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TRUMP CARD:
Albury Racing Club chief executive John Miller announces yesterday the Albury Cup will be the richest race in the Riverina in 2008.Photo: The Border Mail
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MURRUMBIDGEE Turf Club’s Wagga Gold Cup has been trumped as the richest race in the Riverina after Albury Racing Club yesterday ballooned the Albury Cup purse to $125,000. A new exciting sponsorship deal along with huge crowd figures in recent years has rocketed the Albury club into the Riverina’s racing spotlight and its chief executive officer says its incredible 25 per cent increase from $100,000 is just the start of a very productive period for the club.
“This isn’t the end of it – raising our prizemoney is something this club has been committed to doing for a long time and we’ve been able to do so this year on the back of some very successful seasons,” Albury Racing Club CEO John Miller told the Advertiser yesterday.
Miller said Albury’s Gold Cup attendance figures topped 19,000 this year and with the star attraction of champion jockey Damien Oliver being a major coup for both carnivals, Miller knew his club was finally on to something big.
“It was fantastic this year – everything fell into place with the weather, trainers and our jockeys and we are hopeful we can make it even bigger and better next year.”
“We have an exciting new sponsorship deal in place and we have some great trainers of our own in the area, so the future of this carnival looks great,” he said.
“But when you look at it, increasing prizemoney is something that just has to happen out here in our location because the higher profile trainers we are trying to attract are racing for $100,000 every weekend in the cities, so we have to make sure our number one event is equally as attractive,” he said.
For so long, Wagga’s $110,000 showpiece event has enjoyed the mantle of the region’s number one race following regular prizemoney hikes and this – along with the possible introduction of a half-day holiday on cup day – are sure to be hot topics discussed at the MTC’s board meeting later this month, according to its CEO Christine Williams.
“It’s always important to move along with the times and make sure your showcase event is as attractive as it can be, but this is not just about money – you need a good program on the day too and this will be up to the board members to discuss at their meeting,” Williams said.
Albury’s Gold Cup Day will be held on April 11, exactly three weeks before MTC’s Wagga carnival.
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