Illawarra Turf Club chief executive Peter De Vries is confident fans will be in attendance at the second running of The Gong in November.
The race, which will be held on November 21, retained its million-dollar status earlier this week when Racing NSW unveiled the spring carnival schedule.
The certainty comes after a challenging autumn for the racing industry, with fans barred from tracks and prizemoney slashed.
With standalone meetings at Hawkesbury, Gosford and Scone transferred to Sydney, De Vries concedes he initially feared the race may not be held at Kembla Grange this year.
But with the venue and prizemoney locked in and owners returning to Randwick this Saturday, the CEO has turned his attention to the next challenge, ensuring fans are at the track for the event.
“It’s fantastic to see Racing NSW come out and confirm dates, including The Gong,” De Vries said.
“I
hope by the time we get to late November, we’ll certainly start having
owners and members, but also the general racegoer in attendance.
“What restrictions will be in place in November is anybody’s guess, but we should be looking at it positively. We think we’ll probably be running The Gong under conditions with people able to attend.”
While the 2019 edition of the
million-dollar race was a big success, the arrival of Sydney’s top
trainers locked the locals out of the feature.
That led to calls for more opportunities for Kembla Grange horses to shine and De Vries said he’s hopeful that will eventuate in 2020.
“The program hasn’t been determined yet, but we’d like to see it.
“I made the comment at the meeting last year, it would’ve been nice to see something on the program encouraging local trainers to star their horses on what is the biggest day in Illawarra horse racing.”
While
the region’s feature race has managed to avoid any cuts as a result of
coronavirus, the ITC has had to reschedule planned track upgrades.
The second and third stages of the Kembla Grange track redevelopment have been put on hold.
Work on the B track is now expected to start in early spring, with the course proper to follow once that is complete.
Originally Published: https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/6780915/renewed-hope-for-kembla-crowd-return/?cs=14760