Warwick Farm Racecourse has been named as the venue for the 2013 Randwick Guineas next Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival with the state’s premier track Royal Randwick still expected to be undergoing its extensive upgrade.

Usually host to only a handful of major carnival meetings over the year, Warwick Farm is enjoying a renewed vitality as the ‘stand-in’ location for some big race days both this year and next as improvements are made to Randwick Racecourse including the construction of a new grandstand which kicked off 12 months ago.

This Saturday the track will host Villiers Stakes Day for the second year in a row and now the Australian Turf Club (ATC) has announced it will also accommodate one of the autumn’s most popular events, the $500,000 Group 1 Randwick Guineas (1600m) for three-year-olds on Saturday March 16, 2013.

While the grandstand has been getting built the course has still managed to host every Group 1 race as per usual however it won’t be the case for the 2013 Randwick Guineas.

The decision has been made now to help ensure Randwick is ready to host 2013 ATC Australian Derby Day on April 13.

“The priority ahead of the BMW Sydney (autumn) Carnival is to give construction company Brookfield Multiplex an unimpeded run to complete as much as possible ahead of David Jones Australian Derby Day at Royal Randwick on 13 April,” ATC CEO Mr Darren Pearce said.

“We will conduct a staged launch program at Royal Randwick.

“We are looking to have about 60 per cent of the new facility operational for three spectacular days of racing.

“It’s a one off….because the builders are behind and we have to give them the opportunity to get us up for the carnival.

“We’ll have taken away the parade ring, the temporary stewards room, the jockeys room, the weighing room, race callers, the photo finish, the cameras and all the IT from the top off the grandstand to the bottom by the time we get to Randwick Guineas Day.

“It’s all the commissioning of the fit-out that’s required to hold a race meeting.

“The physical building will have more or less finished by March. By that stage the actual exterior of the grandstand’s finished.

“The only thing exteriorly that will be going on is landscaping and surrounds.”

As well as the elite level feature Randwick Guineas Day is also home to a double shot of Group 3 races with the $125,000 Sweet Embrace Stakes (1200m) for the two-year-old fillies and the colts and geldings equivalent, the $125,000 Skyline Stakes (1200m).

Both are lead-ups for juveniles heading towards the world’s richest race for juveniles, the $3.5 million Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday April 6.

The location may have changed but Randwick Guineas Day 2013 will still be a cracker’s day racing with plenty of betting opportunities on the cards between now and then for you to warm up those wagering muscles.

Whatever race you’re betting on make sure you get the best possible odds by avoiding the land-based bookies and betting online with bookmaker.com.au – home of Australia’s only Pick Your Own Odds markets!