Gold Coast Turf Club horse racing at night under lights to debut

The Gold Coast Turf Club is lighting things up - find out when and how to get involved.

The Gold Coast Turf Club is lighting things up - by hosting its first races under lights at its maiden twilight meeting on Saturday.

It will form a prelude to a full night racing program touted the Silks Under The Stars that will be held on December 20 and completes a multi-million dollar project that started in August of 2022.

“It is going to be an exciting occasion for the club as we turn the lights on for the first time under race conditions,” GCTC CEO Steve Lines said.

“The installation of lights, as part of the club’s $73 million redevelopment, has been the culmination of more than a decade’s worth of hard work and marks the start of a new era for the club.

“Night racing presents us with an exciting new opportunity to market the Gold Coast to visitors both interstate and internationally and we are working on some exciting plans around that.”

Horses in jump out at the Gold Coast Turf Club following the installation of lights. Picture: Supplied.

The last two of the eight-race program on Saturday will be held under lights before two-year-old trials are held at the end of the meeting as part of preparations for the December 20 event.

The course proper has been criticised in recent times following its renovation and forced the club to cancel meetings but GCTC racing manager Ian Brown said everything looked positive following two recent events, including the Pink Ribbon Cup Day on September 21.

“The course proper is doing is doing its work for us now,” Mr Brown said.

“We are really happy with where it is at. It’s been a great return. It raced fairly throughout on Pink Ribbon day and all the reports were very positive.

“We have done all the testing. We have done some gallops and some jump outs under the lights.

The Gold Coast Turf Club pictured following the installation of lights that will enable it to host night meetings. Picture: Supplied.

“The feedback from the jockeys and trainers has been really positive.”

Lights are already being used at Australian tracks including Moonee Valley, Canterbury and Toowoomba but the state-of-the-art development will take GCTC to new heights.

It has 38 light poles and is LEDs that will enable the turf club to replicate what Happy Valley does in Hong Kong.

“We can turn on some party lights so we can do some tricks with them between races which the crowd should enjoy,” Mr Brown said.

“There is some talk about looking at some coloured lights to do what you would see in Happy Valley.”