DARWIN CUP CARNIVAL 2019 – WINNO SURVIVES ANOTHER TOUR OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY
By Darren Winningham | Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Well the Darwin Turf Club Carnival is done and dusted for 2019.
What an event! This meeting just keeps getting bigger and better each year!
Massive crowds across all eight days – they have reported over 50,000 people through the gates for the six weeks and eight days of racing in what is dubbed “The Carnival of Colour”.
As usual WINNO has tried to spread himself across all the events – the races and the personalities for all of the three days in which I was there in perfect weather (around thirty degrees each day).
I even managed a suntan in August!
The Darwin Turf Club have some exciting developments that will be available for patrons come 2020 – you will need to read on to learn about them! This is exciting news!
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Chief Minister of the Northern Territory the Honourable Michael Gunner made time again to catch up with WINNO in an HRO exclusive!
The Chief Minister is passionate about the horse racing industry and the local participants singling them out on for praise for the efforts they put in week in and week out in the Territory and what the Darwin Turf Club Racing Carnival, in particular, means to the economy and tourism in the region.
But his gratitude is for the racing industry in general and what it does for the State economy, tourism and employment and it is a subject he speaks about with conviction.
This year I asked him about some of the unique reasons why people who have never been to Darwin should come to the Northern Territory – especially as the Darwin Cup Carnival is scheduled in the “dry season” – weather wise that is … but not so dry around the track and local pubs!
“It is freezing down south while it is the perfect ‘summer’ up here in Darwin. More than just crocodiles and stunning sunsets you will never get better laksa for breakfast at the Parap markets – queue up at Marys,” the Chief Minister said.
“Then you can come down to the track and have a punt – very relaxed settings here at the Darwin Cup trackside. If you come for the Carnival take some time off between races days and get down the highway and see what the rest of the Territory has to offer.”
I prompted the Chief Minister further telling him I had heard a lot about the Tiwi Islands and I asked him what he can you tell the people from the southern states about them.
“You can catch a ferry over to the Tiwi Islands. They are magic,” he said. “You get to experience the culture, the art and the beautiful country over there. Extraordinarily wonderful art over there with a day trip on a beautiful little ferry ride over there.
"You can get to have a modern capital city experience in Darwin and then get to a remote aboriginal community and see how life is lived just across on the other side of the harbour,” was his detailed summation of the unique attraction.
I must thank the Chief Minister for his time. This has become an annual chat that demonstrates his passion and continued support for the Darwin Racing Carnival and the Darwin Turf Club. I cherish the time I get to spend with him each year.
He is truly an inspirational ambassador for the Northern Territory and for our sport!
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The Chairman of the Darwin Turf Club is Mr Brett Dixon. Firstly, I asked about the staff of the Darwin Turf Club who are so friendly and supportive to patrons and visitors to the Carnival.
“From the day the Carnival starts all of our staff are working seven-day weeks and they are doing on average twelve-hour days,” Dixon said. “We have the greatest staff in Australia when it comes to a Cup Carnival. We put on a Cup day which is equivalent to any major city with a third of the staff that they would enjoy down south.”
I had to praise the Darwin Turf Club for the way it turns the racing precinct into a show case arena every year – it is just wonderful how your Club lay out the track.
The amenities for the patrons and the marquees are fabulous and the patrons are treated so well. Some of the Clubs down south can learn a lot from watching how this team transforms the track into a scene of celebration for six weeks of racing and how the space is used to ensure the patron, the punter and families are the number one priority.
I speculated that the crowd on Cup Day would have to be a record – in excess of 18,000 or more. People continue to flock to this Carnival each year from all around Australia and now they have ventured into the international markets luring tourists from South East Asia and other neighbouring areas to join in the celebrations here.
Mr Dixon explained, “It is important to us that when they come to the Darwin Cup they have a fantastic experience. We don’t want to see people waiting. If we see people lining up three or four deep at a rest room or a bar or a TAB, we need to bring in more of those types of facilities and resources and we work on that every year.
"So, when the crowd grows, we want to ensure that they still experience a great day –- one where they are not lined up in queues and inconvenienced - and then they will come back next year.
“The Chief Minister is our greatest supporter. He is the member for Fannie Bay where the track is situated and been a great supporter for twenty years of the Darwin Turf Club and the Carnival,” Dixon said.
“We have just had a $12 million grant from the Northern Territory Government to build a three-story stand with boxes at the top and fine dining in the middle levels and the ground floors. This stand will take this Carnival to another level and Darwin City to another level.
“We will be starting construction of the stand straight after this Carnival and it will be in place for Great Northern Darwin Cup Carnival for 2020.”
This is great news for everyone planning a trip to The Great Northern Darwin Cup Carnival in 2020!
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This is my third year at the Carnival and each year I catch up with the CEO of the Darwin Turf Club Keith Stacy. This year he started with “it is a pleasure to welcome you back to the Carnival and the tropical paradise WINNO”.
He proudly boasted that the event was, "the largest social and sporting event in the Northern Territory".
I asked him about the importance of the Carnival for the Territory.
“It is Christmas in July/August for us in Darwin. This is because of the economic benefits everyone out of town bring to here. It benefits our retailers, the hotels, the clubs, the airports, the restaurants and all of the small business owners. Obviously around actual Christmas time most of the locals here head home to family so this a great boost to the Northern Territory economy”, he said.
"It's fantastic for tourism — we know that many people who come for the Cup stay at least a minimum of seven to eight days. Outside of that, they take harbour cruises and fishing charters.”
Stacy said he believed the event would net upwards of $25 million for the wider Darwin economy during the race weekend and continued saying (speaking on Cup Day), “it is a very hot day today and we are grateful that we are able to sell Great Northern for the Great Northern Darwin Cup.
“The crowds have been outstanding and the Carnival racing superb. The crowd numbers this year have been sensational, and we really sincerely thank all the interstate people who come here – they are as close to our hearts as the locals that come along.”
I asked about the improvements for the track that are about to occur at the Darwin Turf Club once the Carnival is over.
Stacy said, “We actually have two major projects happening WINNO. As you came in this morning you would have seen the construction taking place for the new Darwin Turf Club Sports Club. Which will be fantastic it will be a new hub down there for all the industry people and locals with an outstanding restaurant called ‘Silks’. The establishment will open in January 2020.”
“Now the new grandstand that you are talking about is thanks to the Northern Territory Government that had the vision to look forward. This is going to enable the Club to market the Club into Asian countries such as Macau, Hong Kong and Singapore and bring them here to the comforts that they deserve at a premium venue and event.”
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Darwin Cup Carnival 2019 ambassador Brooke Prince has been wearing outfits all supplied and provided by local businesses, including headpieces by Belinda Osborne from Peacock millinery, across the Carnival. Her outfits have been vibrant and stunning and celebrate the talent of the designers in Darwin.
She was also excited about the Darwin Cup Carnival and said the cup would have extensive flow-on economic effects.
"The carnival brings a lot of horse racing enthusiasts together from all over Australia. You fill the accommodation, you get all the tourist places happening, and it's a really great opportunity to bring some fun to the Territory and show everyone what we're about."
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The 2019 Great Northern Darwin Cup Carnival ran from 6 July to 5 August.
The Great Northern Brewery was the major sponsor of the feature race on the program in 2019 – the Darwin Cup and it looks like a wonderful relationship has been formed with the Darwin Turf Club to carry this on into the future!
The $200,000 feature race is now the richest race on dirt in Australia!
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A big thanks to Con Searle for allowing me to stay with him and his team over the Carnival.
Despite being a Queenslander, he is a wonderful, thoughtful man who loves his racing.
This year we stayed at Cullen Bay – a lovely precinct with wonderful array of restaurants and just a short stroll to the beach each afternoon to watch the fabulous and stunning Northern Territory sunsets!
Stay tuned for a future 60 seconds with WINNO where we will be able to find out more about Mr Conway Searle – this is a great story that I will be proud to share with you all.
Thank you Con for allowing me to stay with you – I do appreciate it very much.
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I would also like to acknowledge and thank the larrikin who made some alterations to my Carnival ID accreditation badge.
You will see it adjacent here to the story.
I assume it must have been done by a Queenslander as they would not have had the intelligence to spell anything more than four letters!
For the record I will keep it and wear it with pride!
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This year the final word for the 2019 Great Northern Darwin Cup goes to the Chief Minister himself who came out with this wonderful summation:
“I love country racing and what is extraordinary about the Darwin Cup is that it gives you that country racing feel at a capital city meeting.”
Perfectly said.
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