Horsham and District Racing Club manager Lisa Inkster said the club would like to see the holiday reallocated to a half-day public holiday for Horsham Cup.

The club was forced to move the annual Horsham Cup to a Friday in 2014 after a Racing Victoria ruling meant two country clubs couldn’t have a cup meeting on the same day.

“Spring is the best time for racing and we wanted to maintain the spring theme, but there were no other weekends available so we moved to a Friday,” Mrs Inkster said.

She said running the Horsham Cup on a weekday had disadvantaged the event.

“Our gate attendance has been about 30 per cent less that what it had been before,” she said.

“But the biggest thing is businesses not being able to support the cup because it’s on a Friday.

“There is also decline in retail business on Horsham Cup day because people are at the races.

“We are a not-for-profit group and we a struggling for support.”

Mrs Inkster said when the club decided to move to a Friday, they didn’t realise how long they would have to wait before the Melbourne Cup holiday was re-evaluated.

In June 2014, Horsham Rural City Council agreed not to review the Melbourne Cup day public holiday until 2017.

Council has now released an online survey, asking residents for their thoughts on the holiday.

Mrs Inkster said she encouraged people to fill out the survey.

“Racing only requires half a day, so we don’t want to be selfish and ask for a Horsham Cup holiday to be for a whole day,” she said.

“A half day would allow businesses to run in the morning at normal rates and then in the afternoon they can decide whether to close or operate at public holiday rates.

“We really would like to see the weekend built into a regional event.

“There could be a super sale in the morning of Horsham Cup, and other events could be moved to that weekend.

“We have a beautiful new town hall that we can use for activities.

“We want to create a weekend that encourages people to come to the region.”

The Horsham Rural City Council survey closes on April 17.

Mayor Pam Clarke said more than 200 people had already responded to the survey.

“There is still time for people to put their comments down, which is really important,” she said.

Corporate services director Graeme Harrison said council had invited the racing club to attend a community consultation briefing on April 24.