Trainers found out last week that the racecourse will be shut down for at least 10 weeks to set up for the Pope's visit, with the tracks, 650 horses and 25 trainers forced to evacuate the complex. The trainers, as well as feed merchants, veterinarians and others, subsequently raised concerns that their businesses could be ruined due to a lack of compensation, reported the Herald.
According to the newspaper, a "heads of agreement" between the Australian Jockey Club (AJC) and the World Youth Day Coordinating Authority, with government support, was due to be signed last week.
But Randwick Trainers' Association president Anthony Cummings said “the AJC chairman would be acting outside his charter to sign a document that would host another enterprise to the exclusion of racing and training at Randwick.”