By Garry Howe
Cranbourne’s massive horse racing fraternity will score a state-of-the-art equine hospital if the Liberal National Coalition wins government in November.
Leader Matthew Guy and Shadow Racing Minister Tim Bull visited the proposed site at the Cranbourne Training Complex on Thursday 26 April, with Liberal candidate for Cranbourne Ann-Marie Hermans, to announce a $1.5 million funding pledge for the project.
Mr Guy said the new hospital would cement Cranbourne’s position as a leader in thoroughbred racing while also providing the industry with access to breakthrough technology transforming equine medicine.
He said the project would fill a long-standing void for the racing industry locally.
Cranbourne is home to Victoria and Australia’s largest thoroughbred training centre, with 140 licensed trainers and 1400 horses training there. However, horses requiring scanning must still endure an unacceptable three-hour float ride to Werribee or Ballarat to access that technology.
“The fact that they don’t have an equine medical facility beggars belief,” Mr Bull said.
“The scanning technology to be made available at Cranbourne will not only allow for significant medical insight and research, but will also cut the need for three-hour float rides to Werribee or Ballarat. It will also service Mornington and Gippsland trainers.”
New scanning technology will transform treatment of a range of common but difficult-to-diagnose equine health issues, including lower respiratory tract diseases, viral and bacterial infections, and exercise pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH).
Private sector leaders in medical technology have already expressed interest in partnering with the racing industry and Liberal Nationals on this project.
The Liberal Nationals’ $1.5 million funding contribution will be matched by industry funds to provide the balance of the $3 million cost of establishing the hospital.
Cranbourne Turf Club chairman Geoff Whiffen said a vet centre was part of original plans when the training centre was established back in 1990.
“This has been a long time coming and is an absolute must for our industry and crucial for horse welfare,” he said.
“We need to do this, particularly given the number of horses in this area. The club is excited with its plan for the future and this project is a big part of that.”
Robbie Griffiths, a leading Cranbourne trainer and president of the Australian Trainers Association, welcomed the announcement.
“It is an absolute must and long overdue,” he said. “It will be great for everyone involved.”
Ms Hermans said she was proud to be a part of a Liberal Nationals team that understood the importance in investing in jobs in growth areas like Cranbourne.
“The complex will deliver 22 on-going, local jobs and provide essential services for the racing industry across Eastern Victoria,” she said. ”But it goes far beyond those 22 jobs – this is all about providing for the future as well.”
The training centre – the largest in the Southern Hemisphere – already provides 750 jobs and there are a further 250 employed at the turf club next door.
Chief executive Neil Bainbridge said Cranbourne produced the highest number of runners in races across Victoria.
“Cranbourne has 16 per cent of all runners in Victoria – we are number one by a long way; Flemington is next with eight per cent,” he said. “That means one in every six horses in a race comes from Cranbourne.”
