Dubbo's Biggest Party: Turf Club 'floored' by Derby Day interest

The biggest event on the city's social calendar is on Saturday, November 4, and thousands are expected at Dubbo Turf Club (DTC) for a day of high fashion and high-class racing.

"It's our marquee meeting of the year and something we look forward to every year," DTC general manager Sam Fitzgerald said.

"It's our chance to really shine for the community so we're putting a lot of effort into making sure absolutely everything is really well presented."

The meeting is part of a busy time at the club as it will also host its annual non-TAB meeting on Tuesday alongside the Melbourne Cup and Big Dance meetings at Flemington and Randwick.

Seven races will be run on Saturday, with gates opening at 11.30am and the first race to likely jump at 1.34pm, pending acceptances and confirmation on Thursday.

There will be four categories in the Fashions on the Field while there will also be live music in the betting ring to add to the atmosphere.

"I just think it's become a real institution in Dubbo," Fitzgerald said.

"It was an event that was created about 30 years ago by a group of people who were looking to create a real social racing event for the town and over the years it's grown and colloquially it's known as Dubbo's biggest party, but we've been absolutely floored by the amount of interest this year."

Five marquees set-up for the day are virtually all booked out while the members' room has been booked out for roughly a month.

"We're still getting a flood of general admission tickets coming in and a lot of a lot of engagement from people we don't traditionally see at the races," Fitzgerald added.

"Off the back of the success of race meetings in Sydney, like the Everest and the Golden Eagle, which is also this weekend, I think there's a really real positivity around racing at the moment."

On the track, the 2200m Western Eagle will headline the day.

It attracted just seven nominations but there was great interest in others on the day, with 111 nominations in total received.

While trainers from Dubbo and the western area dominate the nominations there is also a strong sprinkling of trainers from the Hunter.

In years gone by Derby Day was often known as a day all about the social side and the quality of action on track was considered lower than normal but Fitzgerald said the higher class of racing is something now seen regularly around the region.

"In western New South Wales over the years we've had a lot of owners invest in the area," he said.

"We've got a lot of young dynamic trainers and a lot of older trainers who've been around for a long while and they're getting better quality horses.

"It's gaining more interest and with the opportunities for country trainers to progress their horses to races like the Kosciuszko and Highway Handicaps and the Big Dance and the Little Dance, it's generating a lot of interest within the community and we're kind of getting a lot of horses to regenerate that cult status like they did in the old days."

One of those horses which has gained real interest is Garry Lunn's Knife's Edge, which is set to rub shoulders with some stars of the track next Tuesday when it contests the $750,000 Little Dance at Randwick.

On Saturday at Derby Day in Dubbo, buses will be running from the Milestone Hotel to the track from 11.30am and returning from 4.30pm.

Cash can not be used at the public bars at the track. EFTPOS or drink tickets - which can be purchased at both entrances and the betting ring - can be used.

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