Benalla Race Club has been nominated as a finalist for the 2018/2019 Kelly Sports Country Racing Event of Year Award for its local Cup.
With 54 clubs able to nominate two to three events a year, Benalla Race Club’s general manager Cam Symes said it was a great achievement to be one of the final five whittled down from about 150 events.
‘‘It’s great to be recognised as a club,’’ Symes said.
‘‘And it’s also a credit to the community who come and support the day.
‘‘We’re thrilled.’’
The Benalla Gold Cup will go head to head with the Bendigo Golden Mile, the Geelong Cup, the Warrnambool Haymes Paint Jericho Cup and Yarra Valley’s Christmas Party Race Day.
Speaking of the Gold Cup’s success, Symes said the event enjoyed a 25 per cent increase in attendance in 2018, with more than 4000 people attending the race day, while sponsorships and packages grew by 38 per cent.
‘‘It had a great crowd and great vibes,’’ Symes said.
‘‘We had our new fashion and entertainment section out the back near the elms, which was highly anticipated.
‘‘And there were plenty of locals that got the prizes.’’
The Benalla Race Club will look to continue to grow its event when they host the 2019 Gold Cup day on Friday, September 27.
‘‘We’ve had high growth in recent years, so we’ll look to sustain that and tweak some things,’’ Symes said.
‘‘We have a couple of ambassadors, with AFLW players Sarah and Jess Hosking coming up and judging the fashion.’’
The winner of the Event of the Year award will be announced at the bet365 Country Racing Victoria Awards, which will take place in Melbourne on Saturday, August 24.
‘‘Hopefully we come away with the win,’’ Symes said.
‘‘We’ll go along and enjoy the event and see what happens.’’
15°C