Club chief executive Helen Sinclair, chairman Greg Coleman and board members were joined by Member for Myall Lakes Stephen Bromhead and NSW Racing Minister Kevin Anderson on Thursday, October 8 to accept $1.2 million for the project.

Mr Coleman said the project has been in the pipeline for several years.

"It's a fairly large sized project for us," Mr Coleman said.

"The current facility is about 45 years old and they don't meet the requirements for animal welfare as far as thoroughbred horses go.

"These stalls will be up-to-date."

The old stalls will be removed and replaced with 118 new stalls, three wash bays and two box stalls.

Mr Bromhead congratulated the club and said the funding was awarded as they were 'shovel ready'.

The project will also create more than 20 jobs.

"We want to put money in communities to stimulate the economy," Mr Bromhead said.

"This project will include local suppliers, builders and tradies to install them."

Mr Coleman said the job creation was "not only fantastic for the race club but for the Manning Valley community."

"This will bring construction back into the Manning Valley and a number of people will be employed here to construct the tie-up stalls," he said.

"When the building trade is moving, the economy moves with it."

Mr Anderson said the project focuses on horse welfare.

"It's really important Manning Valley Race Club continues to look at what they do to provide the best facilities, not only for patrons, but for the horses," Mr Anderson said.

"It's about the welfare of horses and if you've got a high quality race day stalls that makes it a lot more comfortable."

Mr Bromhead was pleased the government was helping one of the Mid Coast's major sporting hubs.

"This is one of the top six racecourses in regional NSW, and I say it's probably the best of all of them," Mr Bromhead added.

The funding is part of a COVID-19 stimulus package. The pandemic forced many of the club's feature race days, including the Taree Cup, to be held with reduced crowds.

This impacted the club's ability to acquire funds for their key projects.

"This Taree track is a showpiece for the Mid North Coast, it's in beautiful condition and well run," Mr Anderson said.

"When you invest in clubs like this, you know your money will be well spent."

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