Albury Racing Club is seeking another two-year extension of the Gold Cup half-day public holiday to help rebound quickly from the financial setback associated with the washout of this year's event.
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Albury Council's ongoing endorsement is crucial to the NSW Department of Treasury giving the green light to the public holiday with councillors urged to support the move on Monday night.
After initially being introduced on an annual basis, the public holiday has been granted for consecutive years from 2016 with the latest deal expiring this year.
But before the formal bid is submitted a public consultation process, proving support exists for a biennial application for the half-day holiday, has to be carried out.
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This year's event was abandoned when the recently upgraded Albury track was deemed unsuitable for racing following a torrential thunderstorm on raceday.
The two-day carnival attracted just over 6300 people which was well down on the 15,000 perople who attended in 2017 when the carnival was held on back-to-back days.
The club encountered stakeholder backlash when racedays were split last year.
A report prepared for council on Monday night details how the Gold Cup carnival generated more than $1.7 million in economic output.
"This was despite unprecedented inclement weather which subsequently resulted in the cancellation of the actual race meeting," the report states.
"Visitor spend alone is estimated at $1.095 million based on spends of $160 by domestic day visitors and $290 by domestic overnight visitors to the city."
The club spends more than $442,000 each year in infrastructure, marketing and promotion for the carnival with the event itself generating jobs for more than 450 contractors and staff.
Next year's Gold Cup will be held on March 20.
Club chief executive Steve Hetherton confirmed the track would close after its Cox Plate meeting on October 26 for follow-up repair work before staging its next race meeting on December 7.
It will be held on February 22 and will be an ideal lead into the cup carnival a month later.
