It was a day of style, sipping cocktails, sunshine and celebrations (for some lucky punters).
The ladies and gents were dressed to the nines for The Deighton Cup’s 10th anniversary at the weekend. Fascinators and bow ties were out in force as thousands crowded Hastings Racecourse on Saturday. Of course most people like to take their chances and have a cheeky bet... but there was a lot more to enjoy at this year's races.
Here are five of our favourite things...
The fashion
Of course, we’ll start with the fashion. The Style Stakes was once again full of show stopping designs. The outfits were glamorous, colourful and occasionally unique.
In the crowd and on stage, the colours red, green and white were standout favourites along with floral and polkadot patterns. Everywhere you turned there was vintage glamour. Most ladies went for a classic, chic, style but some got creative with their looks.
One woman had a rather fascinating headpiece. It was made of helium balloons, but not just ordinary balloons. Helium balloons shaped like horses – she certainly blew the Style Stakes crowd away with her creativity. It was definitley one of our favourite things of the day.
The cocktails
There were a few more options for punters this year, aside from the usual spirits, wines and beers.
We loved the Nespresso espresso martini bar and The Botanist choose your gin and tonic kiosk. They were both super tasty and fun.
The food
Organisers certainly delivered on their promise for more food options at this year’s event – it was fun and fresh. Most importantly, there was something to satisfy most taste buds… from oysters to tacos.
We loved Earls healthy choices. We had the Ahi tuna poke bowls and they did not disappoint. It was super fresh and tasty with jasmine rice, soy marinated ahi tuna, avocado, nori, mango and macadamia nuts. Earls was also offering teriyaki chicken rice bowls and a chicken salad.
We also enjoyed the Riz Sushi Bar sushi donuts and the Pawn Shop tacos, because you can never have enough food.
There were plenty of other options around on the day – Dixie’s BBQ was serving up a chipotle rib dinner, Crab Park Chowdery had a lobster sandwich, Aburi had flame seared sushi and Yale Saloon was cooking turkey.
Those who were lucky enough to be in the Trackside VIP Booth or Grandstand Box enjoyed the sumptuous spread prepared by Hawksworth Restaurant– we were most envious of the deconstructed buttermilk marinated pulled chicken and waffle sandwich.
The flower walls
Everyone loves to take a selfie or group photo on derby day when they’re all dressed up and the gorgeous flower walls were the perfect backdrop.
The colourful features were so popular people were queuing up to get a snap. They were perfect. We loved them.
The atmosphere
Last, but not least, we loved the overall atmosphere of the day. People were genuinely happy. It may have been the sunshine, the hope of a win or the jazz music – perhaps all three – but the day had a great vibe.
The friendly, happy crowd is certainly something to be noted.
We hope you loved the races just as much as we did.
Until next year...
