Oaks (Ladies) Day

---

After bit of a rocky day yesterday it was nice to be back at Flemington, especially as the crowds were well down on the previous two days. There was plenty of room to wander around and no waiting to place bets or get food and refreshments. We spent a lot of the day out the back of the stands,checking out the fashion village, stables and entertainment areas. Flemington is just an absolutely fantastic facility - its hard to think there would be a race course anywhere in the world that would compare. The new members stand looks a bit like a luxury ocean liner, we didn't have access but from the glimpses we got it was absolutely spectacular.

The stabling area is quite a walk over to the other side of the birdcage from where we were based - however it was a very pleasant stroll. Once there we were able to get very close to the horses and trainers-admire the equine athletes and listen to the earnest conversations. All the horses had their racing number and which race they were in attached to their head gear so we knew exactly who we were looking at.

Just walking around was an experience in itself with all the fashion - ranging for the super classy, to the super weird, to the not so super almost nothing at all! There were definitely some interesting sights that's for sure, especially as the day went on! We had three or four winners and a few placings so another good days betting. Overall we ended up being a bit up on betting for each of the three days so pretty happy with that.

In the evening we had a farewell function back at the hotel. That went really well, we caught up with a few people we hadn't met properly on tour and also generally mixed and mingled, everyone there was passionate about racing so it wasn't too difficult to get a conversation going. For the most part it was a great group and when we're in Invercargill the week after next we'll be catching up with Ray and Pat who we met on the tour and got on really well with. They live on Racecourse Road Invercargill - hows that for dedication!

This trip had been on our bucket list for some time and it was definitely worth it. It was good to be on an official tour being our first time, but when we come back we'll probably do our own thing - we pretty much know our way around now and travelling independently would give us much more flexibility to do our own thing.

So that was it for the official tour, the great, the OK and the ugly. We're staying on an extra day to attend the Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne City A-League soccer game at AAMI Stadium tomorrow night. The Nix are hopeless but it's probably our only chance to attend an away game so looking forward to that.

---

Photos

Oaks Day
The official 'Ladies Day' at the races. Another successful one for us!

The Park
The entrance to the fashion and entertainment area

Statue of a Champion
Three time Cup winner Makybe Diva