Photo reveal: Who made merry at the Coffs Cup

My oh my - it’s 11 years on and the faces and fashion from 2011 tell a story of the Coffs Cup. See who we snapped and what’s in store for this year.

The 2022 Coffs Cup will be as eagerly awaited as any, coming as it will after the cruel party-stopper that was Covid.

It will be a chance for the whole community to come together and celebrate a re-birthing - with the 2019 bushfires, flooding and the now less dreaded spicy cough in the rear view mirror.

With this year’s carnival nudging the barriers, we know you’ll enjoy an eyeball stroll through yesteryear in pictures from the 2011 event.

Ironically, while the pandemic ground most sports to a halt, horse racing and golf were able to continue, all be they under tight restrictions which among many things prohibited spectators.

This year’s Coffs Cup will be held on August 4, and as the event merits its own public holiday on the Coffs Coast, trackside will be Party HQ.

Tamzin Pike, Jacki James, Elyan Shotbolt, Judd Kirkland and Kelly Micola at the 2011 Coffs Cup. Picture: Leigh Jensen / Coffs Coast Advocate

Horse racing on the Coffs Coast has been around since 1885, but it wasn’t until 1908 that the Coffs Harbour Jockey Club came into being.

Since then time it’s been a turbulent ride for the local club, flip-flopping between distinction and near extinction.

Jarrad Crawford and Alex Young. Picture: Leigh Jensen/ Coffs Coast Advocate

During the First World War special race events were held with profits being donated to patriotic funds.

By 1917 and near the end of the first German unpleasantness, the Coffs course covered an area of 160 acres and boasted a large grandstand and observation stand.

Megan Atkins and Caroline Bleechmore. Picture: Leigh Jensen / Coffs Coast Advocate

But racing and the Jockey Club experienced a period of decline in the 1930s and early ’40s in the backwash of The Great Depression.

In 1946, fresh blood took the reins and there was substantial investment in the facilities - including a connection to town water.

Nardine Magnay and Karena Duggan. Picture: Leigh Jensen/ Coffs Coast Advocate

More than 2600 guests attended the first race day at the new look club and track in 1948.

The inaugural Coffs Cup was held in July, 1949, with AR Smith in the saddle as Young Garland whipped home over a distance of 7.5 furlongs (1508 metres).

Tahnee Milgate, Cameron Poole and Renae Stoker. Picture: Leigh Jensen/ Coffs Coast Advocate

But attendances began to wane, and the club was mothballed from 1956 to ’63.

The second coming though would prove a godsend, and in the late ’60s the club was on track as racing was firmly established in the social and sporting heartbeat of Coffs Harbour.

Bree Moore, Bec Irvine and Sam Middleton. Picture: Leigh Jensen / Coffs Coast Advocate

The improvements have continued ever since, including a major upgrade of the course and facilities at the turn of the century, and installation of a synthetic training surface in 2009.

Roll forward to today, and the course near the regional airport is a pleasure palace for all breeds - hosting everything from birthdays, weddings and school formals through to thoroughbred racing of a top tier country standard.

Narelle Derrig and Ashly Craig. Picture: Leigh Jensen / Coffs Coast Advocate

The Coffs Cup - now in its 57th year - remains the centrepiece, and a crowd of 6000-plus is on the cards in 2022.

Keen watchers can delight in the Fashions on the Field as much as the eight-race TAB program.

Vanessa Read and Melanie Pearceat. Picture: Leigh Jensen / Coffs Coast Advocate

For those who want to make a day of it, the club offers a full menu of ticket options, from general admission through to private corporate marquee and all things in between.

If you really want to get your schmancy on, at $2500 for a table of 10, there’s the Gold Cup Luncheon, which includes a seafood buffet, a five-hour drinks package of premium beer, wine and champagne and a private VIP outdoor deck to watch all the comings and goings of people and horses.

Jess Seymour and Kirra Bryce. Picture: Trevor Veale / Coffs Coast Advocate

For now, it’s time to start planning your threads and fascinators for the big day out - and enjoy these pictures from 2011 (when Julia Gillard was prime minister, rugby league Immortal Arthur Beetson passed and Dunaden won the Melbourne Cup).

Nathan Hunt, Cailen Bignill, Brendan Cooper and Jason Manual. Picture: Trevor Veale / Coffs Coast Advocate

If you’ve loved this read, then you will almost certainly enjoy a look at the history of the Grafton Cup and who we caught on camera there in 2014.

And if you need some dressing-to-the-nines practise, Coffs will host two meetings before the Big Day: the Toormina Cup on Friday, June 17, and the Sawtell Cup on July 24.