Best dressed couple Chris Shingles and Jessica Ings with their prizes on Saturday.

The announcement on Friday evening rippled all throughout the region as the much beloved and anticipated Harden Picnic Races were called off and a phantom meet would instead be held.

Last Saturday, despite there being no races on the track, the community still came out to support the races and make do with the hand they had been dealt, packing the race course to the brim. A 25-metre stretch of the track was deemed unsuitable for racing which Harden and District Picnic Race Club President Nathan Schofield was disappointed to announce.

“The stewards inspected a section of the track that they deemed wasn’t suitable for riding, it was just a 25-metre section by three metres off the inside rail that was just a bit heavy,” he said.

“They thought going from a soft five into a heavy ten change there, horses could get injuries and that sort of thing. Safety is paramount for them so it is what it is.

“It’s disappointing. We’d love to see the horses go around but then it was a pretty big surprise on Saturday with everyone still turning up to support the meeting.

“Racing New South Wales are considering us because we’ve got a pretty good track, once that section does dry out, they’re considering us to take some washed out meetings that have been called off in the past week.

“They have promised anything but if the back does dry out, which won’t for a while, we might look at being able to get another meeting at some stage.

 

We were overwhelmed with the support from all the locals and all the people that were coming from afar that showed in the day, we ended up with between 1200 and 1400 people there on the day, which is probably one of the biggest crowds even without horses.

“It was great and then we retained about 600 of those for the after-party at night.”

Live music set the mood for the day as races from near and far including the Cox Plate were on the screens as people gathered around to catch up with old friends or make new ones.

Even the occasional downpour was not enough to put a dampener on what was a fantastic evening for all who turned up.

The fashion on the fields events, unfortunately, had to be moved inside due to the weather, however, the looks on display were as extravagant as ever.

Pink suits, feather fascinators, neat bow ties and blinding pastel dresses made for a competition that had the judges stumped to choose the very best of the lot.

The winners for the event were: Best fascinator/best dressed female-Carina Robertson Best dressed male- Harry Sachs Best dressed couple- Chris Shingles and Jessica Ings Best dressed boy- Harley Davis Best dressed girl- Georgia Jackson

“There was still a great turnout and plenty of entries for the fashions and it went off without a hitch.

“I want to thank the community for the support they still showed for the phantom meeting and the after party and hope they all had a great time and hopefully we can do it again in the near future.”

Some rain may have stopped the horses from running the track, but it certainly didn’t stop the community.

Jack Murray

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Photo Gallery.

From L-R Top to Bottom.

Tracey Potts, Ruben Barnes, Christine Howard, Gemma Irving, Marlene Irving. Best Fascinator Carina Robertson. Best Dressed runner-up Bea Lucas. Best dressed male runner-up James Cusack. Best Dressed male Harry Sachs. Best Dressed girl Tilly Jackson. Best Dressed female runner-up Nicole Sullivan. Best Dressed Female Carina Robertson. Best Dressed couple runner-up Trent and Nicole Jackson. Best Dressed couple Chris Shingles and Jessica Ings. Best Dressed boy runner-up Henry Cavinare. Best Dressed boy Harley Davis.