Footy stars winners in the social stakes
FOOTY’S favourite face, Jonathan Thurston, slipped in and out of the turf club relatively unnoticed as a smaller but very well behaved crowd enjoyed the Gold Coast Turf Club’s Melbourne Cup celebrations.
Thurston came to town with one-time Gold Coast Titan turned North Queensland Cowboy Gavin Cooper to catch up with friends in the Members’ equivalent of a royal balcony.
The 25-punter Skyline Mezzanine, with its own screen in a box overlooking the track, was bagsed by concrete company Hymix last year and is already spoken for come next Cup.
The towering Cooper showed off the kind of people skills that no doubt helped earn him the Cowboys’ 2011 Person of the Year as he watched over his teammate.
Chief lifeguard Warren Young and his wife were delighted debutants in The Dome after a late call up from “friends who ended up with spare tickets”.
Ray Stevens put his head into the Directors’ Lounge, where Bruce Flegg spent the day, before heading upstairs to dine.
“It’s important to be here because there are lots of Mermaid Beach constituents here,” State MP Stevens said.
Lounge guest David Crisafulli is yet to learn Gold Coast Turf Club chairman Brett Cook no longer lives in the Broadwater electorate he is working overtime to retain for the LNP.
Mr Cook now lives on John Paul Langrook’s patch but TSS old boy and turf club treasurer Trent Watson’s still in Crisafulli’s reach.
Crisafulli seemed restless, not his usual gregarious self. As things turned out, indeed he was.
Crisafulli was pacing ahead of his 2pm barrier draw – sorry, ballot draw.
“I’ve got to be at Labrador at 2pm,” he said.
CEO Steve Lines had a $10 each way win on Rekindling and Deputy Mayor Donna Gates had $10 on the win.
CEO Lines deserves honours for the club’s new gamechanging item of Aquis Parkbranded merch – the silver ballet slippers. Forget the Golden Slipper – these $25 must-haves for well-heeled ladies in pain will be copied at tracks from here to Timbuktu.
It’s not quite Timbuktu, but turf club deputy chairman Arch McDonald and his wife drove from Bagarra Beach to spend Cup Day in the heart of Paradise.
Tourism, Major Events and Commonwealth Games Minister Kate Jones braved the M1 for her day at our races with Deputy Mayor and turf club director Gates.
There’s no disguising the fact Gates rates Kate.
A sold-out but very different to last year’s day-clubbervibed crowd mixed and mingled in the Convention Centre with a sockless Ben Hannatt and his Sea FM homies and Fashions on the Field judges Heather Maltman and Bella Frizzer.
Nicole Senese won Fashions on the Field’s Women’s Classic Race Wear category, with runner-up Karen Robson.
Tina Linton pipped Effie Cliff for Best Head Wear and
Stacey Hargreaves edged out
Tennille Fawlkner in the Women’s Gold Coast Style category.
Ross Newick won the Male Classic Race Wear section ahead of Mitchell Clough and Peter Browning topped the Best Male Style category ahead of Ron Robson. The title of Best Dressed Couple went to Brittany Baldwin and Mitchell Clough.