Seymour and Geelong Racecourse in Victoria could be in for a major facelift if proposals lodged by Racing Victoria (RVL) are approved.

The new look racecourses are set to be transformed into state of the art training centres in order to keep up with demand in the state’s northwest.

Cranbourne and Pakenham racecourse are already being upgraded into major training hubs in Victoria’s southeast.

RVL chief executive Rob Hines believes the proposed upgrades are crucial to maintaining the Victoria thoroughbred industry.

“We have put so much of our money into Cranbourne and, with Pakenham coming on line, we don’t want to be in a situation where all our eggs are in one basket in the southeast of the state,” Hines said.

“There is a huge horse population in the north and there isn’t a dedicated or large training centre there.

“We want to see if we can turn Seymour into the Cranbourne of the north.

“We would be looking to renovate Geelong into the Cranbourne of the west.

“We want to be in a situation where we have three major training centres.”

RVL is currently seeking approval from the State Government for the new upgrades as authorisation was needed to build on crown land.

Hines expects the upgrades to both Seymour and Geelong Racecourse to take approximately five years in total to complete.

The news of the planned upgrades to training facilities in Victoria comes just a day after the RVL announced a $15 million boost in prize money for the state’s thoroughbred races.

This boost will include standard races at country tracks being changed from $12,000 to $14,000 prize money, as well as two $100,000 races being introduced at every Saturday meeting at metropolitan tracks.

More details are expected to be revealed at the beginning of next year.