Good weather, new layout await Wingatui racegoers
FINE weather and a Covidfree environment are expected to draw large crowds to the race that not only stops Australia, but some of Dunedin, too.
Today’s annual Melbourne Cup Day at Wingatui will feature the usual nine races with horses from as far away as Christchurch and Invercargill, followed by the live broadcast of the Melbourne Cup on large screens.
But there will also be some small changes to this year’s event.
Otago Racing general manager Rebecca Adlam said organisers had been planning the event for months, with the possibility of Covid restrictions in mind.
‘‘Because of Covid, things are a wee bit different this year.
‘‘We’ve changed the layout of our hospitality, so that if — God forbid — we had to go to Alert Level 2, then we’re set up to deal with that.
‘‘That’s come from our governing body. So we’ve just got one big marquee on the lawn this year.’’
As a result, spaces in the marquee and all other lounge hospitality sold out very quickly this year, but there was still plenty of room for general admission, she said.
Miss Adlam said the Fashion in the Field competition would not run at Wingatui this year.
MetService meteorologists have forecast today to start with cloudy periods and southwesterlies, but the winds are expected to die out this afternoon, bringing sunny skies and temperatures reaching 21degC.
Miss Adlam said there would be no trains or chartered buses running between Dunedin and Wingatui — just public transport and taxis.