In the new season due to start later this week, the ATC will re-introduce a series of twilight race meetings at Randwick. And as if to suggest Canterbury is out of favour as a night venue, the number of night meetings programmed there has been cut in half, from 10 to five.
The ATC CEO, Darren Pearce, has declared the new $150 million re-development of the Randwick racecourse, along with the improved surface of the Kensington racecourse good reasons to try Randwick again as a twilight/night venue.
This morning’s dailytelegragh.com reports the changes to the NSW racing calendar.
“Racing NSW and the ATC have been discussing this issue and we want to get the maximum potential out of the investment in new facilities at Royal Randwick," Pearce said.
"So, we have scheduled a couple of twilight meetings at Randwick as a bit of an experiment to see if punters enjoy these meetings.
"We have held summer twilights at Randwick previously and they have performed a bit better in terms of crowd numbers and atmosphere than a Canterbury night meeting," Pearce added.
"The reality is that Randwick is more likely to attract Christmas and summer 'party' crowds than Canterbury, so the club is going back there this summer and we will make an assessment from there." (racingnetwork).