Moonee Valley racecourse rebuild plans: $150m project to take 10 years to complete

THE greatest makeover of one of the greatest racetracks in Australian history is no longer a vague dream. The rebuilding of Moonee Valley will happen. See the plans.

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THE greatest makeover of one of the greatest racetracks in Australian history is no longer a vague dream.

The razing, realigning and rebuilding of Moonee Valley will happen.

The $150 million project — combining a racetrack, apartments and a commercial precinct — will take 10 years to complete.

The apartments, to be located on part of the 98 acres of freehold land, will house about 4000 residents.

Once the dust settles on the 100th Cox Plate in 2020, the bulldozers will arrive. Racing will return to the track in 2022, while the rebuilding continues.

Significant obstacles, like appeasing council and residents surrounding the famous Moonee Ponds venue, have been cleared.

“We’re locked and loaded,’’ said Moonee Valley Racing Club chief executive Michael Browell. He said preliminary discussions with developers had been positive and that the club will begin a formal process to appoint a development partner next month.

“And then we’re on our way to making the new Moonee Valley a reality,’’ Mr Browell said.

“The opportunity is there to make this a real landmark development in Melbourne.

“There are a few boxes left to be ticked, re traffic management and issues of heritage, but it’s onwards and upwards.’’

Crowd at last year’s Cox Plate Day at Moonee Valley. Picture: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images

Mr Browell said the benefits of the new Moonee Valley, which features a complete rearranging of the track, including the grandstands and horse stalls — which would be in the centre of the track, linked by a tunnel — would outweigh the “cost’’ of losing its legendary characteristics.

“I wouldn’t use the word ‘risk’,” he said. “It was a tough decision to make.

“Moonee Valley is unique and it’s delivered great racing for 133 years.

“We see it as an opportunity to take Moonee Valley forward into a new direction for the next 100 years.’’

Crowd during Cox Plate Day at Moonee Valley last year. Picture: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images

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Features of the new track would include a much longer home straight — 317m compared with the existing 173m — and a grandstand would face south instead of east.

“I think what we’re going to deliver is a better racetrack,” Mr Browell said. “It will be almost a mirror image of Doomben (in Brisbane), sort of flip that (sideways) and it’s almost identical.’’

Moonee Valley will become an exclusive night venue, pending approval from Racing Victoria and the negotiation a new funding.

Aerial view of Moonee Valley racecourse in 1999.

The Valley’s firm commitment to night racing comes as the Melbourne Racing Club also plans to introduce lights at Caulfield in coming years, a move many believe would be at odds with the Valley’s desired status as Melbourne’s night racing hotspot.

The details will not please naysayers, who have been mumbling for years that the redevelopment plan was merely a distraction from talk that the Moonee Valley Racing Club would be pressured to merge with the Victoria Racing Club.

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HAPPY CLAPPER GIVING TRAINER THRILL OF LIFETIME ON ROAD TO COX PLATE

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COX PLATE 2016: EARLY FORM GUIDE AND ANALYSIS OF EVERY RUNNER