C’mon: Punters willing their horses over the line in last year’s Benalla Gold Cup.
Photo by
Issie Hill
From incredible races to packed marquees and high-level fashion, Benalla’s Gold Cup will have something for everyone.
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With the weather on Friday, September 29, set to be perfect for racing, could there be a more perfect way to start the AFL Grand Final long weekend?
Benalla Racing Club chief executive Cameron Symes said he was not nervous about the day, just full of excitement.
“It’s our biggest day of the year. It’s something we build to over the winter as we get back into racing, and being the Benalla Cup, it’s really exciting,” he said.
“Ticket sales are going really well, and the weather forecast — this time of the year, we’re usually trudging around in our gumboots and pumping water away from one spot to another.
“The forecast looks fantastic. With a nice 25-degree day we’re not going to know what to do with ourselves.
“We’ve had the sprinklers going on the lawn over the last few days. I don’t think in my time we’ve had to water prior to the cup; it’s usually been pretty wet.
“The grass is growing, and the surrounds are looking fantastic.”
Racegoers will have a picture in their mind of their perfect race day.
A vital part of that image will be where they are when the final race of the day is run — and Symes has locked in where he will be.
Not Usual Glorious ridden by Neil Farley won the Benalla Gold Cup in 2022. With the biggest day of racing on the Benalla calendar taking place on Friday, it is not long until another name is written into history.
Photo by
Jay Town
“It’s very hard to go past the Carlton Draught Deck. It’s right in front of the winning post, it’s elevated, and it’s close to all the amenities,” he said.
“I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for the deck; it’s a favourite, but it is closely followed by the Slingsby Marquee (formerly the Ryan and McNulty Marquee).
“With Slingsby Gin coming onboard, we’ve got gin cocktails throughout the afternoon.
“It’s proving to be very popular. A lot of people who go for the deck have transferred to the Slingsby Marquee just because there are those cocktails, which is a popular beverage of choice at the moment.”
While the marquees seem like the place to be, Symes said there would be action aplenty around the track.
“Once again, we’ve got Benalla Travel Fashions on the Field. There are fantastic prizes on offer, so if that interests you, it’s well worth getting involved in that,” he said.
“We’ve got some kids’ activities, with jumping castles and face painting.
“We’ve got four food trucks in on the day, so a wide variety of food on offer, and we’ve got live music playing throughout the afternoon that’ll fire up in the evening once the racing has finished and people start to come out of the marquees.
“So we’ll put on a bit of a party to finish the day off.”
For those keen to watch high-level racing, Symes expects the racecard to feature some of the biggest names from around Victoria.
“We’re very well represented by trainers from all over the state,” he said.
“We’re lucky at Benalla with the circumference of our track, which is vital in the racing sense where we have a mile start with a 900m straight before the first turn.
“Then it’s just a big, wide, sweeping home turn that then comes on to a nice 380m straight.
“In a racing sense, that gives the horses plenty of opportunity to win a race. If they’re back of the pack, they’ve still got 380m to make their run down the home straight.
“So we think we’ll be well represented from all stables, but being a local, heavily involved in the community, I’d love nothing more than a couple of locals to get up on the day.”
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