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Low on price, big on style
Melbourne model Demi Brereton certainly looks the part on Oaks Day. Her pink and chocolate polka-dotted dress – topped off with a matching pillbox-bow hat designed by Kim Fletcher – screams sweet and feminine.
But there’s something even better about her look – she didn’t have to spend an arm and a leg to get it.
Demi Brereton proves you don’t have to spend much to look stylish.Credit: Justin McManus
“I’m wearing a Forever New dress, and then I got the fabric to match my bow [on the hat],” she says.
This isn’t the first time she has prioritised accessibility over couture, either. Brereton says she has worn the Australian retailer’s clothes to the Royal Ascot, as well as to other races she’s attended.
“Their dresses are very affordable and they cater to everyone,” she says. “You can easily dress them up for race days, and they’re very comfortable. I just feel like you can’t really go wrong with them.“
How refreshing to see an outfit in the Birdcage that doesn’t cost as much as some people’s mortgages. Brereton is proof that it’s not about the cost, but how you style it.
Getafix the winner in a race with gaps and greys
The grey horse has won in a photo finish, from another grey horse, with another grey horse in third. OK, we get the picture – it was an all-greys race. And what a spectacle it was.
James McDonald booted home the winner, favourite Getafix, after taking the narrowest of gaps between two rivals about 200m from the winning post.
James McDonald found the narrowest of gaps to ride favourite Getafix to victory. Credit: Getty Images
It was not unlike the way Jamie Melham found gaps in her Melbourne Cup ride. These jockeys sure made of the right stuff.
Statuario finished second and Chakado third. Did we mention that they were greys?
Race 2 results
James “J-Mac” McDonald came out with a brave ride to steer Getafix to a win in the Subzero Handicap.
Getafix was on the rail but squeezed between two runners and bolted for the finish line in the always popular greys race.
Death of the Nursery car park
The Nursery car park was once the social epicentre of Flemington, but these days the car boot picnics are thin on the ground.
You can’t actually see the racetrack from the Nursery, but it was the place to see and be seen, with VRC members parking their cars and bringing in food and drink to host friends and families.
This carnival, while the Rails car park on the track is still popular, the Nursery is a shadow of its former self.
The Nursery car park is deserted on Oaks Day.Credit: Penny Stephens
The Victoria Racing Club shut down the car park on Cup Day, and when we visited today, it was mainly deserted with only a tenth of sites occupied.
Laine Garvey and Kate Burchall are back in the Nursery for Oaks Day and have fond memories of the car park in its boom time.
“It was very busy then,” Garvey says. “It was also before I had children, so a different vibe.”
Kate Burchall and Layne Garvey.Credit: Penny Stephens
Garvey’s husband is a member. He drove his car in and set everything up while Garvey got ready.
“It’s much quieter,” she says.
A spokesman for the VRC would not comment on how many sites had been sold, but said the Nursery car park was sold out on Derby Day and continued to perform strongly for Oaks and Stakes Day.
“The Nursery was closed on Lexus Melbourne Cup Day this year to accommodate additional car parking for VRC members,” he said. “This change reflects member preferences, with many choosing to enjoy the race from other viewing areas such as The Club Stand.”
Payne hopes for a woman to win the Oaks
Arriving in the Birdcage, Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne is still on a high after seeing Jamie Melham take out the Cup 10 years after she became the first woman to win the race.
“It was just unbelievable,” she says. “Words can’t describe [it] after so many years of fighting and fighting for opportunities, and now we are getting them, and not only getting them, but making the most of them – to continue the progress you need to keep winning and doing well.”
Michelle Payne and partner Gabriel Ribeiro are looking forward to carving up the dance floor again after their star turn on Cup Day.Credit: Penny Stephens
Payne says Melham is the perfect advocate for women jockeys and incredibly poised as an athlete.
“She’s patient, she holds her nerve, she’s very calm and the ultimate professional,” she says.
Payne is now hoping to see a woman take out the Oaks.
“The two girls haven’t got the shortest-priced horses, but you’ve got to be in it to win it,” she says.
“We need a girl to take home the Crown Oaks and hopefully today is the day.”
Payne is wearing a strapless Vivienna Lorikeet dress and millinery by Wendy Scully and says she is looking forward to spending Oaks with her new partner Gabriel Ribeiro.
On Cup Day, Payne was carving up the dance floor in the Lexus marquee with Ribeiro and her brother Stevie Payne, and says she is looking forward to doing more of the same today.
“We’ll let you know after today where the best dance floor is,” she says.
Three tiers of shoes for fashion pro
This is not Melbourne Fashion Festival chief executive Caroline Ralphsmith’s first rodeo.
Ralphsmith is wearing towering red Gucci shoes to Oaks Day, but says she has multiple options on hand.
“I have three tiers of shoes,” she says. “I have the highs, the mediums and the lows.”
Caroline Ralphsmith is judging Fashions on the Field.Credit: Penny Stephens
Ralphsmith has teamed her shoe options with a vintage Giambattista Valli dress, Stephanie Spencer floral headpiece and Lulu Guinness red-lip shaped purse.
She is spending her day in the Crown marquee and will also be judging Fashions on the Field.
“I’ll be looking for originality because it is so easy to buy something, but making it special when you’ve got a bit of a dress code, it’s actually quite hard,” she says. “I look for that creativity and courage.”
Ralphsmith was not accompanied by husband Dion Werbeloff, chief executive of the Gandel Group, on this occasion.
“He thinks today is a workday,” she says.
A foreign notion to the crowd at Oaks Day.
First win goes to First Chorus
A big win to Jamie in the first race at Flemington on Oaks Day, but we are talking Jamie Mott, not the star of the week, Jamie Melham.
The Melbourne Cup-winning champion doesn’t have a ride until race 5 today. She will also partner outside Ethereum Girl in the VRC Oaks.
Mott’s victory was aboard the Lindsay Smith-trained First Chorus, which was well fancied in the market. They started from barrier 18, suggesting they will be able to make ground out wide.
Jamie Mott rides First Chorus to victory in the TLC Trophy. Credit: Getty Images
Before the first, the Victorian Jockeys Association released an update on injured hoop Blake Shinn, who broke his leg after falling in race 8 on Cup Day.
“After successful surgery on his fractured leg yesterday at Epworth Hospital, Blake Shinn has been discharged today,” the statement said.
Race 1 results
First Chorus has stormed to victory in the opening race of the day at Flemington.
Chorus sang down the straight with jockey Jamie Mott in the saddle, winning comfortably.
Full Hao and I Only Wish took second and third place.
Oaks Day races get under way
We’re moments away from the first race of the day, the TLC Trophy.
The field of 15 will run 1700m, and the track condition has been rated a good 4.
In pictures: Punters flock to Flemington
Racegoers have rushed to Flemington on a picture-perfect Oaks Day. Here are some pictures of the colourful crowd.
Crowds queue outside the Flemington gates.Credit: Getty Images
A quick snap before heading trackside.Credit: Getty Images
It’s all about the fashion.Credit: Getty Images
Fashion forward friends Lauren Reizer, Eleni Prezioso, Melina Bagnato and Lilly Weissman arrive at the track,Credit: Penny Stephens
The fun begins.Credit: Getty Images
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
