Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

Newcastle Herald

Simon McCarthy

All the photos from trackside at Newcastle's The Hunter race day

Peter Lorimer Newcastle Hunter (Facility) Kris Lees Alex Perry Sun

Charlotte Jones, Ella Buderus, Lizzie Hughes and Lauren Fleck at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer.

Ashleigh Kedwell of Bizarre Haus Entertainment in her champagne skirt at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer.

Ben and Miranda Towers with Diana and Ryan Smith at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer.

Scenes of colour and extravagance at Newcastle's richest horse race, the Newcastle Herald Hunter on Saturday, November 16. Picture by Peter Lorimer

Jordan Morrow, Anne Thorn, Sophie Kaluski and Isaac McDougall at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer.

Connor Harris and Buzz Barwick at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer.

Desley Toohey and Rachael O'Hara at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer.

Tahni Beckett and Jye Thorpe at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer.

Hunter horse trainer Kris Lees won his late father's race for the first time at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer.

Samantha McMillan of Box Hill at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer.

Amanda Hopper and Jai Curry at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer.

The Fashions in the Field's runner up for best-dressed man, Tomas Robinson from the Central Coast at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer.

Kris Lees surrounded by family after winning his late father's race at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer.

The field of finalists vying for the title of best-dressed man at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. The eventual winner: Jake Sanderson (third from left) from Mayfield. Pcture by Peter Lorimer.

Best-dressed couple Craige Smythe and Dee Worrell at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer.

Best millinery winner Madeleine Leva from Hawkesbury at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer.

The field for best-dressed woman at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16. The eventual winner was Elle Scruton of Wallsend (second from left), with runner-up Bryony Bourke of Mayfield (second from right). Judges choice was awarded to Cindy Fullerton of Hawkesbury (third from left). PIcture by Peter Lorimer

The runner-up for best-dressed woman at The Hunter on Saturday, November 16, Bryony Bourke of Mayfield. Picture by Peter Lorimer

Briasa returns to the winners circle after claimed The Hunter by a nose on Saturday, November 16. PIcture by Peter Lorimer

The clouds broke, the sun shone, and champagne flowed.

The region's richest horse race, The Hunter, was at capacity on Saturday, November 16, as thousands in their finest spilled from the lounge bars to the lawns across Newcastle Racecourse to see Briasa edge out Flex Majestic by a nose to win the 1300-metre handicap worth $1 million.

At the edges of the racing, where style and colour blend and clash in a statement of the day's occasion, Ashleigh Kedwell invoked glamour itself in a champagne skirt glittering in sparkling wine.

The months-long creation of her cabaret events company, Bizarre Haus Entertainment, wrought 96 glasses of sparkling wine into a skirt reminiscent of a Parisian fever dream as racegoers gathered around to take it in.

Bar staff estimated they poured as many as 50 bottles of champagne in as little as two hours to feed the enchantment as Kedwell embodied the otherworldly extravagance of the day.

"We're in the business of extravagance," she said, smiling after the performance that captured the crowd early in the day as attention turned to the best of race day fashion in the afternoon and the premier races of the day. "We went through 1000 glasses."

Across the field, spilling with punters and socialites, the glamours and the dandy, Samantha McMillan in an elegant Alex Perry frock and delicate lace gloves seemed as if she had stepped out of time. Spring racing fashion famously pushes and barbs at the edges of traditional tastes, but Ms McMillan turned to the timeless.

"I wanted to go back to classic, traditional elegance," she said. "And you can't go wrong with Alex Perry."

Her style, she said - as with any race day outfit - was a statement of her personality. "I like the classics," she said. "Simple, elegant style. There are a lot of ladies who have embraced their internal extravagance. I think it is just being who you are."

Thousands filled the grounds at Broadmeadow at the weekend as an early turn to grey skies cleared under a light breeze to a temperate and bright run for the sixth edition of The Hunter, renamed the Newcastle Herald Hunter in 2023.

In the betting ring, with one close eye on the results, as they streamed over the big screens and another on colleagues as they took bets from punters, Newcastle bookie Sharn Murphy made a steady trade in small bets throughout the day. The Hunter favourite was well-backed, throwing fuel on the fire of its dramatic photo finish, as Mr Murphy said the flutters turned towards the democratic.

"It has been a good sprinkling of money for all the runners for most of the day," he said. "Not much big money, but a lot of $5 each way, $10 each way in a constant stream."

"There seems to be more people here than I've seen before. It's a better atmosphere ... I remember a couple of years ago, they were all sitting at tables, betting on their apps, but they're getting in the spirit now."

At the trackside, it was a storybook beginning to the day and a picturebook ending. Veteran Hunter trainer Kris Lees claimed his late father's race for the first time as Gobi Desert valiantly fought for every inch, and Tyler Schiller steered Briasa to a historic win in the marquee moment of the day.

Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.

Already a member? Sign in here