January in Cape Town means it’s time for the ladies to don a pretty frock and head for the races.
Posted by Lucky on Jan 6, 2010
The R1-million L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate will be run at Kenilworth Race Course on Saturday, with three-time winner Pocket Power sure to be the crowd favourite once again.
The 149th running of the event will pit the country’s finest thoroughbreds against each other, with a background of blue-and-white-clad spectators, vintage cars from the Franschhoek Motor Museum and wines from L’Ormarins estate.
The Queen’s Plate has styled itself as an exclusive racing day in Cape Town, with a maximum of 8000 people allowed into the event for which tickets are sold at R250.
It is pitted against the J&B Met, run at the end of January, which close on 50000 people attended last year at a cost of R150 each.
The Queen’s Plate encourages women to seek a more sophisticated look, and not merely wear strategically placed sequins, feathers and a hat, which has characterised punters at the Met.
Judges in the best-dressed and best-hat competitions will be looking to Hollywood-style icon Audrey Hepburn for inspiration and the judging criteria will be based on sticking to the colour theme, classical lines, and simplicity.
“Over the top, revealing or loud outfits will not crack the nod here,” said promoter Karen Poole from event management company Sail. “We’re looking for understated elegance.”
Judges include designers Malcolm Kluk, Christiaan Gabriel du Toit, Errol Arendz and online boutique owner Sylvia Gruber.
Just 5000 tickets are available for the Style Lounge hospitality village and Poole urged people to buy in advance.
L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate racing spokesman Jonathan Snaith said Pocket Power would be going for his fourth win in the feature race.
“The only horse who might beat him is Big City Life, who won the Durban July last year,” he said. All horses running in the Queen’s Plate carry equal weights and thus, “the best horse wins”.
The last race of the day, the Grey’s Challenge, is a never-before-seen event in South Africa.
“It is only for grey horses and there are eight entrants. The race, a visual spectacular which will see eight greys thundering down the track, is intended to entice the non-betting public to watch,” Snaith said.
“It has been done at the Melbourne Cup in Australia.”
Once the equine stars have left the track they will be replaced by some of South Africa’s top musical acts for a concert featuring Goldfish, Just Jinjer, Gang Of Instrumentals and DJ Shaun Duvet to party the night away.
With the weather forecast predicting highs of around 30C, it’s sure to be a day of hot action.
source:http://www.timeslive.co.za/entertainment/article250005.ece
