Victoria Racing Club experiences revival
"What's the secret to racing's sudden remarkable renaissance?
"...The Victoria Racing Club has more money than it knows what to do with thanks to recent remarkably successful four-day Melbourne Cup carnivals.
"The biggest gain the VRC has made is its promotion of Oaks Day, two days after the Cup.
"It's promoted for the women, and for those who haven't been it's a spectacle that is not to be missed.
"It's so popular with women looking to dress to their best, the crowd numbers have risen in little more than a decade from around 35,000 to 85,000- 90,000.
"...Boxing Day at Ellerslie has increasingly become a target for the north's fashionable young and Wellington Cup Day has followed the trend.
"...It took a long time to wake up that the attitude of give 'em a cold pie and a warm beer and make 'em stand on concrete floors and in betting queues 10 deep doesn't work..."