Doug Malone and Jimmy Anthon were eager to collect their winnings after “the race that stops the nation” saw their favourite over the line first.

“I actually had two horses in mind that I was going to back, but I woke up this morning and changed my mind,” Mr Malone said yesterday.

“And neither of those other two got a place.”

Mr Malone put it down to “gut instinct” when he backed Shocking.

Dubbo Turf Club secretary manager Mark Day deemed yesterday’s meet a “huge success”.

“It was excellent,” he said. “You could say it was the opposite of Saturday (Dubbo Derby Day).”

Mr Day said there were 1400 people through the gate this year, compared with 1256 last year.

“Everyone had a great day,” he said. “It all went according to plan and we had good feedback from everyone.”

Mr Day put the success of yesterday compared to Saturday down to “not bursting at the seams”.

He said the club would have to look at how to improve next year’s Dubbo Derby Day.

The racecourse had a crowd of 6000 on Saturday and with a mix-up with patrons who planned to attend the Colts and Fillies Carnivale, there was an excess in people in the betting ring and bar area.

“We might have to look at putting a limit on people through the doors of 4000 and sell tickets beforehand,” Mr Day said.

carly.dolan@ruralpress.co m