A couple of reluctant starters for the Fashion in the Field contest at the Cromwell Races collected top honours.
The contest attracted a record 57 entries and was won by Michael O'Keefe and his girlfriend Jessica Sturt, both of Queenstown. But 18-month-old Firn Mactaggart, of Hawea Flat, almost stole the show when she decided to follow in the footsteps of the contestants down the catwalk.
Mr O'Keefe is a truck driver for ATL Ltd and his work Christmas function was held at the races yesterday.
''We weren't even going to enter but lots of people at the work do said we had to,'' he said.
Dressed in a Ralph Lauren suit, with white shirt and a purple tie which matched his girlfriend's hat, Mr O'Keefe admitted Miss Sturt was responsible for the couple's sartorial splendour.
''I'm a truck driver ... Do you think I know anything about style?''
Miss Sturt wore a white Glassons dress, teamed with mauve Pulp shoes and a hat she bought in England. There were so many in the contest, the event had to be staged in the breaks between three races.
Otago Racing Club chief executive Andre Klein was delighted with the bumper crowd.
''If there's not a record crowd of 8000 to 10,000, it can't be far off it,'' he said. Many Central Otago, Queenstown and Wanaka businesses also used the event to host Christmas functions.
Sergeant Matthew Alley said crowd behaviour was ''generally pretty good''.
Two people had been evicted because they were intoxicated and a 21-year-old ''half-pie streaker''from Geraldine was arrested for disorderly behaviour but received a pre-charge warning.
