Club seeking council’s cash

Hamish Heard
Country Racing Victoria is seeking a bigger slice of the region’s public purse after new figures revealed Geelong race meets contribute $52 million a year to the local economy.
Senior racing figures and Geelong Racing Club yesterday met council representatives to lobby for increased financial and marketing assistance.
Country Racing Victoria chief executive officer Scott Whiteman said the meeting was about boosting the economic windfall racing generates for the city.
“We’re seeking further assistance, both financial and in-kind, to help country racing clubs market their events better and to get more people attending race meetings,” Mr Whiteman said.
He said levels of council support and economic benefits flowing from racing events were directly linked.
“I rang one of the richer and more successful clubs in Australia and the thing that stood out was that they received a lot more support from council than other clubs throughout the country,” he said.
“I do want to make it clear, however, that we’re not banging our hands on the table and demanding more money, just greater long-term support.”
Mr Whiteman said racing could benefit from marketing opportunities such as more exposure on council websites, publications and signage.
Geelong Racing Club chief executive officer Paul Carroll said Geelong’s council already supplied funding and support to the club but he would not reveal how much.
“That’s between council and ourselves,” he said.
“(Yesterday’s) meeting was really to highlight how important racing clubs are to communities and that we do a lot to generate economic activity and hope to garner more support from all levels of government.”