200kms down the road from Kimba, Port Lincoln played host to the 110th Kimba Cup on Sunday 19 March. Although punters were greeted with slightly wintery conditions, the rain held off and resulted in a fabulous day of racing, fashion and food! A great crowd was in attendance, ready to be entertained with an eight-race card, live music, and multiple Fashion at the Races categories.
Across the eight races there were some tremendous battles which resulted in a number of photo finishes. Four of the eight races were decided by a neck or less including the 2023 Kimba Cup, which went down to the finest of margins. In the end Ben Price, riding the Kylie Mckerlie trained Grinzinger Allee, just pipped Callan Murray on board Midnight Brawler to claim the Cup! Sairyn Fawke claimed a double on the day which included a miraculous run riding Aylla’s Pride to win Race 6. Aylla’s Pride had a starting price of $91, the second longest odds in the field!
Punters were in high spirits throughout the day and the volume of support for the runners heading down the home straight grew as each race went on, peaking in a crescendo of noise in Race 7! One of the highlights of the day was the Fashion at the Races competition which saw entrant competing in three categories: Best Dressed Lady, Best Dressed Gentleman, and Best Millinery. It was evident that the styles and colours that dominated the day reflected the changing of the seasons, with warmer autumnal colours along with more neutral tones on show. Fashions at the Races was a worldwide affair with the Best Dressed Gentleman Runner-up hailing from Brazil and the winner of Best Millinery came from Colombia.
Race 8 was run and won by I Need A Drink ridden by Kayla Crowther, and with that saw the conclusion of the 110th Kimba Cup. The day was an unquestionable success, and now everyone is already counting down the days until the 111th Kimba Cup in 2024!
Kimba Racing Club know how to put on a cup day and it was wonderful to see Port Lincoln Racing Club support Kimba with this very successful day. The Eyre Peninsula has an inspiring wider community and days like the Kimba Cup show how strong these communities are.
Check out some of the snaps from the day below…
