A downpour on Monday didn’ t dampen the spirits of patrons for Melbourne Cup Day at the Bairnsdale Racecourse on Tuesday with a great social day enjoyed by all who attended.

More than 1700 punters flocked to the local racecourse where they enjoyed all the action from Vow And Declare’ s narrow Melbourne Cup triumph and a stacked six-race local card.

“It was a fantastic day,” Bairnsdale Racing Club manager, Sarah Wolf, said.

“We had some excellent entrants in the fashions on the field and the massive teddy bear prizes were again a hit.

“A lot of families came along and there were plenty of friends having a fun day out.

“The big screens were there and you could see why they call it the race that stops the nation because when the Melbourne Cup began everyone went quiet. The crowd was then very vocal as they cheered on their horse.

“It was a very busy day for me. There was lots of running around and making sure everything was going smoothly. There weren’t any hiccups so that was nice.”

Bairnsdale’ s Jackson Pallot took out the 1200m race four benchmark 58 handicap thanks to a superb run by The Blues Brother, ridden by Jessie Philpot, who earned a narrow victory in an entertaining finish.

Basanite was 0.3 lengths behind in second, while Stryking Miss just pipped Yasey Sun for the final place on the podium.

“It was only his second start and after buying him up for $3000 he has picked up $10,000 already,” Pallot said.

“That is a positive start and shows he is on the right track. We sent him to the Bombala Cup on Caulfield Cup Day. He got beaten by a nose. It was a bit unlucky, but we had him all set up for Melbourne Cup Day.

“A lot of the owners are local. They all want to go to a race and see their horse. It was a big day for them and they are all happy.

“It was the first time Jessie Philpot had been on him. He got off to a positive start, but I thought they had him with 250m to go.

“He kicked on and finished strong. He does want to run further but that distance seemed to suit him.”

The 1600m benchmark 58 handicap was a tight affair as Bairnsdale trainer, Malcolm Leys, saluted with Romanee Vince by three quarters of a length from Game Up Hardy. After being challenged in the home stretch by Johnny Romance and Cordoba, Belsbro held on for third place.

Cranbourne trainer, Ricardo Meunier, had the opening winner as Fromista bested an eight-horse field to claim the 1600m maiden.

Russell Cluning’ s Bonnie Redeem was 1.25 lengths back in second and Lyn Shand’ s Rembetiko rounded out the top three, five lengths off the pace.

The Matt Laurie-trained Utzon was the runaway winner of race three, winning by nine lengths from Ian Hutchins’ Danube Delta in the 1200m maiden. Mycharliegirl was third, 9.5 lengths back.

Race five saw Sir Racha Force, for Caulfield’ s Henry Dwyer, edge Damien Walkley’ s Iloveannie in the 1000m maiden.

Sir Racha Force powered home to win by three lengths from Iloveannie, who finished one length in front of Total Faith.

Cranbourne trainer, Ray Besanko, had the race six win as Ryboy claimed victory in the benchmark 52 1000m handicap. Pakenham’ s Ron Stephens had to settle for a second place finish with King Mapoora, while the Kevin Carrolan-trained, Little Red Rooster, rounded out the placings.

PICTURED: Stable hand, Taylah Hill, with the Jackson Pallot-trained The Blues Brother, who took out the 1200m race four benchmark 58 handicap at Bairnsdale Racing Club’s Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday. The Blues Brother earned a narrow victory in an entertaining finish with Basanite 0.3 lengths behind in second, while Stryking Miss just pipped Yasey Sun for the final place on the podium. Jackson wasn’t the only local to taste success as Malcolm Leys saluted with Romanee Vince in the 1600m benchmark 58 handicap.