13th Beach Training Centre

In March 2006, Danny O'Brien finalized the purchase of 160 acres of prime rural holding at Connewarre, just 5km from the Barwon Heads township and less than 2km from the wide sandy expanses of the famed 13th Beach.

This holding provided a blank canvas for Danny to design and develop a world-class private training centre, the envy of trainers all over Australia.

Danny began working horses at the property in late 2009, after the construction of an array of day yards with cover and larger paddocks as well as a large multi-purpose shed.

The 2000m grass track has an 800m uphill straight and a chute at the 1000m mark for barrier trials. This grass track is 20m wide and is a kikuyu grain similar to the outstanding surface at the Flemington racecourse.

On the inside of the grass is an 8m-wide sand track. Both tracks are fully irrigated with over 500 state of the art pop-up sprinklers, using recycled water from the nearby Black Rock water treatment facility.

A feature of the tracks will be the hedge borders, with 10,000 luma hedges planted on the inside of the sand and outside of the grass track, providing a stunning backdrop.

In 2011, we completed another phase of the property with a 50-box stable complex erected and this has given the facility another dimension with horses in work being able to stabled at night, while enjoying a yard during the day.

Guests at Danny’s wedding in June 2009 had a “sneak peek” at the enormity of the track development and the reaction was overwhelmingly positive.

In late 2009 Danny started to train horses at the property and there is no doubt this investment gives Danny the best training set-up in the country to complement our Flemington facilities at Symbol Lodge.

Flemington

Did you know?

• In May 2005, Danny was the first trainer in over a century to train the Group 1 Goodwood Hcp, Adelaide Cup double
• Danny was again breaking records in the 2007 Group 1 Caulfield Cup when he trained the quinella for the first time in 25 years