Not only was there a full card of races for spectators to enjoy, but various food trucks, kids activities and live music to keep the whole family entertained.
Droves of attendees piled into the venue when the gates opened at 5.30pm with the first race, the Phyllis Lindberg and Family Trot, starting at 6.22pm.
Six-year-old gelding, Hillside, took out the opening race, but it was races four, five and six that were the main events on New Year’s night.
The fourth race, the Frank and Carmel Ryan Memorial Plate, honoured two life members of Echuca Harness Racing Club, with Frank’s 50-year tenure as secretary-manager from 1953 to 2003 still the longest in Victorian trots history.
“The Frank and Carmel Memorial Plate is a race we run annually on our pacing cup day, they were both life members who have passed away now, but Frank has an amazing legacy and made a fantastic contribution to the club,” track manager Shane Gloury said.
The $2 favourite Starzinhereyez took out the race, setting the stage for the main race the Moama Bowling Club Echuca Pacing Cup.
Stephen O’Donoghue’s Followtheace emerged victorious with Brent Lilley’s Johns Boy placing first in the following race, the Arch Electrical Echuca Trotters Cup.
While spectators were transfixed when the races were on, there were plenty of other things to keep wandering eyes occupied, including a water slide, jumping castle, music by The Sensational 80s and plenty of food options including ice-cream, pizza and a barbecue.
Once the on-track action came to a close and all the horses had been cleared from the venue, the evening came to a close with a spectacular fireworks display.
Gloury reflected on the large turnout to the club’s event and how having the only family-friendly fireworks display on New Year's Day brought a great atmosphere to the evening.
“We have a big crowd in, roughly about 2,000 people, it’s one of those things when you run fireworks here for the first time in a long time, you are never sure how many people you’ll get,” he said.
“The crowd has certainly come out in droves tonight, everyone is having a good evening, the weather is nice and the racing has been good, so it has been an enjoyable night.
“The attendance here so far has definitely surpassed expectations, we knew the addition of fireworks would boost the crowd, but we didn’t realise it’d be by this much.
“We are very pleased with the turnout; we have many older members who said they haven’t seen a crowd like this in 20 years at the trots.”
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