Newcastle Jockey Club CEO Duane Dowell says next weekend's $1 million The Hunter is part of his efforts in growing racing's popularity in the region.
'We want to start creating our own history with the Hunter as well,' he told Sky News Australia.
'It's going to be a race that's going to be around for a long time, and we're building really nicely.
'We've got about 200-250 horses in work at the moment, a new stable complex is being designed, there's DAs gone into the council in the last few weeks which is our next stage.
'We want to be able to accommodate 500 horses at Newcastle, and we're going to need facilities, upgrades at some of the training tracks as well to accommodate that but it's an exciting next few years.'
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