By Brendan Rees
Cranbourne Turf Club is in the running to take out the Country Racing Victoria Club of the Year award.
Ballarat Turf Club, Echuca Racing Club, Geelong Racing Club, and Warrnambool Racing Club have also been nominated for the award which will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday 25 August.
Eligibility for the prestigious award is limited to clubs with a turnover greater than $1 million per year. The clubs will be judged on their 2017/18 racing season with set criteria including customer service, community involvement, capital improvements, hospitality, sponsorship, OHS improvements, governance practices and marketing initiatives.
Cranbourne Turf Club chief executive Neil Bainbridge said the club was delighted to be nominated.
“To win it would be a great bonus but to simply just to be recognised is something that our committee and our staff are quite proud of,” he said.
“Being home to the largest training centre in Australia with 160 licenced trainers who train over 1500 horses at the venue, Cranbourne is a pretty important cog in the wheel of the industry.
“It’s become much more than a racing centre, it’s really become an entertaining precinct,” Mr Bainbridge said.
He said the club was committed to supporting the community and hosting charity events such as raising money for Breast Cancer Network Australia.“Having been a past winner it’s great to be recognised again for the role Cranbourne plays in the wider country racing industry,” Mr Bainbridge added.
Country Racing Victoria chief executive Scott Whiteman says that everyone always looks forward to the awards night each year.
“It’s also a terrific opportunity to get all of the industry participants together, and for many of these people, it’s their one night of the year that they get to kick back and enjoy a night off.”
