Crowds enjoy racing frill

By Lia Bichel and Melissa Grant
THOUSANDS of race-goers from all over Victoria flocked to the Peet Pakenham Cup on Sunday.
A total of 3,379 gathered at the premier event to show off their frocks or place a bet.
Successful punters backed Robbie Laing-trained Sermon who triumphed in the main race, beating the heavily-backed Sand Sweeper which had won the last two cups.
Sales and events co-ordinator for Pakenham Racing Club Michelle Tones said the crowd numbers were down slightly from last year, as well as the numbers of contestants who braved the catwalk in fashion on the field, but those who attended enjoyed themselves.
“Overall we are pleased and everyone had a really good time,” she said.
“We also had 50 contestants across the four categories in fashion on the field. The number is down slightly, however the increase in quality of the contestants’ outfits was obvious to spectators.”
Women donned fascinators, pearls, gloves and traditional colours of black and white while male contestants wore suits and bold accessories such as hats or feathers.
Winners received an abundance of gifts; including photo shoots, wine, gift vouchers, and flowers. The total prize pool was in excess of $10,000.
Jockey Danny Brereton’s wife, Debbie, was the MC for the event, and Miss World Victoria Metalle Balot was a guest judge.
Pakenham Racing Club manager Michael Hodge said the club was pleased with how the entire day of events played out.
“We were delighted with the day, the weather was fantastic and we were well supported by the community.”