It was a day of big hats and glamour rarely seen at the greyhound track complete with a Fashions In The Field event, made possible by the cancellation of the Dubbo Turf Club’s annual Derby Day festivities.

Race caller Brian Baker described the Dubbo Greyhound Club’s decision to hold the event and open the venue up to the public with free admission as a masterstroke.

“It turned out to be a fantastic day,” Baker said.

“We were told that people would arrive early to a Derby Day but at 11.30am we were a bit concerned as the crowd was only slight.

“By 12.30pm the weather cleared and people kept on rolling in all day.”

Baker said it was one of the biggest crowds witnessed at the track.

“I would say that Saturday was equal to the second or third best crowd we’ve had in 20 years,” he said.

“The good thing is that there were many newcomers to greyhound racing who enjoyed a great day. Hopefully we’ll get a percentage to come back for future meetings.”

Baker hailed the Fashions In The Field event as a great success.

“The concept took off really well and we had eight quality finalists dressed to the nines,” Baker said.

“The crowd became involved when the awards were presented and everyone was around the presentation area.”

Mitch Day from City Limousines hosted the Fashions In The Field.

“We had a good turnout here today and there were so many lovely ladies that it was really hard to pick an outstanding lady,” Day said.

“So what we did was take a bit of a different slant and turned it into a bit of a bingo event.”

The eight finalists each drew a number from a lotto system for the feature race, the City Limousines Dash 313m final. Gilgandra’s Steph Long drew the corresponding marble to the race winner Black Cargo’s six rug to be declared the Fashions In The Field winner.

“What it was all about was bringing out the atmosphere of the race,” Day said. “We had the eight girls standing in the centre arena and it brought out a new level of atmosphere that I don’t think we’ve seen at the Dubbo Greyhounds before.

“The winner took away a $100 open order tour of Dubbo with City Limousines that includes champagne, beers and accompaniments and a full tour of all the hottest sites in Dubbo.”