ALBURY Racing Club leaders have declined to engage with a councillor's swipe at the Gold Cup, but two trainers have defended the race day.
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Racing club chief executive Steve Hetherton told The Border Mail he would not comment on Cr Edwards' statement, while the club's president Dick Sloane only offered one sentence.
"I'm just a bit disappointed that that's the way Cr Edwards thinks," Mr Sloane said.
Trainer Brett Cavanough, who won the Albury Gold Cup in 2013, rejected Cr Edwards' portrayal of the occasion, saying it did not reflect his experience.
"There's so many activists out there it's crazy, she's one person and there's 50,000 people in town," Mr Cavanough said.
"She's a minuscule scale opinion and it's very unfair."
Albury's biggest trainer Mitch Beer said the cup was an "outstanding community event" and the club had a focus on "family fun" and "the racing side of things".
"I think those claims (of Cr Edwards) are absolutely absurd," Mr Beer said.
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"Sometimes the minority have the loudest voice but the community has shown its support for the event and I would think she's pretty much on her own there."
Cr Edwards was speaking during a motion to seek community feedback on council supporting a half-day holiday for the cup continuing in 2024 and 2025.
On Tuesday July 11, 2023, Australian Industry Group regional manager Tim Farrah expressed concern at the council not acknowledging financial costs with the cup.
"Who does a budget that only takes into account revenue, it's misleading, it's almost deceptive to say this is the economic benefit if it doesn't cut the costs," Mr Farrah said.
He said if the cost-benefit was "only $500K or $1 million is that enough to warrant the amount of inconvenience and annoyance it creates in the community, particularly with parents and schools and childcare".
Mr Farrah said his members had consistently opposed the half-day holiday over 15 years and he saw little value in them being resurveyed this time around because the council had not met him to discuss that feedback.
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