Ballarat Cup moved

The Ballarat Cup, the traditional end to the Victorian Spring Racing Carnival, has been moved from its usual Wednesday timeslot to a Sunday.

The likelihood that the event would lose its public holiday status in Victoria's biggest inland city has prompted a change of plan and the 2010 Sportsbet.com.au Ballarat Cup will be now held on Sunday November 21.

BTC Chief Executive Shane Brennan believes the club will benefit from the change to a weekend timeslot.

"The club is most appreciative of Racing Victoria and Country Racing Victoria for facilitating the date change and the club will now work diligently with Ballarat City Council and the local community to ensure its success," Brennan said.

"The move to a Sunday provides the club with an opportunity to not only welcome continued local support, but further encourage people in metropolitan Melbourne and other sectors of the state, who were not privy to the public holiday, to attend this great event."

There has been a concerted shift in the past decade to move country cups to Sundays and most of provincial Victoria's major races are now held on weekends.

"The popular country cups circuit has continued to thrive on Sunday afternoons during spring and summer and with Ballarat offering such a vibrant tourism network, we see this switch as a means to growing the number of visitors who attend the event," Racing Victoria’s Chief Executive Rob Hines said.

"It is still vitally important that the local community and Ballarat City Council continue to support this prestigious event and we encourage them to do this through their attendance and support of club initiatives and promotions."