The report by Kellie Cameron in the Leader Newspaper says it all: 

Werribee Racetrack Saved!

(The next step is for Racing Victoria to go out to tender for the track reconstruction.  I am hopeful/confident that the construction will occur this year - and if it does, we will press for a Werribee Cup to be run in  March 2010 as a Friday twilight event.  If construction is delayed, it means racing will resume after the international raiders depart Werribee after the Spring racing carnival in 2010.  In any event, the good news is we will return to racing and of that there is no doubt!)

Article by Kellie Cameron:

WERRIBEE’S dormant racetrack has been saved.

Racing Victoria announced today it would reconstruct the troubled track, allowing racing to return to Werribee as part of plans to turn the site into an international horse centre for gallopers during the spring.

The track has been closed for race meetings for the past 18 months, after jockeys led by Damien Oliver refused to ride there because they considered sections of the track unsafe.

RVL chief executive Rob Hines said the international horse centre would be up and running in time for the 2010 Spring Racing Carnival.

“We are working towards establishing Werribee as the new home for visiting international horses,’’ he said.

“This plan will necessitate the reconstruction of the course proper which will then allow up to eight meetings a year to be run by the end of the 2013-14 racing season.’’

Werribee Racing Club chairman Patrick Wheelahan said the tender for the track reconstruction would go out soon, and was confident work would be completed this year.

“I am very pleased that the hard work of the club, David Horsburgh, and others behind the scenes including Tim Pallas MP, Peter Marshall, CEO of Wyndham Council, and its councillors, has come together to achieve this terrific result for Werribee,’’ he said.

“I am also very grateful to Janet Brown who has kept the club afloat through this difficult time by her professionalism in running the clubs function centre at a profit.’’

The future of racing at Werribee has been up in the air since November 28, 2007, when jockeys refused to ride there due to the condition of parts of the track.

Racing at Werribee was suspended pending a full track assessment.

A Racing Victoria track survey released three months later stated the Werribee course had soil quality and gradient problems.

The cost of a recommended track reconstruction was put at more than $4.5 million, which Werribee Racing Club and the RVL said they did not have.

Racing at Werribee was suspended indefinitely.

In the following months, leading trainer David Hayes expressed interest in using Werribee as a private training base and Lee Freedman suggested it be developed as Australia’s first national apprentices’ academy.

Werribee was also put up to replace Sandown as the quarantine centre for international horses.

The club ruled out relocating.

With no resolution, the 2000m Werribee Cup was held away from Werribee at Geelong in 2008 for the first time since 1912.

Just over 3000 racegoers attended, compared with more than 10,000 at Werribee the previous year.

With its future still in doubt, Werribee gave up this year’s Werribee Cup date to Bendigo Racing Club.

Today’s announcements are contained in a five-year Racecourse and Training Facilities Infrastructure Plan, providing a future direction for all Victorian country racing clubs.

The plan, by the RVL in conjunction with Country Racing Victoria, was 12 months in the making.

At the time racing was suspended, Werribee Racing Club said the state of the track was caused by the drought, poor water quality, over-racing and the 24-year gap since the track was last upgraded.

November 28, 2007, was not the first time racing meets were cancelled because of state of the track.

The club lobbied key racing bodies for funding to overhaul the track, and also had meetings with representatives from local, state and federal governments about how they could help. No funding was offered.

Its sole revenue since racing was suspended has come from its new function centre, opened along with a new grandstand in 2007, to allow the track to be used for midweek Victorian Racing Club meetings.