Derby Day

Everyone seems to rave about Derby Day, so this year I decided I would go along! Having only been to Flemington for the races on one occasion, and being rather spoilt on that occasion, I had chatted to lots of people about the regular experience. People seem to talk about Carparks, Rails, and Birdcages, and many had actually said that the general admission lawn would be too crowded and annoying.

Not one to listen to Negative Nancy's, Melanie and I decided to go anyway. I happened upon a ticket deal, however, which allowed us, and Mel's friend Michelle, to snap up Lawn Stand tickets for the same price as a GA - score!

With the rain of the previous day and night, and the less than exciting forecast, I decided I would wear my music festival fire-engine red gumboots with my dress (and I carried proper shoes, in case it wasn't that bad). Mel and I drove down from Ballarat in the morning, seeming to leave the blue sky and sun behind as we arrived into Melbourne.

Finding public parking a little too easily, we marked amid the mud in the middle of the track. A bus was provided to take us to the entrance, and we were in! Getting lots of comments about my boots, we decided they must stay!

Taking our seats, and using this as our base for the day, we watched a few races as the sunshine arrived, and then wondered around out the bar and down amongst the lawn, before returning to our shaded seats.

The sun broke out to make it a great day, and we had Mary find us at our seats and join us for snacks and more races. Another wonder around the people below, we were back to our seats for the main race. Seeing more of the actual horse racing than I have seen at such an event before, I still didn't recall that Sangster won the AAMI Victoria Derby Day! A really fun and easy day.