Work begins to transform Tyers Park into state-of-the-art facility

Construction workers were on site last week to rip down the 33-year-old barn near the corner of Eleven Mile Drive and Gilmour Street.

By Friday, April 5, the team from Donnelly Construction Group hope to have the entire structure down, leaving behind only the old cement and brick flooring.

It'll be replaced by a state-of-the-art 20-stable barn that will incorporate a wash bay, three amenity blocks, a high-speed treadmill, a 14-horse walker and a new distribution board.

"We'll reuse most of the existing foundation as we can," Donnelly Construction Group director Mark Donnelly said.

"It'll be of a very similar make and it'll feature some state-of-the-art horse boxes."

With the construction certificate approved by Bathurst Regional Council for the new barn on Tuesday, March 26, Mr Donnelly is aiming to have the new barn constructed by the end of the 2023-24 financial year.

"We'll just see how we'll go with that," he said.

The other two stables on Eleven Mile Drive are set to go too, but a development application will have to be lodged with council first.

Bathurst Thoroughbred Racing Club acting manager Lisa Pierce said the new stable will be one of three that will be constructed at Tyers Park in the coming years.

She said it'll not only be good for the club but for the trainers and prospective trainers looking to make the move to Bathurst.

"It should make a big difference to racing in Bathurst," she said.

"This will not only improve housing for horses, but it'll give trainers a better facility to work at."

There are currently five trainers based at Tyers Park: Roy L McCabe, Dean Mirfin, Andrew Ryan, Paul Theobald and Gayna Williams.

Bathurst Thoroughbred Racing Club originally received $3.7 million in October 2020 from the NSW Government to construct new stables at Tyers Park.

The money came as a COVID-19 stimulus package that intended to create 40 new jobs in the region for local tradies.

Of that money, $1.5 million will be used for the construction of additional stabling, $400,000 will be used for the installation of four horse walkers, $300,000 will be used to install three treadmills and $1.5 million will be used to reconfigure the course, widening it by three metres.

Work to build the new stables had been delayed due to the pandemic and the rising cost of materials.