RACING: The Turf Club have issued an upbeat bulletin on their proposed new development of the Curragh but plans to have the new stands in place by the end of 2006 were acknowledged yesterday as being "optimistic."
The Aga Khan's move last Christmas to purchase the Stand House Hotel in order to kick off a radical redevelopment of Irish racing's headquarters has seen extensive negotiations with various parties including the Department of Defence.
Before any building can take place a new road has to be built at the back of the current stands, which may be in place as early as the end of this year. As well as that the Turf Club has taken possession of the Stand House Hotel.
"We are delighted with the progress to date and the co-operation from all the authorities," said Turf Club senior steward Pierce Molony . "Obviously it is a great help that the development will take place on Turf Club land and not on the Curragh."
The plan is to seek planning permission in the first half of next year but a lot will depend on a pre-planning meeting with Kildare County Council later this month.
If there are no objections, and everything runs smoothly, building could begin at the end of 2005 with a one-year schedule for work to be completed.
However, a Turf Club spokesman said it would be "very optimistic" to bank on the project finishing by the end of 2006.
Molony said yesterday he is confident racing will be able to continue at the Curragh during the building process. He also stressed the importance of the Turf Club getting to grips with the development of the betting exchanges.
"The advent of the exchanges, and enabling people to lay horses without any form of regulation is of the utmost importance. It can have massive implications for the integrity of racing. The stewards are treating this issue as a priority," he said.
As a result the regulatory body plan to introduce rules to prohibit the laying of horses on the exchanges by jockeys, trainers, owners, agents, stable employees and anyone else with "inside information".
The Turf Club will meet with Betdaq and Betfair later this month to discuss the issue and they again confirmed the move to appoint a betting analyst to their security department within the next fortnight.
Other moves announced by the Turf Club at a media briefing yesterday include the appointment of new medical officers to cover all race meetings and the increase in fines for non-triers.
The minimum fine for a non-trier will be 1,000 with the horse receiving a 42-day ban and the jockey suspended for seven to 14 days. Under Rule 212 the penalty for horses not running on their merits is a €2,000 fine with 60 days for the horse and 21 days for the jockey.
