BENDIGO trainers have welcomed a $1.1 million upgrade to the club’s sand training track.
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The track overhaul will involve the removal of the existing synthetic track surface, to be replaced with a new sand composition.
Trainer Rod Symons said it would be great to finally have a separate sand track and slow sand-track.
"This will make the job a lot safer for our track riders," he said.
"At the moment we are galloping and doing slow work on the same track."
The upgrade will include installation of a new automatic irrigation system to ensure the track provides an safe surface for trainers to prepare their horses all year round.
Trainer Shane Fliedner said the work was timely in some regards following a deterioration in training track standards at the Bendigo Jockey Club over the last 12-18 months.
The current 1700-metre sand training track was installed nine years ago and the degraded surface no longer meets the needs of trainers.
Fliedner praised the efforts of the Australian Trainer's Association and its local delegates as key to securing an "overdue" upgrade.
"It's taken a lot of time and a lot of red tape," he said.
"Probably without the backing of the ATA in giving Bendigo trainers a push, it probably wouldn't have happened.
"It's underway now and we hope to have it up and running in about six weeks.
"It's like anything, the better facilities you have the better results you can get - in theory."
Fliedner said training horses in winter had become increasingly difficult during winter in recent years, due to many factors, including increased horse traffic.
"The idea of a new all-weather track is what we badly needed, albeit it a little late," he said.
"We have to be thankful."
The upgrade is being jointly funded by the state government ($550,000) through its Racing Industry Fund, Racing Victoria ($450,000) and the Bendigo Jockey Club ($110,000).
BJC chief executive officer Aaron Herpes said the new training track would be "more ost effective and safer".
"The Bendigo Jockey Club is dedicated to offering the best racing experience in Victoria and the new track will ensure that our training facilities are also of the highest standard," he said.
