Waterhouse and Bott secure 65-box lease at Royal Randwick's Leilani Lodge

The Australian Turf Club (ATC) has awarded a 65-box lease to the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott training partnership at the former Leilani Lodge stables, located within the Royal Randwick racecourse precinct.

This arrangement lets the prominent training operation centralise more of its stabling on-site, with improved safety for both horses and personnel cited as a core motivation. Waterhouse and Bott currently operate from their main Tulloch Lodge base; the extra capacity at Leilani Lodge removes the requirement to transport horses along Bowral Street and Doncaster Avenue when moving between their stable and training grounds.

ATC CEO Steve McMahon stated that this change will ultimately eliminate the need for horses to cross any road during morning trackwork or afternoon exercise at Randwick. He described Waterhouse and Bott as an integral part of the venue and noted that the deal will help cement Royal Randwick's status as a leading racing and training hub.

The Leilani Lodge facility became available after being vacated in May 2025, following which remediation work was carried out to update the stables before they could be reused. Waterhouse and Bott were chosen through an application process that also shortlisted fellow Randwick trainer Michael Freedman.

While Freedman did not secure the Leilani Lodge lease, the ATC has assigned an extra 20 boxes to his operation at Royal Randwick. These allocations are part of the ATC's wider strategy for managing training infrastructure at the venue, which hosts several of Australia's premier racing events and serves as a key training centre for Sydney-based trainers.