Michael Buckley's first eight months in the role of general manager at the Tamworth Jockey Club have been anything but quiet.
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After joining in May, Buckley's overseen the appointment of a new board - after the previous one stood down - as well as a number of improvements at the track including the completion of the $1.6m sand track refurbishment.
The general manager admitted it was "a challenging time" when he first came into the job with Racing NSW's inquiry into the previous board not yet completed.
But with the new board appointed, Buckley said it's been an exciting period for the club.
"We were very happy with the people that were genuinely interested in helping the club get back on track and see the place further improve," Buckley said of the new board.
"With that said, we were left in a very good position financially. There was plenty of money in the bank and the previous board had also gone a long way to securing funding for projects like sand track and course proper drainage works.
"They have been a revelation since both have been able to be utilised by our trainers not only for race day but also for trackwork of a morning."
There's no slowing down for Buckley now either.
The Tamworth Jockey Club has taken on a couple extra meetings of late - the most recent being the Armidale Cup - when track conditions at neighbouring towns have been deemed unsuitable for racing.
As one of the bigger clubs in the region, Buckley said that was one of TJC's roles.
And now, he'd love to attract more race meetings to the region and the TJC.
"We want to continue to increase our race day numbers or even to change some of our race days from your Monday and Tuesdays to more commercial days like a Friday arvo or even in the weekend when placed in the right spot. It gives the locals a chance to attend a race meeting," he said.
"But for the time being, we're happy to help out where we can and if we can continue to further bolster our presence here that's something we're happy to do."
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