Hospital plan causes ripples for Mildura

A concept plan that would oust the Mildura Harness Racing Club from its historic base to make way for a new hospital is causing ripples in one of the industry’s most active Victorian clubs.

The Victorian Health Building Authority is developing a master plan for a new hospital in Mildura and the city’s centrally located recreation reserve is one of the sites being considered for the development, estimated to cost at least half a billion dollars.

Mildura Harness Racing Club is among about a dozen user-groups at the reserve, including two of the city’s biggest football and netball clubs, as well as the show society, navy cadets and State Emergency Service.

The club is enjoying some of the most buoyant years in its 70-year history, regularly attracting 115 plus horses to its meetings, and more often than not, programming 12 races per meeting.

It’s estimated there are around 60 locally trained horses, and the universal view from northwest trainers and drivers is that Mildura requires more race meetings programmed.

But they agreed the cost of relocation is likely to be prohibitive and relocation options are impractical.

And with the spectacle of competitive, up-close action under lights around a tight half mile circuit considered to be Mildura’s appeal to spectators and punters alike, they’re also concerned about the likely loss of “atmosphere”.

“I wouldn’t be keen to travel to Ouyen (100 kilometres away) for weekly meetings and I’m sure it’s the same for other local trainers,” said Merbein South trainer Luke Watson.

“And if they put the trots track inside the (Mildura) racecourse that would be a dead-set atmosphere killer,” he said.

“You’d have the gallops track and training tracks and a trot track inside that. You’re just too far away from everything.”

Mildura hosts more than 40 harness racing meetings per year, attracting trainers and drivers from as far as Adelaide, southern Victoria and the Riverina region of New South Wales.

Despite the club’s meetings generally being 12-race fixtures, most have lists of horses missing a run due to the high number of nominations – at next week’s meeting for example, 14 horses were “balloted” from the original nominations.

While the club is not commenting on the city oval proposal, Harness Racing Victoria has indicated it has no plans or wish to move the sport from its current base.

“Mildura holds an integral place in the State’s harness racing ecosystem, attracting more starters per race meeting than any other harness racing venue in Victoria,” a HRV spokesperson said.

“We note the State Government has not yet decided on a site for the planned hospital,” the spokesperson said.

“But HRV has no plans to relocate the Mildura club from its current precinct.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink