It’s Templeton’s track

Daniel Renfrey

STONY Creek Racing Club has a new track manager for the upcoming season, 48-year-old racing stalwart Michael Templeton of Trafalgar.

He has had the role since the start of August, already has the track looking vibrant, and with a renovation to be completed this week, remains proactive.

The club is in safe hands, with Michael being well-experienced in the racing scene.

“Horse racing’s in my blood, my dad was a trainer and I’ve been an amateur jockey and trainer, and also been into polo, so I’ve been around it all my life,” he said.

“I still do train some horses, but I’ve really gotten into the track managing side of things.”

Stony Creek Racing Club has a well-renowned and unique track in Gippsland racing, making it one of the most important to maintain.

 For Michael, the opportunity to work on the track was too hard to turn down.

“It’s a really good, big open track, which is great for racing. It was a no brainer for me,” he said.

“They get massive crowds here too and pack the joint out every time.”

With such a big and renowned track also comes big responsibility to ensure it remains at the expected quality for race meets.

Michael is confident with his experience though and is up for the challenge.

“I’ve grown up in the sport, and I love a challenge, not just of training horses but of presenting a good track too,” he said.

“There’s nothing better than presenting a good track on race day and having people who come and watch comment on how well it looks, it’s a bit of a buzz. You get a bit of pride out of presenting a surface that everyone appreciates.”

With a renovation taking place this week, and providing the weather doesn’t get out of control, the track is set to be in perfect condition for the club’s first race meet in December.

“The weather is the big hurdle. All the race meetings are in summer so keeping enough water on the track in windy and dry conditions is tough. If it takes longer hours to get that done, then so be it,” Michael said.

“At the moment it’s great, and we’re giving it a full renovation this week. If the weather stays clear, we should be finished with the renovation by Thursday.”

“We’ll prepare as best we can and present a really good surface during a good, solid racing season.”

While there will undoubtedly be more challenges in the lead up to the season, the Stony Creek Racing Club is in good hands with Michael.

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Oct 29 2019. Filed under Community, News, Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry