High-tech boom tipped for Tynong

By Paul Pickering
PAKENHAM Racing Club’s new Tynong track is set to become the site of a technological revolution for the Victorian racing industry.
Racing Victoria chief executive Rob Hines last week revealed plans for remote-control television to replace stewards’ towers at the new facility, paving the way for a rapid-fire brand of racing from August 2013.
Hines said the move would eliminate the need for officials to return to the stewards’ room after races, meaning the interval between races could be reduced to 20-25 minutes.
PRC chief executive Michael Hodge confirmed that the club had floated the idea with Racing Victoria, and also revealed that a raft of innovations was being considered for the Tynong track.
“A working party has been established to look at all of those technological changes and (improved) work practices,” Hodge said.
“The opportunities are endless and we want to make sure we’re exploring all those opportunities to make racing a much better spectacle.”
Hodge said the Tynong track could be used as a test venue for GPS technology that records horses’ sectional time splits, which are currently only available at Victoria’s metropolitan tracks.
“At the moment it’s done via a system of (underground) cabling and receivers in the saddle cloths of horses, so what RVL is looking at is moving to the next phase of that technology,” Hodge said.
The use of GPS tracking would also allow computer modelling of races, providing an invaluable tool for trainers, jockeys, form analysts and punters alike.
Hodge said replacing stewards’ towers with remote-control television would be more cost effective, but also a boon for racegoers.
“Having a race every 40 minutes isn’t the way of the future,” he said.
“The way all other sports are developing, whether it’s Twenty20 cricket or whatever, suggests that we have to shorten the bandwidth and provide more entertainment and more of a spectacle for the on-course patron.”
The training facilities at Tynong will also be at the cutting edge, with a synthetic track, uphill training straight and a fully-enclosed stall area making the site an attractive prospect for trainers.
The Pakenham Racing Club recently finalised its plans for the first stage of trainer allotments at the Tynong property and submitted them to Cardinia Shire for approval. The stage one development is a 16-lot subdivision, with block sizes of up to one hectare.
Hodge said the development would provide trainers with an amazing opportunity to base themselves on the doorstep of one of Victoria’s best training facilities. Not surprisingly, Hodge is excited about work beginning on the Tynong site in April or May.
“This has gone beyond something for Cardinia Shire or Pakenham Racing Club – this is an opportunity for the Victorian racing industry to stamp itself as a world leader in racing,” he said.