WHO doesn't like a public holiday?
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Most people would take one in a heart beat given the chance.
But there comes a point when how many is enough with Wodonga a classic case in point.
The run of public holidays started when the Andrews Labor Government defied powerful business opposition to press ahead with a pre-election promise to have a public holiday on AFL grand final eve.
Maybe good for Melbourne, but forcing regional employers to pay penalty rates to their workers on one of their busiest days of the week for an event three and a half hours away was folly of the highest order.
A month later some businesses were sticking with the traditional Melbourne Cup day public holiday, but others didn't because there was another one just around the corner for the Wodonga Cup.
Last year Racing Wodonga successfully applied to the Victorian Government to switch the public holiday from Melbourne Cup to Wodonga Cup after changing the meeting from a Sunday to a Friday.
The move was given an initial three-year tick of approval.
There were some early teething problems, particularly in the education sector, with schools claiming the decision came too late for families to make alternative arrangements.
Some schools took both cup holidays.
But the confusion around the switch has been ironed out in year two with Wodonga Cup the public holiday of choice in most cases and could be a contributing factor in the upsurge in pre-event tickets for this year's race meeting on Friday.
The cup meeting drew a crowd of 4773 last year which almost doubled the attendance of 12 months earlier when held on a Sunday.
Early indications are the crowd will be even bigger this year.
There are 500 more people booked into marquees compared to last year and nearly 1000 people have pre-purchased their tickets at the discounted price of $15.
Racing Wodonga knows it has to keep growing the event to replicate the Albury Gold Cup as a permanent fixture on the racing calendar.
It's entitled to be given a chance to prove its worth over the three-year trial period, but one public holiday must go.
The short-priced favourite and obvious one is the AFL grand final eve holiday.