But in looking to the past and resurrecting the traditional Thursday-Friday format, the Albury Racing Club believes it has done just that.

The carnival is heavily promoted as a stand-out on the Border's events calendar, and with good reason.

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Thousands of people turn out every year to enjoy the races, the marquees and all the other fun of the cup.

It is certainly one event that people look forward to every year.

But that does not mean taking that success for granted.

The club believes a $50,000 NSW government grant to help promote the carnival will be a certain way to build on what already has been achieved.

Major Events Minister Adam Marshall made clear the obvious benefits of putting the government's weight behind it all.

"What I'm interested in, as our state's Tourism Minister, is dragging more and more Victorians from south of the border and relieving them of their hard-earned cash here in Albury for local businesses to grow, to sustain employment."

It is hard to argue with him on that point. It would be foolish to take any of the past success for granted, not that the racing club would ever be of that mind.

And it also makes sense for the club to switch back to the Thursday-Friday format, rather than the Sunday-then-Friday split of the past couple of years.

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If you want to attract more and more people to make the effort to travel to Albury from other regions and the capitals, it sure will be far easier for them to plan ahead.

The cup carnival is a major event that warrants racegoers getting organised, so why then wouldn't you make it easier to do just that?

The only qualifier that needs to be thrown into the mix is over what happens after 2019.

The Coalition is said to be open to further funding in the years ahead, so all that remains is for Labor to make a like commitment.