Randwick exceeds expectations

SYDNEY racing has taken a major step to put behind it the nightmare of the equine influenza outbreak, with the successful Royal Randwick meeting yesterday.

AJC chief executive, Norman Gillespie said racing was back with a vengeance after an official crowd of 21,085 attended the first Sydney race day in more than three months.

"This has been a great success and the crowd has exceeded our expectations,'' Gillespie said. "When the rain fell most of the morning, I was worried how it would affect our crowd. But we've still got nearly 25,000 people through the gates.

"The atmosphere has been fantastic and to watch the Takeover Target-Dance Hero race capped off a memorable day.''

Racing NSW and the AJC had been criticised in some quarters for fast-tracking a December 1 return to racing.

But those critics were silenced, with Racing NSW chief Peter V'Landys saying the roar of the crowd when the race one barriers opened "sent shivers down my spine.''