Racing club looks to spark initiatives after bumper carnival

Warrnambool Racing Club chief executive officer Luke Cann said on Monday, May 6, achieving a benchmark was a major tick for the club, committee and employees.

He said bar sales were also up 10 per cent.

"Ticking over that benchmark of 30,000 is a major tick for us," he said.

"It's big in comparison with other carnivals in the past five to 10 years.

"To get to that number is something we've been working towards and to get that result is very very pleasing."

Mr Cann said patrons were greeted with perfect weather on the Thursday, which was crucial in boosting crowd numbers on the major day.

"We could not have asked for better weather on Thursday. Tuesday and Wednesday is more about racing purists," he said.

"But, Thursday, there's a lot of people making last minute decisions in that 8am to 9am time slot.

"There's probably an extra 1000 people on the borderline depending on the weather and it went in our favour."

The CEO said that fundamentally the club was happy with the set-up of the carnival.

"My team is constantly trying to value add. We want to be bigger and better, we certainly won't be sitting on our hands," Mr Cann said.

"The bands on Tuesday and Wednesday were a very good addition. We'll sit down as a team and do a retro, which is how we'll spark new ideas.

"I think spreading of the crowd in different areas has allowed even better catering services and we've been able to put specialist staff in place to support those initiatives.

"It's not just about spreading the crowd, but getting the level of service right and providing that great experience.

"I'm very happy."