney basin by 2022.

The stables would replace the old raceday stalls in the western corner of the racecourse land that is bordered by Governor Macquarie Drive and Hume Highway.

It would help with the transit of trainers from off-course to on-course and give opportunities for new trainers to start business on the metropolitan track.

Traditionally trainers have owned their stables off-course at Warwick Farm, but planned rezoning of the area means many trainers would like to capitalise on their investments but remain training at Warwick Farm.

The urban crawl has already seen most stables at Randwick relocated to on-course and all the stables at Rosehill to be on-course and it seems certain that Warwick Farm will follow suit.

The proposal for 375 boxes would almost double the off-course stables surrounding the track, not including Godolphin's Crown Lodge and ATC-owned stables.

"If you are going to improve the training facilities you may as well increase the capacity," Macri said.

"The first part of the upgrade to Warwick Farm will be a refurbishment of the A-grass and we have plans for the course proper to follow."

The stables would be single and double storey and the concept would be used to build further stables at Rosehill and Randwick over the next few years.

The ATC will present an overall plan for its racing assets to the Racing NSW board on Monday.

Article courtesy of Fairfax Digital and The Brisbane Times