Racing kicks off on Saturday, October 14 with the inaugural St Vincent de Paul Society Community Race Day.

The day will feature a seven-race local program as well as all the group one action from The Everest and Caulfield Guineas on the big screen.

The society’s Albury Regional Council hopes to raise more than $5000 from the Community Race Day which will go towards helping those in need.

The club will also be racing on Cox Plate Day (October 28), Melbourne Cup (November 7) and Oaks Day (November 9) with live entertainment between races, catering and hospitality packages.

Albury Racing Club chief executive Mick Wighton said the emphasis has been to get the track in top condition after spending $1.2 million on it.

“We’re all sorted now hopefully,” Wighton said.

“It’s been a long time coming, Gold Cup was our last meeting.

“Now it’s in top condition we’re looking forward to the first meeting.”

Wighton paid tribute to trainers from across the region for their patience.

“They’ve been doing track work on the grass for a couple of weeks now and getting a bit of a feel for it,” he said.

“We’ve got racing on October 14 and 28, so obviously its a time to showcase the track and see the improvement that’s been generated from all the work that’s been carried out.

“We’ve got to have consistency because obviously the drainage is in now and it’s become an all-weather track.

“We’re hoping for more consistency with conditions instead of that variation we had in the past.

“I think it’s going to be one of the better tracks around.”

Wighton said entries have been strong for the inaugural St Vincent de Paul Society Community Race Day on October 14.

St Vincent de Paul Albury Regional Council president John Fleming said more people in financial difficulty were turning to the society for help than ever before.

“The day is the council’s way to raise some much needed funds to meet the shortfall in a community-oriented way,” he said.

“It offers businesses, families and individuals a range of ways to lend their support.”

Gates open at 10.30am with races starting at 11am.

General admission is $15.