The biggest sponsorship signing in the Mildura Harness Racing Club’s history has the vibrant club looking positively to the future.
The club secured a lucrative one-year deal with the Euston Club and Resort, a bowling and recreation club midway between Mildura and Swan Hill, with the agreement sweetened by the option to extend to three years.
Harness racing is thriving in Mildura with up to 110 horses engaged at recent meetings and some of the State’s most competitive racing.
The club is renowned for its annual three-year carnival and Chief Executive Officer Michelle McGinty-Wilson said the new sponsorship arrangement underlines the strong growth occurring at the north-west Victorian club.
“The Euston Club will have naming rights to the first race of every Mildura Harness meeting, including over the Cup Carnival, beginning with Race 1 the Euston Club Pace at tonight’s Sunraysia Cup meeting,” Ms McGinty-Wilson said.
“The Euston Club and Resort will also have the naming rights to the 2019 Sunraysia Cup tonight,” she said.
“It’s a great vote of confidence that we’re able to get big new sponsors on board because they’re noticing how healthy the sport of harness racing is in our region, and they want to get involved.”
The Euston Club’s Chief Executive Officer Ray Jones said it was a good business decision for the club to team up with harness racing in Mildura.
“We’re a strongly growing business and it is imperative for us to be steering our sponsorship dollars into areas where exposure will be growing,” he said.
“As a result, it was an easy decision for us to partner with Mildura Harness Racing Club and we’re pleased to be part of the future growth of the sport in the region.”
Ms McGinty-Wilson said the club was also working on additional sponsorship partnerships, as it worked to leverage the sport’s vitality in Mildura.
“We’re in a unique situation where we have one of the strongest local horse populations in regional Victoria, but we’re also attracting large numbers of horses from South Australia and southern Victoria to race here,” Ms McGinty-Wilson said.
“The industry is strong, and the racing is exciting, and that gives us a great opportunity to reach out to our local community and get more engagement from sponsors,” she said.
“But it’s also an opportunity for us to bring people back to the track so they can enjoy the unique racing experience we offer at every meeting here at Mildura.”
HRV Trots Media