Region comes out to play for biggest day on racing calendar Cup daze

Alex de Vos and Jessica Benton
About 16,000 “well-behaved” punters watched Ballarat-trained Leica Ding gallop to victory in Wednesday’s Geelong Cup.
Legendary Australian trainer Bart Cummings was poised to claim the cup, with his Dandaad leading the field until jockey Danny Nikolic stole the prize with a storming outside run to the post.
Geelong Racing Club and police praised this year’s races.
Racing club chief executive Paul Carroll called the day “a great success”.
“The weather was great, which bought more people out,” he said.
“It’s been a great day and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and behaving.”
Mr Carroll estimated around 16,000 people attended.
“I’d be clutching at numbers because we haven’t got exact figures but I’d say around the 16,000 mark, similar to last year.”
Police praised the behaviour of punters as “better than last year”.
District Inspector Barry Malloch said immediately after the running of the cup that revellers had generally behaved themselves.
Police arresting five racegoers for assault and offensive conduct and evicted another 12 from Geelong Racecourse for public drunknness, he said.
“We had a few issues with some girls who had too much to drink as well as a few muck-up day celebrations that got a bit out of hand,” Insp Malloch said.
“One (punter) assaulted police – he was told to leave and started screaming and spitting on police.
“But apart from that, nothing too serious. Overall, the crowd has been pretty well-behaved.”
Revellers soaked up the sunshine, others stayed track-side to watch the horses while many cast their eyes over entrants in a popular fashions on the field contest.
Marquees and tents were packed with guests enjoying corporate luncheons and hospitality.
Nikki Chapman said she had travelled all the way from the Northern Territory for the races.
“I used to live in Geelong and decided to come along to catch up with some friends,” she said.
Other racegoers busily put down bets on the races, with varying results.
Grovedale’s James Thompson was one the day’s in-form punters, saying he picked three winners from six races.