By NOEL MURPHY
THE BEST Geelong Cup in years saw Caravan Rolls On win the $300,000 group three event before 15,000 patrons in perfect conditions.
The win, over 2400 metres, has drawn the former European stayer pegged an extra 1.5kg for next week’s $6 million Melbourne Cup but he’s yet to be guaranteed a berth in the event.
Fashionistas and punters mixed merrily at the cup, which police and Geelong Racing Club described as the most successful and incident-free in years.
Off-course flutters totalled around $3.5 million and on-course $800,000, while fashions on the field entries were widely described as the best outside the Melbourne Cup.
“The crowd was sensational and operationally it was very successful; police and security said it was one of best ones they’ve seen,” racing club chief Daniel Salter told the Independent.
“It was a great result, no incidents and numbers totalling between 14,000 and 15,000. The fashions are improving every year, the marquees were all good.
“We’ve great feedback from all the caterers, the food was fantastic, it was a very good cup.”
Police backed the event, which one officer described as “a ripper for us”.
But for all the colour and friendly frivolity, News Corp online coverage berated the event as “Australia’s biggest bogan race day”.
News.com slammed brightly-coiffed Geelong Mayor Darryn Lyons, whose hairdo earned international exposure on the UK edition of The Huffington Post website. The News.com story captioned photos of Cr Lyons with expletives.
It ridiculed women’s fashions and also a well-dressed elderly man snapped glancing at a woman adjusting her shoe.
Mr Salter told the Independent he had no idea why News.com elected to criticise the event.
“It looks like they’ve just rehashed some story from years back. I’ll be talking to them about it,” he said.
The bizarre coverage followed the sacking of mayoress and face of the cup Elissa Friday as a judge of the Geelong Advertiser-sponsored fashions on the field on grounds she wrote a column for the Independent.
Westfield stylist Renee Enright remained on the judging panel despite her employer’s competitor, Market Square, also sponsoring fashions on the field.
Ms Friday said her sacking as a judge gave her more time for “mingling” with her fiance and other cup patrons.
