No cost of living crisis within cooee of Flemington Racecourse, and certainly not its exclusive Birdcage enclosure, as bubbles flowed and frocks flounced for Saturday’s (mostly) monochromatic Derby Day.
Raceday conditions were near perfect, save a breath of wind, as the rich, powerful, famous, connected and myriad hangers-on shut out the real world for a few hours of all things frivolous.
Never mind that the sport of kings in some quarters is seriously on the nose – our Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, for instance, we hear takes a dim view of participation in such displays of decadence, hence many of his leading parliamentary lights stayed away.
Billionaires were also thin on the ground, no Rineharts, Pratts or Packers to draw our eye, but instead retail proprietors and chieftains front and centre making like the economy was doing just fine.
Harvey Norman billionaire and passionate racehorse owner Gerry Harvey and his wife Katie Page were at Flemington for the first time, despite that Harvey had a horse running on the day in Sydney.
The couple were enjoying the hospitality of Herald & Weekly Times chair and niece of Rupert Murdoch, Penny Fowler, and News Corp Australasia boss Michael Miller in the three-storey, trackside Herald Sun House.
Myer boss John King was also part of the power grouping, enjoying what will be his final Melbourne Cup Carnival as the department store’s head before his return to home in the United States next year.
Former Premier Investments boss Richard Murray, who exited billionaire Solly Lew’s employ in August, was cutting a different path, however, seen wandering the Birdcage’s avenues looking a little lost.
At Lexus was another of Australia’s successful retail owners, Decjuba’s Tania Austin, who was one of the founders of Cotton On with billionaire and former husband Nigel Austin.
Also there was low-key Hollywood super star Matt Damon amid little fuss, along with US media mogul Patrick Whitesell, who was in town with his Chilean-born Australian model and actress wife Pia Miller. Millionaire Whitesell’s Endeavour media group is part owner of World Entertainment Wrestling and Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Next door, and also overlooking the track, was Crown Resorts, returning to the Birdcage from its previous remote location by the winning post.
Chief executive Ciaran Carruthers for the second year running eschewed the day’s black and white dress code, opting for statement blue pinstripe and unbothered by his cultural faux pas.
Also mixing it with the casino’s high rollers was the Melbourne casino’s chief Mike Volkert, newly appointed Crown ambassador Karl Stefanovic and his wife Yasmin, while old mate and ex Aussie cricket captain Michael Clarke was shuffling between other marquees.
Former Liberal leader in Victoria Michael O’Brien was also supping at the Crown trough, while the local head of Blackstone, which owns Crown, Chris Tynan was also in from Sydney for the fun.
At Furphy, Liberal Senator Jane Hume was rocking her white power pant suit, with her upper house colleague Jacqui Lambie also a guest of the brewer with her son Brentyn Milverton and two of his army veteran mates. It was the first time Lambie had been at Flemington in more than a decade, with the Tassie senator all class over the long day.
Lower house speaker Milton Dick was a guest of TAB, where the usual bevy of pollies was thin on the ground. Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor also made an appearance with guests there hosted by Tabcorp boss Adam Rytenskild, chair Bruce Akhurst and director David Gallop.
Other guests of TAB included AHA chief Stephen Ferguson, Zip Co chair Diane Smith Gander, Melbourne footy club director and tech exec Mohan Jesudason, ebullient Melbourne lord mayor Sally Capp and Liberal party powerbroker Michael Kroger.
Australian Industry Group boss Innes Willox was doing the rounds, as was tech entrepreneur Tom Waterhouse and former MacBank execs Peter Yates and Michael Burn, who’s now at Flagstaff. At Penfolds, former PwC boss Luke Sayers and his partner at Sayers Russell Howcroft (oddly in casual blue) were also spied.
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