3 minute read
The Emerald Jockey Club is home to brand-new quarters for both jockeys and stewards.
The new multi-purpose building includes a stewards' room, jockey facilities, and male and female amenities, including disability access, kitchenette, TV monitors for race review and broadcast footage, and washing and drying facilities.
The club completed a tender process and awarded the contract to Emerald-based HWC Pty Ltd to deliver the works.
The $566,322 project was co-funded through the opening round of Country Clubs Asset Funding and Racing Queensland's Asset Management program.
RQ CEO Jason Scott said the new jockeys and stewards' rooms were an important upgrade for the club after it was officially opened at their most recent meeting on November 23.
"Previously, the existing facilities were inadequate in size for the amount of jockeys – particularly the females – and did not have appropriate amenities to meet TAB standards," he said.
"The Emerald Jockey Club intends to repurpose the old facilities for patron use, including accessible bathrooms, as well as a parent's room.
"We look forward to seeing them enhance the race day experience for jockeys and stewards in Emerald."
The Emerald Jockey Club hosts nine racedays throughout the year - three of which are TAB meetings - with the Emerald 100 Race Day usually attracting around 3,000 patrons.
Emerald Jockey Club Secretary Leigh-Ann Shields said the new rooms were a welcome addition and would be able to accommodate up to 12 male and 12 female jockeys.
"What we had for the ladies was a very small room with one shower and one toilet, and some days we have more female jockeys than male jockeys," she said.
"In the men's jockeys' rooms they had a lot more space than that and their area would be at least five times the size of what the ladies had.
"You could see how old our jockeys' rooms were - it's going to be wonderful for everybody because we're going to be more up to speed and more up with modern times.
"I want to give a huge mention to Racing Queensland and also thanks to HWC who have done their best to work in with us."
This project follows the installation earlier this year of a new judges and broadcast tower at the club, as well as an on-course semaphore board.
The $293,758 project was funded by Racing Queensland as part of the Asset Management program.