Last year’s Sandown Classic winner Gallant Guru, middle, splits placegetters Casual Pass and Show Barry to take out the $400,000 Group 2 Spring Carnival weight-for-age feature race.Picture: Stewart Chambers.By Shaun Inguanzo
HORSERACING is playing a key role in making Greater Dandenong a destination rather than a pass-through city along the Princes Highway.
That’s word of Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce president Renae MacNamara, who this week spoke about the economic benefits of horseracing in Greater Dandenong ahead of this weekend’s Sandown Classic.
The Sandown Classic is the premier horseracing event on the Sandown Racecourse’s calendar, and marks the conclusion to Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival.
It will take place this Saturday with large crowds expected due to anticipated fine weather.
Runners will include the Andrew Payne-trained seven-year-old On A Jeune, which finished sixth in this year’s Melbourne Cup and ran second to legendary galloper Makybe Diva in 2005.
Ms MacNamara said because the Flemington track had experienced a heavy year of redevelopment, Sandown consequently enjoyed a healthy – and busy – year of rescheduled race meets that despite the lingering equine influenza threat had brought more people into Greater Dandenong.
“It has been a great year in terms of racing, apart from the equine influenza,” she said.
“We have had a lot of interesting and good racing events out here that we haven’t had the opportunity to host before.
“While people haven’t yet fully caught on with the ‘destination Dandenong’ idea – that is it’s still a place people tend to pass through – there is a great amount of development going on, and having anyone coming here (to attend the races) highlights the great new aspects of Greater Dandenong.”
Ms MacNamara said the economic benefits would be long-term once people identified Greater Dandenong as a revitalised city.
She also credited the Melbourne Racing Club, which manages Sandown, for its interest in supporting local companies by purchasing products from local manufacturers.
