Track manager named Australia’s Regional Racecourse Manager of the Year New

Date: 11-Sep-2026

AND that’s a wrap!

The Ipswich Turf Club heads into its annual renovation this week celebrating a highly successful 12 months of racing, where Track Manager Sean Tou was named Australia’s Regional Racecourse Manager of the Year.

The award was announced at last month’s Evergreen Turf ARMA Conference in Adelaide.

It is recognition for not just Sean’s astute management and leadership, but of the entire Ipswich Turf Club track team and their commitment to serving up an outstanding race surface week-to-week for the Queensland industry.

“This is such a deserved award for Sean and the whole team,” ITC Chief Executive Nathan Exelby said.

“The Ipswich track presents a unique set of challenges for track management and things can turn south very quickly, but thanks to Sean’s leadership and the dedication of each member of his track team, Ipswich has become renowned in recent times for being consistently one of the best racing surfaces in the state.

“I am thrilled the ARMA panel have recognised the expertise of Sean and by extension, the whole team.”

In typical style, Tou deflected praise to his co-workers, insisting “it’s a huge team effort and a great reward for the work these guys put in.”

Ipswich has conducted 45 meetings since last September’s annual renovation and the club has been afforded 43 meetings in the Racing Queensland 2026-27 calendar.

Works on the inside section of the track commenced a fortnight ago, comprising the grass being cut to 50mm, coring of the organic layer and sand top dressing. Immediately following Wednesday’s September 9 fixture, work commenced on the remainder of the track.

In total, there will be 29 days between this week’s meeting and the next scheduled meeting on Thursday October 8.

Tou is following a similar renovation program to the ones that have proven so successful over the past three years.

“The track is actually in much better condition this year compared to when we did the reno 12 months ago, so it’s done a great job,” he said.

Back to list