Saturday’s Otago Classics Day may not quite have been the Durban July, South Africa’s biggest thoroughbred horse race, but Tracey Du Preez, Arthi Hamilton and Eleanor Vlotman appreciated it nonetheless.
"It makes me think of home," Miss Du Preez said.
Mrs Hamilton said she had an amazing day.
"I can’t wait for next year," she said.
Mrs Hamilton was from the south coast in South Africa and Miss Du Preez and Mrs Vlotman were both from Cape Town.
They met relatively recently in Dunedin.
There were 10 races at the Otago Racing Club’s meeting on Saturday, starting just before noon and finishing after 5pm.
Other highlights of the day included a fashion in the fields competition and, later, music from the Black Seeds.
For Michael Oxley, of Dunedin, Wingatui was a day out with family.
He was a bit unlucky on the betting front, backing a couple of horses that came fourth, he said.
Kelly Bell, of Christchurch, was there to cheer on Treybon in the ODT Southern Mile final, as her brother has an ownership stake in the horse.
Treybon finished second, edged by Maximus Augustus.
