Crowds flocked to Marchmont Racecourse at the weekend to experience the Yass Picnic Races and bask in the beautiful end-of-summer weather on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The day went off without a hitch and organisers were more than happy with the turnout.
Publicity officer on the Yass Picnic Race Committee, Claire Bremner, said the event as a "raging success", attributing the perfect weather to the well-performed rain dance by the committee.
“In addition to the Picnic Race Committee tents, it was great to see so many corporate tents,” Ms Bremner said.
“We had heaps of people coming from Canberra and the surrounding areas, which is exciting because it shows the Picnic Races continue to be a well-known fixture on the region's calendar of events.
“It’s always a wonderful family day, so it was great to see so many mums, dads and their kids all together.”
Although the committee are still counting attendance numbers, Ms Bremner is confident that the 2015 Picnic Races was one of the biggest in the event's 114-year history. With a full race card and the many social events scheduled, it was bound to be a blockbuster event.
The pinnacle of the day was the EJ Merriman Cup Trophy, sponsored by Elders Yass, and 'Cierto Segura', trained by Kylie Kennedy, took line honours.
Owners Kylie Kennedy and M Jones, and jockey Ricky Blewitt, took home the $4750 prize money.
An array of different frocks made the crowd ripple in colour, and unique hats and fascinators drew some of the attention from the race track to the Fashions in the Field competition.
Prue Hufton of Olive & Clover, www.oliveandclover.com.au, was the judge of the Fashions in the Field event. Best dressed went to Emily Hill, most elegant was Deb Kerr and winner of the junior fashion prize was Grace Hodgkinson. The men's fashion prize was awarded to Jordan Smedley and Jill Elphinston won the best hat award.
Johnno Foster Greenwood took out the Men's Dash for Cash, Chelsea Hosking won the women's event and Ella Clarke and Sam Clarke took out the kid's race.