Despite crowd numbers being down, plenty of racegoers braved the weather for the Cup on Sunday. 71729Pictures: Donna Oates
By Bridget Cook
DESPITE crowd numbers being down, many still braved the weather on Sunday for the area’s biggest day of racing – the TAB Sportsbet Cranbourne Cup.
More than 5500 people came through the gates on Sunday, with the morning heavy rain and cold weather playing a huge role in the lower turn out compared to last year’s crowd of almost 10,000.
However, Cranbourne Turf Club chief executive Neil Bainbridge said from a racing point of view, it was an excellent day at the track.
“It was a fantastic result locally,” he said.
“There’s no doubt thecrowd was down, which is unfortunate, but it was first class racing on the track.
“A little better weather would have capped off a really good week with not only the Cup but the events leading up to it.”
There was plenty of hometown glory at the track on Sunday, with Cranbourne trainer Ken Keys taking out the feature race – the $200,000 TAB Sporstbet Cranbourne Cup – with Boom ‘N ‘Zoom, owned by a number of local people and ridden by jockey Craig Newitt.
Newitt dominated on the day with four straight wins including the other feature race, the $100,000 Apache Cat Classic with outsider Queen Delight, trained by Cranbourne trainer Mick Kent.
But it wasn’t just about the horses on the day, with the Myer Fashions on the Field turning many heads.
In between races, iconic Aussie rock cover band Gold Chisel rocked it out on the lawn and entertained the crowds.
Mr Bainbridge said overall it was a great day.
“Things went very smoothly and we were very pleased with how the track raced,” he said.
“We now look forward to Cranbourne’s next race meeting on Cox Plate day.”
He encouraged everyone to head along to Cranbourne Turf Club on Saturday 22 October for their country race meeting, as well as to watch all the action from the Cox Plate on the big screens.
For more stories and photos from the TAB Sportsbet Cranbourne Cup, turn to pages 20, 21, 110 and 111.
