Gold Coast Night Racing Greenlighted

The Gold Coast Turf Club's $38 million transformation into an international night racing attraction is off and racing, reports racingqueensland.com.au. At the last election, the Premier announced a re-elected Palaszczuk Government would deliver a multi-million-dollar transformation of Aquis Park and, on Monday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the approval of $31.5 million to redevelop the 75-year-old racecourse into Australia's most impressive night racing venue. "This multi-million-dollar redevelopment will transform the Gold Coast Turf Club into one of the best racing venues in the country," the Premier said. "At the election, we made a promise to invest in new infrastructure to create jobs and rebuild the economy on the Gold Coast. We're delivering on that commitment. This project will create jobs for local construction workers and will deliver great benefits for the local racing industry on the Gold Coast for years to come." The $31.5 million comes on top of $1.5 million the Government has already provided for feasibility and planning. The GCTC is also contributing $5 million towards the project. The project – part of the Palaszczuk Government's COVID-19 economic recovery plan – will go to tender later this year. Racing Minister Grace Grace said the redevelopment would see the racing surfaces completely modernised with an all-weather synthetic track, the latest technology in lights for night racing, and an in-field tunnel to provide increased equine welfare and health and safety benefits, along with increased commercial opportunity.

Gold Coast night racing will become a reality (pic: racingqueensland.com.au)