The Illawarra Turf Club, with the rich financial backing of Racing NSW, needs to throw everything at The Gong race in November.
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With all respect to the Keith Nolan Classic, the new million-dollar race can launch Kembla Grange beyond its reputation as an exceptional launching pad for the talented two-year-olds and trialists for all the leading Sydney stables.
Prizemoney is one thing, but with the right resources, promotion - which will no doubt be ensured by Racing NSW boss Peter V'Landy's, a Wollongong lad himself - and support, it can be the perfect end point for a spring carnival featuring some of Australia and the world's best horses.
And that's not to dismiss the local heroes, given Gwenda Markwell's Group 1 Doomben Cup runner and Group 3 Hawkesbury Cup winner Archedemus is a likely prospect.
The $1m showcase Saturday race will be staged on November 23, seven days after Newcastle's Broadmeadow track hosts "The Hunter" over 1300m, under similar conditions and RNSW is anticipating attendances of 20,000 for each race day.
A crowd of 20,000? Unbelievable scenes.
It may take another year's planning, unless there's frantic works on track to provide additional marquees, but TABCorp and Illawarra business are already declaring it a winner, if the level of interest so far is any indication.
This week, ITC chief executive Peter DeVries said the new race will be the biggest in Kembla Grange history when it runs for the first time in November.
Officials are in the preliminary stages of discussions about expanding spectator capacity, to fast-track it as the No.1 race day ahead of the Melbourne Cup crowds.
"Even just from the interest we've already had, this will be the biggest crowd we've ever had," De Vries said.
The Gong will run as the feature event on a stand-alone Saturday meeting, and the end of a carnival which launches with The Everest on October 19.
To be run over 1600m, has been added to the ended up a supercharged Sydney spring carnival, hoping to attract runners out of the newly-established $7.5 million Golden Eagle and possibly Melbourne runners looking for a late preparation cash grab.
Kembla Grange missed out on the NSW international quarantine centre, but The Gong can lead to a a genuine resurgence in terms of crowds and corporate support for racing in the Illawarra all year round.
And while all the major players will come raiding the big prizemoney, it's still a chance to show the enormous potential of regional racing, especially in a city like Wollongong, which lacks the true Cup carnival feel of the best country racing towns like Scone, Grafton and Wagga.
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