The arena was named in honour of 1992 Melbourne Cup winner Subzero, who not only won ‘the race that stops a nation’™, but surpassed that legendary achievement by proceeding to become one of racing’s greatest ambassadors.
Together with his great mate Graham Salisbury, ‘Subbie’ travelled far and wide to bring joy to people of all ages, featuring regularly throughout the Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour where they visited schools and aged care homes.
The Subzero Arena has been created as a collaboration between the VRC and RDA Pakenham, with the VRC donating the special synthetic surface material that has been re-purposed from the Flemington training track plus nearly $60,000 from the VRC Equine Wellbeing Fund.
The new arena provides the perfect riding surface for every weather condition and ensures that the riders at RDA Pakenham can always enjoy the therapeutic benefits from their association with horses.
VRC CEO Steve Rosich said the club was very proud to help the RDA bring its vision for a new arena to life.
“Together with RDA Pakenham we are delighted to launch the Subzero Arena, named in honour of a horse who not only had a great association with racing but also with the community.
“The club was proud to donate a special all-weather material that has been re-purposed from the Flemington training track plus nearly $60,000, creating a facility for Pakenham RDA to utilise in delivering this important service for the community.”