The 2024 Rodney Lees Cabinetmaking Lismore Cup race day will hold its first-ever cup meeting on a Friday (September 27), two weeks from now.

Lismore Turf Club Secretary Manager Scott Jones is very optimistic that this year's Cup race day will return to pre-COVID levels. Before COVID, 5,000 adorned the race track, making it one of the social events of the year.

"The feedback for the Lismore Cup to be run on a Friday has been really positive," Scott told the Lismore App, "Nearly everyone says it should have been done years ago."

"But we had the half-day public holiday back then, so it was sort of null and void until we lost that. A lot of tradies and other workers finish at midday on Fridays anyway, so it fits into their schedule."

If ticket sales are anything to go by, Scott should see more than last year's 1,500-strong crowd when the Cup was run on a Thursday with no gazetted half-day public holiday.

"The VIP tent is almost sold out, it is very, very, very close to sold out. Trackside tables are all sold out, and the member's luncheon is pretty full. We're also selling members passes, just day passes, and they're nearly sold out.

"So, all of the hospitality is nearly sold out, and then it'll just be the general admission tickets that come will build up over the next couple of weeks."

General Admission is $20 if you book online, or if you pay at the gate, it is $25.

For those who can't knock off work early, you can still be part of this year's Lismore Cup.

"If you can't be here at midday, then try and get here by 4 when the Cup will be run with another race to follow, and then party on with the Billy Gudgeon band. For those that aren't keen on the races, come for the crowd and Billy Gudgeon. It's only $5 to come and watch Billy after 4pm.

"Billy Gudegeon will play until 8pm, so there's still plenty of time to head into town and go to a restaurant or go out for the night."

Scott said the course itself was in perfect condition before yesterday's rain (20mm at the Lismore airport) cancelled the last three races at the Lismore race meet.

"The track has been brilliant, as you can see, there's plenty of grass coverage, the grass is going really well. We're at a soft five, which probably puts us nearly perfect for racing, to be honest."

Heading into the next two weeks, Scott is not worried about the rain next week, but the week after becomes more challenging.

"It's about the timing as we get closer. So if we get rain for the next week, that's fine. In the week leading into the cup, that's annoying for me in setup, but it just all depends on the amounts.

"Two years ago, we washed out after two races because we just got smashed with a storm. Now, we can handle a bit of rain because the grass is really, really, really thick, and we're fertilising it, so it's really hungry. It's certainly sucking up the water.

The 2024 Rodney Lees Cabinetmaking Lismore Cup is on Friday, 27 September, from 12 midday at the Lismore Turf Club (9a Woodlawn Road, North Lismore).

You can check out the Turf Club website for more information and to book general admission tickets for $20, saving $5 on the gate price.