Ladies Party on at Spectacular Start to Cup Week

Cluden Park was a sea of colour with one of the biggest crowds in years at the popular Ladies’ Day race meeting on Saturday.

The traditional start of Cup week attracted just over 3000 racegoers and many partied on until well after the last race.

Cluden Park general manager Natalie Rintala said the glamour of the fashions, the great racing and the new facilities and entertainment proved a huge hit.

“We couldn’t be happier with the crowd and how the new facilities and layout all worked,” Mrs Rintala said.

“This is the first Ladies Day in about four years that we haven’t had the impact of floods or Covid restrictions and the turnout was fantastic.

“We were especially pleased with the new Fig Tree Lawns and Trackside area presented by Brown Brothers where we had food trucks, live music and bars set up throughout the day.

“It was great to see well over a thousand people kick on at the After Party until nearly 7.30pm.

“The success of Ladies’ Day is a great sign that Cup Day will be a huge day.”

Ladies and gents turned out in their finery for the Fashions on The Field with Daisy-Ellen O’Hare winning Contemporary Lady of Style, Renae Catalano named Classic Lady of Style, Ibi Holder taking out the Millinery category and Matthew Florence was awarded Best Dressed Gentleman. 

Mrs Rintala encouraged racegoers to go on line to buy tickets to Guineas Day on Friday and Saturday’s Cup Day.

“Tickets for marquees for Cup Day are either fully booked or almost sold out, but general admission tickets which will get people into the Fig Tree Lawns and Trackside area are still available.”

Pictured: Julie Munro from Ray White Townsville presents the trophy and sash to apprentice Emily Cass and trainer Fred Wieland after El Of A Saga won the feature race, the Ray White Townsville Bracelet at Cluden Park on Saturday.

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