Saturday sees the club’s final meet of 2021, the Benalla Christmas Party Race Day, welcome the town and surrounds to the track for a scintillating afternoon of racing under the sun.
Benalla Racing Club general manager Cam Symes was enthralled at the prospect of having bodies back under the umbrellas once more.
“We are really looking forward to getting patrons back on course in a safe environment,” Symes said.
“The gates open at 1pm, there will be a jumping castle and playground for the kids and live music throughout the afternoon.
“There will also be a shuttle bus running from a few locations around town going to and from the track.”
The Benalla Christmas Party Race Day follows on from the Euroa Cup held on November 7; the first event to welcome spectators back on course in some time.
Symes spoke about the Euroa Cup’s success from a managerial perspective, noting the club was buoyant at how Saturday was shaping up to be another bumper day of racing for Benalla to enjoy.
“We had 503 people at the Euroa Cup, it was great to see people back,” he said.
“It went really well with everyone enjoying the weather and we’re hopeful Saturday will be the same.
“Russell Osborne and Peter Burgun are entering some runners, so hopefully we can have a bit of success for the local trainers on the day as well.”
After what has been a particularly strenuous year for country racing as an entity, Symes hoped the end-of-year run in signalled a rounding of the bend of sorts for the club to push on with spectator-attended events in 2022.
“Obviously it has been a tough couple of years in the sense of not being able to have crowds, and we’re very fortunate racing in the country has continued,” he said.
“We’re really excited welcome everyone back — there is no reason why it can’t be onwards and upwards in 2022 and go back to some form of normality.”
To book, visit https://country.racing.com/calendar/2021-12-18/benalla-christmas-party-race-day/general-admission-24030?fbclid=IwAR1sPi62Sav4h_c8_vnqxyyWoMAVHjDM-79C5DJPWE4dDNJgmkICgkKehw0
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