Magazine - Werribee Cup will Return Home

By Editor in Racing / Equestrian on 31st Oct 2008 19:40

Although the Werribee Cup was held at Geelong on Wednesday, Werribee officials are confident they will again host their feature race.

Chief executive David Horsburgh said the future was looking much brighter for the Werribee Racing Club. "I'm more confident now that we can come to a solution to see racing return here. We could be back within 12 months," Horsburgh said. Werribee's prospects looked forlorn in the middle of the year when Racing Victoria Ltd told the club it had to reconstruct the track but would not assist with the $4 million needed.

RVL, Country Racing Victoria and Werribee officials met three weeks ago. "A lot of options were discussed. We have put proposals forward and are confident we will be part of the blueprint when it is released later this year," Horsburgh said.

It is believed one of the options is for Werribee to become a quarantine centre. Horsburgh said the figures that had been mentioned to save Werribee were not necessarily accurate. "We've had the track managers down from Caulfield and Flemington and we are looking at alternatives to a full track reconstruction," he said.

One of the early suggestions to save Werribee was for David Hayes to move his operation there, but that looks unlikely. Horsburgh said there was no chance Werribee would move. Horsburgh expected a crowd of 3000 to 4000 to attend today's Werribee Cup, which would be well down on its normal crowd of about 10,000.

Source & More: www.news.com.au

Read more articles in Racing / Equestrian, by Editor or from October 2008.