Lloyd Williams selling Macedon Lodge to ride into the sunset

Racing aficionado and property developer Lloyd Williams has put his Australian thoroughbred operation on the market.

Racing trainer Lloyd Williams’ spectacular Macedon Lodge is expected to fetch more than $20m

Racing aficionado and property developer Lloyd Williams has listed his Australian thoroughbred operation, which produced four Melbourne Cup winners and several Group I stars of the turf.

Having spent more than $30m on his horseracing facility Macedon Lodge, which was carved from the foothills of the Macedon Ranges about 30 minutes from Melbourne Airport, Mr Williams said on Tuesday he could not put a price on it.

“It’s irrelevant what it cost; I am on the verge of 80 (and) that’s the reason why I am selling it,” said Mr Williams, who was once one of the country’s most prominent thoroughbred owners.

He estimated the 120ha property had cost him between $35m and $38m, adding that the majority of his horses were now domiciled with Ireland’s famous horse training family, the O’Briens.

“We still have some horses at Macedon Lodge and we will be keeping a number of them,” Mr Williams said.

He purchased Macedon Lodge from Kurt Stern in 2005 and, while he would not put an asking price on it, sources said the price expectation was between $20m and $30m.

“Over the past 14 years I have lived at Macedon Lodge and supervised everything but more recently I have found it impossible to devote the time and energy required,’’ Mr Williams said.

“Given that the complex has produced in excess of 20 Group I winners — including the winners of Australia’s greatest races, the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, and Sydney Cup, and has been home to champion horses such as Green Moon, Almandin, Fawkner, Zipping and Efficient — you would have to say that it has been time and money well spent.”

Magic Millions Sales managing director Barry Bowditch and Melbourne-based CBRE executive Mark Wizel are handling the marketing campaign for the sprawling property.

Macedon Lodge was the training base for many famous champions, including Ethereal, which won the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups in 2001, and Bel Esprit, the champion sprinter and sire of Black Caviar.

The facility has regularly housed up to 100 horses, has more than 15km of tracks, a 75m horse pool, 75 boxes, 25 grass day yards, a water-walker and a specialised lighting facility for horses that are recovering from injury.

An expressions-of-interest campaign, which is expected to attract a strong response from Australia and overseas, closes in early March.

Neither Mr Wizel nor Mr Bowditch could be reached for comment.