Upgrades delivered at Wandoan Diggers' Race Club

The Wandoan Diggers’ Race Club will benefit from a number of important infrastructure upgrades ahead of its annual race meeting. 

Twenty additional tie-up stalls and a new swab box have been installed through Round 1 of the Country Club Asset Funding program.

The $153,311 project to install the tie-up stalls provides an upgrade to the existing aged and non-compliant facilities.

Racing Queensland Chief Operating Officer Melinda Martin said the new tie-up stalls and swab box were important upgrades for the Western Downs-based club. 

"Country racing is the lifeblood of the industry across the Sunshine State, and we are pleased to see these projects delivered at Wandoan,” Ms Martin said. 

“More than 80 of Queensland’s 120 racing clubs are in communities where a race meeting is the biggest or second biggest annual event, signifying the vital importance of our investment in these asset and maintenance projects. 

“Racing also helps to support close to 16,000 jobs across the state, and the Country Club Asset Funding program ensures that employment is sustained in the industry.” 

In addition to the new tie-up stalls, the club has also benefitted from a $27,335 upgrade to their running rails, as part of Round 5 of the Country Racing Program.

Wandoan Diggers’ Race Club president Paul Erbacher said both upgrades would be warmly welcomed by industry participants ahead of the club’s annual raceday on March 1. 

“They’ve been substantial - our old tie-up day stalls would be close to 50-years-old and we have never had a proper swab stall, this will all get us up to standard and help us in the long-term future,” Mr Erbacher said. 

“We got the inside running rail done probably four years ago, and now we have the outside part of the running rail upgraded too. 

“The upgrade of the day stalls will make a big difference to the trainers and all of the horses will feel safer and there’ll be far better, cooler facilities there. 

“Our numbers at our races the last four or five years have actually been increasing so we must be doing something right.”

Upgrades to running rails have also been completed at race clubs in Kumbia, Bell and Chinchilla as part of recent CCAF/CRP projects.

Click here to read more about the CCAF Program.