PUNTERS SHRUG OFF COVID BLUES
Cluden crowd bets in style
MORE than 800 punters dressed in their best frocks and suits flocked to Cluden to enjoy live racing and have a flutter on the 2020 Melbourne Cup.
It was back to the glory days with functions sold out and some fashionistas spending days getting their outfits organised.
Townsville Turf Club general manager Natalie Rintala said it was good to see people dressing up for the Melbourne Cup and coming to Cluden.
“There are a lot of lovely fashions here today especially with fascinators, particularly upstairs at our luncheon where some people have gone to a lot of trouble,” Mrs Rintala said.
“It is very exciting to see people getting out and about and being able to get dressed up again.”
She said while Melbourne still had strict COVID-19 restrictions, those in North Queensland were more relaxed.
“People here can go out and socialise as long as they adhere to social distancing rules that are still in place.”
Mrs Rintala said it was great to see the Party King Grandstand back to its former glory. “The old grandstand looks absolutely amazing. I am very pleased the way that has turned out. A lot of the old heritage is still obvious so people can look and see the history of the old grandstand.”
She said the club had pre-sold a lot of tickets leading up to the Cup.
“Our luncheon was completely sold out as was our men’s lounge and we had a lot of bookings for the sports bar and also the area underneath the old grandstand.”
She said the club planned to build on that success to attract more functions to Cluden.
“The plan is to build on that and we have had a lot of different groups through here just in the last few weeks coming to see what we have on offer.” Punters also packed out the The Ville Resort-casino for its Cup celebration, with hundreds racing to the garden party.