Pat Hyland took a long time to win his first race at Sandown and half a century on he still can't figure out why.

In a week when the Melbourne Racing Club is celebrating the 50th anniversary of racing at the city course, the jockey-turned-trainer vividly recalls riding at the inaugural race meeting at the track in June 1965.

A crowd of more than 52,000 packed Sandown on opening day and jockeys competing at the meeting were delayed due to traffic jams around the course.

"It was a bunfight," Hyland said.

"I didn't have much luck there early on and it took me a while to win a race at Sandown but it was a great track in the initial stages and it stood up really well to racing.

"It was a great track to ride on, I just couldn't understand why it took me so long to win a race on it."

Now 74 and a trainer for 25 years, Hyland will saddle up Gredington in Saturday's Group Two Sandown Guineas, a race he won twice as a jockey.

It is rare for Sandown to host a Saturday fixture and the Zipping Classic program boasting nine stakes races is the track's signature event.

The meeting will be the first since September following the closure of the course in April for renovation.