Turf Club ready to jump out of the gate

WITH the new year underway, Ballart Turf Club is preparing to kick off its first race day following the annual post Ballarat Cup recess.

CEO Belinda Glass said that the club has been “stripped right back” in preparation for 2022.

“That means cutting it right back, coring, reseeding and spraying for annual weeds,” she said.

The standard renovations are all about setting the track and facilities up for the year ahead.

“It’s all about basically having enough time for the seed to germinate and have a solid turf base for the horses to be racing on again,” she said.

With the house keeping works taking place over Christmas and New Year’s, the club will host its first meeting on Tuesday, 8 February with a plenty of races on track for the rest of the month.

Events to look forward to include the Mortimer Petroleum Summer Race, a family function held on Saturday, 20 February, and the Ingenia Lifestyle race the week after for seniors.

The Ingenia Lifestyle event will include an extended thanks from Country Racing Victoria towards frontline pandemic workers in honour of their services.

“There will be a quantity of free admission tickets for frontline workers that have been supporting local communities through the last two years of the COVID pandemic,” Ms Glass said.

The club’s CEO is “optimistic” planned events for 2022 will continue a return to normalcy while the organisation follows COVID guidelines.

“People will still be able to again attend the experience of going into the stands and cheering home their horses and that will all be quite normal again.”