After welcoming patrons back trackside for the first time in months last week, the Tamworth Jockey Club is gearing up for one of the biggest days on its racing calendar.
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The club has released its Melbourne Cup Day packages.
The November 2 meeting will be new TJC general manager Michael Buckley's first Melbourne Cup Day in charge after starting in the role in May.
"It's not a racing day as such, it's more a community-based day," Buckley said.
"I think it's going to be a great opportunity to sort of be that post-COVID lockdown-type party."
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It has been for Buckley a "challenging" and "chaotic" start to his tenure for a few reasons.
When he first started the club didn't haven't a board (they stood down in January as Racing NSW launched an investigation into the club), although he said that was actually probably "a good thing" for him.
"It gave me an opportunity to find my feet, actually understand the dynamics of a country club and how it works and how our funding is modelled," Buckley said.
"(Then) Not long after arriving we were going through a company transfer, going from an incorporated business to a limited, so I got to learn about setting up a new business then going through the process of preparing a budget for the 2021-22 financial year."
Following on from that was the agm and the appointment of the new [club-voted] board members (Racing NSW also appointed two independent members).
Then the COVID volcano erupted again.
Buckley admits it has been tough managing the club through the subsequent lockdown, but not as hard as it could have been, pointing out that they were fortunate to still be able to race.
That gave them some turnover with the club receiving a percentage of what's wagered on a meeting through the TAB.
"We've seen a decline in wagering and that's understandable given the fact that the opportunity for a punter to bet through the TAB has been restricted (with the closure of pubs and clubs)," he said.
"But coming out of that first lockdown (last year) we did see a resurgence in turnover."
The Melbourne Cup meeting will be conducted on the B track with the course proper undergoing it's annual renovation following last week's meeting.
Tickets can be purchased through the Tamworth Jockey Club website.
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