RACING at Sydney's premier racetrack will be suspended for 10 weeks, with trainers turfed out from Royal Randwick from mid-June under the terms of an agreement thrashed out for World Youth Day. The agreement paves the way for work to begin as early as this week at Randwick in preparation for the Papal Mass, the closing event of the six-day World Youth Day celebrations.
Additional power and sewage infrastructure will be installed, along with additional toilets and measures to protect the racetrack.
Temporary fencing will be put around the key construction areas to shield them from horses.
A $10.8 million upgrade of Warwick Farm - including a horse tunnel permitting morning workouts, temporary stables for 420 horses and a new synthetic track surface - is already under way. Work on temporary stables at Rosehill is to start shortly.
In the meantime, the Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, is expected to approve the Australian Jockey Club's plans to upgrade the racetrack, which include demolition of the wall along Alison Road, a new landscaped entry plaza, a new bus-way parallel to Alison Road, the demolition of some existing day stalls, the provision of temporary new stalls and the upgrade of grandstands.
Following weeks of intense negotiations, the formal agreement permitting the Catholic Church to start work at Randwick for the Pope's vigil Mass was finalised on Wednesday night between the State Government and the Australian Jockey Club.
The Government has appointed the former Sydney Olympics construction chief Hugh Martin, who led the work on the Olympic Village, to chair the Randwick Project Steering Committee, established to deliver the World Youth Day construction phase at Randwick.
Mr Martin was also project director for the Victoria Harbour Docklands development.
Lawyers for the two sides had been arguing over the exact condition in which the track should be returned to the racing industry and the time frame to assess any long-term track damage.
Under the terms of the agreement, racing will end on June 14 and resume on September 6. The AJC and the racing industry will begin a period of shared access with the Catholic Church and its contractors almost immediately.
Replacement turf the size of a football field was planted in the Hawkesbury region this month as part of risk mitigation measures to ensure the 2008 Spring Racing Carnival proceeds at Randwick Racecourse as planned.
In a contract worth $2 million, the NSW company Turnpoint has been selected to oversee the delivery of 10,000 square metres of turf and soil as a contingency measure after the closing Mass.
"We will be sourcing premium quality turf, suitable for horseracing, in case high-traffic areas of the World Youth Day event do result in damage to the turf," the Deputy Premier, John Watkins, said.
In addition, a $10-million contingency fund has been jointly funded by the state and federal governments to cover any likely additional costs.
World Youth Day will run from July 15 to July 20, and the highlight will be the first visit to Australia of Pope Benedict XVI. His overnight vigil Mass at Randwick is expected to draw up to 500,000 pilgrims from Australia and overseas.
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