Albion Park
The Albion Park Harness Racing Club has celebrated over 40 years
in racing history.
The Albion Park Trotting Club, as it was known then, commenced
racing in September 1968 and it heralded a new era in the industry
in more than one way.
Night trotting had now arrived in Brisbane and the venue was
only a stone's throw from Brisbane's CBD located closely to some of
the city's more affluent suburbs.
The
800 m right-handed track was positioned inside of the unique sand
galloping track and the Albion Park Trotting Club became a tenant
of the Brisbane Amateur Turf Club which ran thoroughbred racing at
Doomben and Albion Park.
This status quo remained until late 1981 when the galloping
venue was closed due to declining popularity among thoroughbred
participants.
At the same time, the Racing Minister Russ Hinze, a harness
racing enthusiast, declared a new complex would be built and
harness racing would "graduate" to a 1000m left-handed track with a
brand spanking new grandstand.
As such, another milestone was established when the complex was
unveiled to a huge crowd in October 1983 and Albion Park was dubbed
"the speed pacing capital of Australia".
The third most significant event to happen to Albion Park
occurred in 2008 when the Russ Hinze Grandstand was closed due to
safety reasons.
The Albion Park Harness Racing Club has hosted seven Inter
Dominions: - 1972 (Welcome Advice); 1977 (Stanley Rio); 1986
(Village Kid); 1993 (Jack Morris); 2001 (Yulestar) and 2009 (Mr
Feelgood).
The most recent Inter Dominion was conducted at the Gold Coast
Parklands complex due to the prevailing grandstand problems.
History was also created in 2001 when the club conducted the
trotters' series for the first time with Take A Moment capturing
the Grand Final.
The club's founding chairman was Sir Clive Uhr (also the BATC
chairman at the time) and others to serve in the prestigious post
include Sir Lloyd Rees, Peter Burge, Kevin Seymour, Kevin Bengston,
Bob Lette, Dave Knudsen and current chairman Warwick
Stansfield.
Location
Albion Park Raceway, Amy St, ALBION QLD
4010
Distance from town centre:
5.0 kilometres from CBD
Contact Details
