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Catholic World News News Feature

WYD will stay at racecourse, official says August 31, 2007

Despite protests from racing officials, the government in the Australian state of New South Wales will not change plans to host World Youth Day (WYD) activities at the Randwick racetrack.

Premier Morris Iemma of New South Wales told an Australian broadcast audience that the state-owned racetrack is "the most appropriate venue for a whole range of reasons." WYD organizers have consistently said that Randwick is the only facility in the region that can accommodate the crowd of 500,000 or more that is expected for the event, which will culminate with Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI.

In addition to its size, Iemma explained, Randwick offers easy access to major transportation hubs, and the track lends itself to the crowd-control and security measures that will be required for the WYD events.

Horse trainers working at Randwick have complained that preparations for WYD will interfere with their normal schedule. The trainers reacted angrily to a statement by WYD organizers that Randwick would be closed for only 3 days. They argued that the construction projects and security measures that will precede WYD will make it unsafe to exercise the 700 horses regularly trained there. The costs of moving horses and finding alternative training facilities, they said, would batter an industry already badly hurt by a rash of equine influenza.

Premier Iemma said that his government is committed to finding a solution that will minimize the difficulties for the Randwick trainers, while allowing WYD to proceed on schedule.