Racing: Final race at Avondale

A horse called Saved By The Bell might have won the last race at Avondale yesterday, but there was no such luck for the club. After 111 years of racing, yesterday marked the last day for the Avondale Jockey Club - for a year at least anyway.

The club has been in financial trouble for more than 20 years through a fall off in betting revenue and a cut back in race days, so it has closed for a year to try to gets its affairs in order.

Club president Ron Murphy said an $8.5 million loan taken to establish night racing in the late 1980s had also proved a big financial millstone. Night racing was unsuccessful and ended soon after it started.

"It's been a huge battle to fund the interest repayments. The club was going to go broke and we didn't want that," he said. The club hopes to resume racing once it gets its finances sorted.

Yesterday's meeting was great, said Murphy.

"It's unfortunate but we haven't given up. Really we want to get everything in order, so we can continue to race for another 100 years."