SKITTERING, kicking and whinnying, a string of thoroughbreds yesterday began the equine evacuation of Sydney's Randwick Racecourse to leave it free for the Catholic Church's World Youth Day next month.By tomorrow, all 620 or so horses will be gone - the first time the course has been without horses since the 1860s. The thoroughbreds stayed on through two world wars; now they are leaving for the Pope.
Australian Jockey Club chief executive Norman Gillespie stood, arms folded, watching strappers load millions of dollars worth of horseflesh into massive trucks.
"You could say it took an act of God to stop training at Royal Randwick," he said. "Every single livestock truck in the land has been summoned for the grand evacuation. It's like Dunkirk."
By next month, the racecourse will be transformed and ready to host the highlight of World Youth Day: the vigil and the mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI. Up to 300,000 worshippers are expected to camp overnight on the track, and an overflow of 200,000 more will be accommodated in a nearby park.
The Papal mass will be followed by events at the track, the World Youth Day website says. "The Pope will preside and preach at this high point of celebration for what promises to be the largest gathering of people in the history of Australia," the site says.
Today is the last day of racing for 10 weeks at Royal Randwick. A $42million compensation and contingency package jointly funded by the NSW and federal governments was negotiated for the massive move. But the church has said only $3.5million of the compensation package was directly related to World Youth Day, and the Church would pay $10million to the state Government for the use of venues.
Trainer Anthony Cummings watched his horses move. He said World Youth Day was the second big disruption to Sydney racing within a year, following the equine influenza outbreak. "It hasn't been a good year," he added.
The racing industry fears the track will not be in good shape when the horses return on August 24. Mr Gillespie said the course had 16km of bendable rails, which would not be moved for the religious event, and they could easily be damaged by the press of thousands of young pilgrims.
"If we don't get it back in the same condition, there will be no Spring Carnival," Mr Gillespie said. "The chief steward will determine whether we're allowed to race. If it's not right, there won't be any racing until the end of the year; that's how catastrophic it will be."
Mr Gillespie was disappointed when a World Youth Day construction crew caused some damage at the track.
"Last Monday, they drilled on one of the training tracks - they didn't ask for maps, and they drilled into the stormwater drain and the track collapsed," he said. "It put the racing in jeopardy."
World Youth Day spokesman Jim Hanna said repair work began immediately and racing went ahead the next day. "We're taking several steps to protect the track and make sure it's ready for the spring racing carnival," he said. "World Youth Day was held on a racetrack in Paris in 1997 and racing resumed there three weeks later."
Mr Gillespie said he was concerned the church had little idea of how a racetrack worked. "The industry affects so many people," he said. "They need to understand it's like a huge working farm."
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