Last year, Brent Castle, the owner of Castle Lane Catering, sold 800 steak sandwiches, over 900 kilograms of chips and 20 kilograms of cheese at the annual racing event.

“I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many sausage sandwiches we sold,” he said. 

“We start preparing for Gold Cup two weeks out.

“There’s the food side of things but there’s a lot more that goes into the event. We have to move ovens around, do the food orders, organise staff.”

The workload is anything but light as Mr Castle is responsible for four different sit down meals, all with different menus, a couple of finger food venues, platters that people can come pick up, a BBQ, a carvery in the Champagne Bar, a snack bar and cheese boxes.

Even with 30 staff on the day, Mr Castle will likely spend over 20 hours working. 

”You don’t feel too well after,” he joked. 

“It’s a lot of stress but it is still an enjoyable day for us. 

“Depending on the weather you can get anywhere up to the 10,000 mark which is great.”

Gold Cup is definitely the biggest day of the year, according to Mr Castle, largely in part because it’s a day that everyone can relate to. 

“Everyone knows what horse racing is about and it’s also such a social event,” he said. 

“It’s Wagga’s biggest party really.”

An added bonus of the event, Mr Castle said, was to be able to show off the whole grounds and it’s a great way for Wagga to celebrate local businesses and the community.

“It’s a cornerstone event for the community,” he said. 

The Wagga Gold Cup is on Friday and includes the listed Wagga Gold Cup, 2000 metres. There are eight local races, and Myer’s Fashions on the Field. The popular event is looking to be a success again with hospitality packages sold out and with most hotels and motels stating no further vacancies listed across the two-day carnival.