Thousands of racing fans turned out in style for the annual Ipswich Cup – despite a fire threatening to disrupt the event the night before.
Fire crews were called to the Bundamba track, west of Brisbane, on Friday night after a small electrical fire ignited in the Ipswich Turf Club’s old grandstand.
Thankfully the blaze did not do any substantial damage and punters were able to arrive at the track for the major event on Queensland’s racing calendar as planned on Saturday.
Racegoers flocked in their thousands to the Ipswich Cup, a major event in Queensland’s racing calendar
Punters dressed to the nines for the Ipswich Cup on Saturday
Attendees of various ages turned out in style for the Ipswich Cup, west of Brisbane, on Saturday
Temperatures reached a maximum of 20C for the racing event in Ipswich
One happy attendee is seen taking a selfie as the event kicked off on Saturday
Three friends are seen heading into the Ipswich Turf Club for the racing event on Saturday
Two mates are seen taking some time out on the grass amid the horse racing
The sun was shining for punters who flocked to the racetrack for the Ipswich Cup
The Ipswich Cup is a major event on Queensland’s racing calendar
Two women are seen getting into the racing spirit at the Ipswich Turf Club
One young man looked excited for his day out at the races this weekend
Many attendees donned their best clothes for the racing event
Large crowds of racegoers thronged to the venue dressed to the nines and enjoyed a day of clear skies and sunshine
One racegoer is seen heading to the track along with thousands of punters on Saturday
Large crowds of racegoers thronged to the venue dressed to the nines and enjoyed a day of clear skies and sunshine, with temperatures reaching a maximum of 20C.
Even the attending police officers could be seen joining in on the fun as they posed for happy snaps with jubilant racegoers.
However, the day was not all smiles with one guest seen being seen led away by officers.
For those who were actually paying attention to what happened on the track, the feature race – the $250,000 2150m Ipswich Cup – was taken out by Queensland horse Red Wave, ridden by jockey Angela Jones.
The five-year-old progeny of Red Dazzler ran an almost perfect race sitting just behind the leaders for the most of the event.
The context for best dressed was also very fiercely contested by the fashion conscious racegoers
Even police officers got into the festive spirit by posing with the colourfully decked out racegoers
However, there was at least incident where officers were seen leading away one of the racegoers
Plenty of refreshments were seen being consumed by the fun-loving crowd on the big day
Attendees let their hair down for a day of racing and fun
Sausage sizzles were popular with racegoers at the Ipswich Cup
Winning trainer Tony Sears said the win was one for his daughter and training partner Maddysen who he said deserved all the kudos.
‘Maddysen does all the work with this horse, all credit goes to her,’ Sears said.
‘We thought about it a little while back. He put in one real bad run at Brisbane the other day on a wet track, which he doesn’t really like.
‘(But) we were pretty confident without saying too much because he had no weight on a dry track.’
It was clear by the end of the day that the festivities were taking a toll on some of those attending
One woman is seen being helped out of the racing venue by her mates
