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McEvoy Mitchell RacingLatest News McEvoy Mitchell Racing makes big move to Ballarat

McEvoy Mitchell Racing makes big move to Ballarat

Article by Kate Watts via Racing.com

Eleven-time Group 1 winning trainer Tony McEvoy is set to expand his training operation, acquiring a new 100-box facility at Ballarat.

McEvoy has purchased one of the few remaining sites available on course at Ballarat, but confirmed he would be retaining his South Australian and Flemington stables.

“I’m so excited to move to Ballarat and the opportunities that provides, but it’s a move I never thought I’d have to make,” he said.

“I just thought with Caulfield closing down and the same potentially happening at Flemington it was time to make a decision on where the future of this growing business would be.

“Ballarat presented a great opportunity and as Colin Hayes used to say  – ‘The future belongs to those who plan for it’.”

His new Ballarat property is expected to take up to a year to build with Ballarat Turf Club confirming it is set to proceed with the construction immediately.

McEvoy currently employs 60 staff in South Australia at Kildalton Park and Kildalton Farm up on the Murray River and has 85 horses training in the state, along with having a number of staff at his Flemington stable.

The leading trainer said he had spoken to his staff about the decision on Thursday morning and confirmed that while there will be a reduction of horses trained at his South Australian properties he is still committed to racing and training horses in the state, despite a current lack of government support.

“I’m a true South Australian, I’ll never turn my back on it, but we need help and we’re currently not getting it.

“It’s disappointing that there’s currently too much uncertainty there at the moment for me to be confident to have it as my main base moving forward.”

McEvoy said a major reason behind acquiring the Ballarat stables was to set up the future of his business for his son Calvin who is currently his assistant trainer.

“Calvin will be the future of the business and the plan is to have him probably based at Ballarat when it’s ready, moving forward it will stay in the McEvoy Mitchell name as well,” he said.

McEvoy was just 14 when he started working at Angaston for Hall of Fame trainer Colin Hayes and rode 100 winners as an apprentice for Lindsay Park.

In 2010 McEvoy along with business partner Wayne Mitchell acquired the Raceside complex of the world-famous property at Angaston from the Hayes family, and has run it as Kildalton Park for the past nine years.

The Ballarat Turf Club is thrilled with McEvoy’s decision to choose to move to Ballarat, with CEO Lachlan McKenzie saying the move solidifies the area as one of the country’s leading training centres.

“We were delighted to learn that Ballarat has been chosen by McEvoy Mitchell Racing,” he said.

“McEvoy Mitchell Racing will join the Maher-Eustace team, Archie Alexander, Matt Cumani, Mitch Freedman, Symon Wilde and Nick Smart, all of whom have opened a stable at BTC in recent years. We can now proudly boast to have an extensive list of some of the best trainers in Australia calling Ballarat home.

“The Ballarat Turf Club is committed to providing our trainers with the best possible facilities, and Tony’s decision to move to Ballarat is a fantastic endorsement of our Training Centre. With our Synthetic Hill Track, new Polytrack, turf tracks and other extensive training infrastructure, Ballarat has a Training Centre to rival any around the world.

“The facilities, wide open spaces, relaxed country atmosphere and the close proximity to the metropolitan racetracks and many of the regional tracks in the state, there is no better place for horses to be trained.

“We look forward to working closely with the team at McEvoy Mitchell Racing to construct a state of the art stabling and training complex that will provide Tony and his team with everything they need to continue to grow their business and enjoy even more success on the track.”