By Stephen Brook and Cara Waters
In prime position in the Furphy marquee with a pot in hand, shadow agriculture minister David Littleproud said it was his first time at Derby Day “for a couple of years”.
And Littleproud was quick to hit us with an astounding revelation – he had paid his own way from Brisbane to Melbourne. Quite the flex given the scrutiny Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and others have come in for this past week over Qantas upgrades.
Nationals leader David Littleproud and wife Amelia in the Furphy marquee.Credit: Penny Stephens
“My wife and I paid to come down here,” he said. “We didn’t claim anything, we’re staying, we’re paying for ourselves to be here because while it is work, there’s a lot of pleasure. So I’ve taken the decision that we are going to pay for our own flights and accommodation.”
Littleproud said Derby Day showcased how important racing was to the Victorian economy.
“Victoria probably does it better than anyone else, even though that might upset [Racing NSW chief] Peter V’landys,” he said.
Littleproud said he was not a big tipper so did not have much advice beyond “be good to your mother”.
CBD heard that Tabcorp was holding the line on only offering official invitations to clients and not politicians or – gasp – journalists.
What was Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie to do? Go to Furphy – where she was spotted in the vicinity of former MP and born-again Liberal candidate Tim Wilson.
Indeed, new-ish Tabcorp chief executive Gillon McLachlan was holding firm on the rule earlier in the morning when he was chatting to journalists at the Tabcorp marquee before heading off to the Victoria Racing Club committee room.
Dressed in the traditional committee room attire of tails, but minus the top hat, McLachlan said he was looking forward to the day.
“It’s a great day’s racing, three group ones [races] here,” he said. “We’re thrilled to be part of it, the marquee looks great.”
When asked if punters would be betting a lot of money, McLachlan was more hesitant.
“Well people have fun,” he said.
New faces and no-shows at Nine marquee
Nine man through-and-though Karl Stefanovic was absent at the broadcaster’s marquee, having flown to the United States to cover the presidential election.
But executives and board members from Nine, owner of this masthead, were in strong attendance.
Nine Chair Catherine West and Major Events MInister Steve Dimopoulos.Credit: Penny Stephens
Steve Dimopoulos, Victoria’s Major Events Minister, was speaking with Nine chair Catherine West, and, despite being down $210 dollars on the punt, didn’t miss an opportunity to spruik Victoria as the nation’s event capital.
“I have met Catherine four times recently at major events. Three of those were in Melbourne and one in Sydney, so I have concluded that Melbourne has three times the major events capacity than Sydney has.”
West immediately offered a clarification: “Three Nine events.”
Acting Nine CEO Matt Stanton was spotted, as was board member Andrew Lancaster, actress Rachel Griffiths (who will star in Nine’s major drama Madam next year), Victorian Governor Margaret Gardiner and Australian Sports Commission chair Kate Jenkins.
A day for mares, and wannabe mayors
Anthony Koutoufides and Nick Reece – rival candidates in the race to become Melbourne’s next lord mayor – were both in the Birdcage.
Koutoufides was in the TAB marquee and also popped into champagne house Mumm as he nervously waited the outcome of vote counting in the council election.
Victorian Deputy Premier Ben Carroll and partner Fiona at Derby Day.Credit: Penny Stephens
He said it had been a very busy few months but “I like to challenge myself”.
Reece, meanwhile, was spending time in Crown’s three-storey marquee overlooking the track. Vote counting in the lord mayoral race continues with a result expected some time this week.
Getting their glow on
Deputy Premier Ben Carroll, the second-highest officer in the state, entered celebrity hairdresser Joey Scandizzo’s pop-up salon at the back of the Crown marquee for what is known in the trade as a “zhuzh”.
“Let’s get some texture in there,” Scandizzo decides.
“The thing is, Ben has so much hair,” Carroll’s wife Fiona, a lawyer, confides to CBD.
The occurrence was masterminded by Labor MP Luba Grigorovitch, who lives near Scandizzo’s South Yarra salon.
“But Joey he’s a Labor man,” says Liberal MP Sam Groth, trying and failing to stage an intervention.
Your correspondent Stephen Brook experienced his own Scandizzo transformation.
Having arrived at Flemington with a hairdo looking like a dog’s breakfast dragged through a hedge backwards, he challenged Scandizzo to fix him up.
Scandizzo sat him in his chair and determined he needed more volume and texture.
Stephen Brook gets a glow-up from make-up artist Jade Kisnorbo and hairdresser Joey Scandizzo in the Crown marquee.Credit: Penny Stephens
Make-up artist Jade Kisnorbo proceeded to give what is known as a glow-up.
“Bronze him, make him look like he’s been in Mykonos,” Scandizzo suggested, while Kisnorbo determined he needed a little powder.
Recruiting a Blues singer
Carlton board member and former PWC chief Luke Sayers was using his day at the Penfolds marquee to recruit some new Carlton fans, claiming pop star Anastacia as a new Bagger after she popped in to Penfolds.
“We got another draft pick – Anastacia,” he said. “Another good addition in the off season.”
Sayers has just listed his $16.5 million mansion for sale this week but said, as the money has not come in yet, he would not be betting it all on the horses.
Luke and Cate Sayers at Derby Day.Credit: Penny Stephens
“We’ve had an amazing 20 years or so in the house,” he said. “Cate and myself are now downsizing and so we are looking at selling up before Christmas and going into the next stage of life.”
Also spotted in Penfolds were Collingwood’s Josh Daicos with his fiancee Annalise Dalins, recently retired Geelong footballer Tom Hawkins, and radio host and former The Project presenter Carrie Bickmore.
Guests were keen to gain entry into the exclusive Grange tasting room for a drop of the 2020 Grange, which retails at $1000 a bottle.
With Angus Delaney