Sunhats replaced fascinators as the favourite at Dunedin’s annual big day at the races this year.
A light breeze, a lot of sunshine and a temperature of 18degC greeted smaller crowds at the annual Melbourne Cup Day at Wingatui yesterday afternoon at Wingatui Racecourse.
Without the Fashion in the Field competition — a casualty due to planning for the event amid a global pandemic — six-time attendee Eve Aitken, of Dunedin, noted the number of fascinators in the field was down from previous years.
The day had been quiet so far, without as much of the "fun stuff" as in past years, she said.
But she was enjoying the day out and hoping for some good results on the track.
"It’s nice to have a nice sunny day," she said.
Otago Racing committee member Sharyn Anderton hosted the 200-person capacity sold-out marquee on the lawn.
Because the day had been organised in such a way that it could have gone ahead under Alert Level 2 conditions if required, there had been changes to the event’s layout this year.
Gone was the "village concept" of smaller marquees on the lawn but its big marquee replacement had been "brilliant", Mrs Anderton said.
Cup day featured the standard nine races, followed by the live broadcast of the Melbourne Cup on large screens.
A police spokeswoman said two males were arrested for streaking and received pre-charge warnings.
They were trespassed from Wingatui Racecourse for a period of two years.
