Happily for Darwin Turf Club chief executive officer Grant Dewsbury, the positives outweighed the negatives during the 2024 Darwin Cup Carnival.
The eight days of racing, which started on July 6, concluded on Monday with Cup Day at Fannie Bay.
The Peter Robl-trained six-year-old gelding Hadouken from the Gold Coast, ridden by leading Sydney jockey Tyler Schiller, won the $200,000 Darwin Cup (2050m).
A decision was made by the DTC not to utilise the infield this year – it traditionally accommodates the corporates and general public.
The Gala Ball returned to Mindil Beach Casino Resort, and Dewsbury couldn’t hide his delight in regards to field numbers on race days.
“Very pleased with the local turn out this year, it was a busy Cup Day,” he said.
“With the numbers we were expecting this year, it didn’t warrant opening the centre field at additional cost.
“Physical prudency dictated that we could fit them on the grandstand side of the track.
“I think that moving the corporates from centre field to our paddock area worked.
“They all want to be back on that side of the racetrack.
“It gives us an opportunity to create a real general admission festival type atmosphere in centre field.”
Up to 20,000 patrons normally flock to Fannie Bay on Cup Day, but this year some 9,000 patrons flowed through the gates.
A number of factors, including exorbitant flight tickets and interest rates, contributed to the smaller crowd.
“We’re ready to go when crowds come back and it’s easier to get to Darwin,” Dewsbury said.
“The racing was clearly the winner this year.
“We had more nominations, more acceptances, more runners than we had the year prior.
“It was pleasing to see full fields of 12 on race days.”
According to Dewsbury, the Gala Ball held on Saturday night on Palmerston Sprint Day was the highlight.
“The last time we had the Ball at the Casino was 2019,” he said.
“It was Covid in 2020, so the Ball took place at the Turf Club with 400-500 people.
“After Covid, we just continued with that model.
“Last year’s Ball was in centre field for the first time and with us not opening centre field this year it dictated that we needed to take it off site.
“We couldn’t have done it on the grandstand side of the racetrack.
“We started speaking with the Casino earlier in the year, it’s a spectacular location and it’s pleasing to see the Ball back at the Casino.
“Racing is the headline act, but the support acts like the entertainment and what we do outside the racing product is attractive to a lot of our patrons, so we need to get that right going forward.”
The fall suffered by visiting Ballarat jockey Thomas Doyle on Day 2 of the Carnival was one of the rare negative moments according to Dewsbury.
Doyle was hospitalised for a heavy bout of concussion – he also had two minor bleeds on the brain.
“Thomas seems to be recovering, it would have been great to have him ride throughout Carnival,” Dewsbury said.
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