Racing Minister Rob Hulls, Yarra Valley Racing chief executive Brett Shambrook, Healesville Amateur Racing Club president John O’Neill, HARC committee members Chris Young and Ivan Allen and Seymour MP Ben Hardman at the launch of the 2009 Picnic Racing season in Healesville.
By Monique Ebrington
THE 2009 Picnic Racing season in the Yarra Valley is off to a great start.
Last Friday 23 October Deputy Premier and Racing Minister Rob Hulls announced that the Healesville, Yarra Valley and Alexandra racing clubs would share $106,500 in grants.
The announcement was made at Healesville Amateur Racing Club (HARC), which hosts the first meeting of the picnic racing season next Saturday 31 October.
HARC president John O’Neill said the club’s grant of $30,000 would go towards installing a track watering system to maintain the turf.
“The grant is a great boost for the club,” Mr O’Neill said.
“If the track was too hard then you wouldn’t be able to race and there would be no income, the town would miss out … as part of the knock-on effect,”
“The watering system secures the racing future of the club in that respect.
“Little clubs like us find it hard to find funding for big infrastructure work so we’re really grateful for this grant from Rob Hulls and the state government as part of their Living Country Racing Program.”
Healesville Greyhound Association will receive $16,500 towards a playground and shade structure, Yarra valley Racing Club gets $30,000 to upgrade its toilet facilities for the disabled.
Alexandra Race Club intends to use the $30,000 it will receive towards an entertainment centre.
Mr Hulls said the projects the grants would fund were also of benefit to the wider community and the groups that used the racing clubs’ facilities on non-race days.
“Country and picnic racing clubs are cornerstones of their communities, not only for their contribution to the racing industry, but for the roles they play in the social, cultural and economic lives of those communities,” Mr Hulls said.
Healesville, Yarra Valley and Alexandra clubs are among Victorian country racing clubs to share in $253,300 worth of state government grants.
