Bendigo businessman and horse racing enthusiast Paul Banks wants to have his say on the future of thoroughbred racing in Bendigo.
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Banks, who mixes his business interests with hobby training at his Sutton Grange base, is campaigning to join the Bendigo Jockey Club committee.
“I don’t like the way horse racing is going in general, so I want to start locally to try and fix it,’’ Banks said on Friday.
“I want to see up close what is being done to improve our industry.
“I want to see what is happening for the people who graft away every day in this industry because it can be better than what it is.”
Banks, who operates one of the biggest advertising companies in regional Australia, said his campaign was based around increasing sponsorship, membership and horse numbers in Bendigo.
“I want to get the membership numbers at the BJC get to 1000 and I want to implement sponsorship packages that are accessible to everyone,’’ Banks said.
“I’d love to see training facilities improved so we could get 100 more horses trained here.
“If you look at the last meeting at Bendigo, two of the eight races wouldn’t have been run if it wasn’t for local horses and trainers.
“Ballarat is building a mini-Newmarket (for training facilities). That’s a place where in the middle of winter you wouldn’t put your worst enemy.
“We need more horses and trainers in Bendigo. We have the best track in the country here. Lloyd Williams has used our track to win the Melbourne Cup six times. He swears by the joint.
“We have Melbourne Cup-winning facilities here… we just need to step things up a bit.”
The BJC meeting will be held on Monday night, with three committee members - chair Margot Falconer, Jack Lyons and Dane Sheppard – up for re-election.
“Different people contribute different things and good luck to them,’’ Banks said.
“I know I can contribute ten-fold more.”