Merrylees has been the sponsorship and marketing manager over an extremely successful period for the club but has decided the time is right for a change.

"I am sad to be leaving. I've been here for 15 years so it's a long time to be involved in an organisation," Merrylees said.

"I feel very privileged to be part of the Turf Club for such a long time so it's mixed emotions. I'm very excited for my new challenge at my new role but there is some sadness there as well for leaving."

Merrylees has accepted the position as manager of Rural Outreach Counselling. The MTC is in the process of appointing a replacement.

Merrylees says it is the racegoers that she will miss the most from the MTC.

"Probably the people. My members and sponsors. Just watching people enjoy the races," she said.

"I'll miss putting on the big events and watching that all come together and realising when it all comes together it's been successful. I'll miss that side of it.

"I really enjoy the challenge of putting on the big stuff and I think I'll really miss that."

Merrylees named the development of MTC's 100 Club gala dinner and the introduction of Rock At The Races as the achievements she is most proud of.

"The 100 club, the gala night itself. When I started it was in the betting ring. In the betting ring, if it was raining, it would leak on everybody and no one would fit and it was just a nightmare," she said.

"Over time I eventually convinced the board to get it out of there and we had an open air marquee in front of the grandstand. And from there we progressed to what we have now, which is the beautiful big marquee in the mounting yard with all the bells and whistles.

"That took quite a few years to get everyone on board with that, so it started off in the betting ring and it was always a good night but now it really is Wagga's night of nights, from the first-class entertainment we get from all over Australia to the food and beverages and the setting, it's a really good night for everybody.

"The initiation of Rock At The Races, in those first couple of years. When we first got that on board and it was a similar thing, it was met firstly with a few frowns, obviously not recently, but in those first couple of years it was an event that Wagga didn't have previously, it brought a lot of people to town and it was good for the club and the community."

Merrylees said she will and won't miss Wagga Gold Cup time, but looks forward to the opportunity to come and enjoy race meetings socially.

She is also looking forward to her new role at Rural Outreach Counselling, an organisation that provides mental health resources for people in regional and remote areas.

"It's a really new challenge for me, being in a completely different sector to what I'm in at the moment but I'm really excited to be doing something that's a bit more in the community based sector," she said.

Merrylees thanked the board, along with staff past and present, for their support over the years.

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