Moonee Valley

I had never been to Moonee Valley, but headed out to the racecourse for a function.   It was the Manikato Stakes evening (not an event that I knew existed, but apparently that just reveals my ignorance).  Since 2009, this has been on the eve of the Cox Plate.  We were in the Saintly Suite, which was very nice indeed, thank you:  lots of staff to serve drinks and food, a private TAB desk and a great view of the home straight, although the actual finish line was a little to our right (but still visible)

It was an evening meeting, and the crowd outside seemed to have plenty of room to move about in (I've since read that this is one of MV's attractions).  The space under the stand is a bit of a barn, but functional.   I went by train, but got a lift home - there seemed to be an enormous amount of parking space, which wasn't full on the evening we were there.

Not too crowded

Financially?    I lost a little money early in the evening, so gave up and concentrated on food and conversation instead, with the result that it was a satisfactory evening!