The town’s two pubs, O’Briens Hotel and Lynch’s Hotel, were also packed out with punters. 

At Club Narooma, Shanna Provost aka Mabel was the MC and she was in fine form razzing up the crowd for the fashions on the field competitions.

Mares Fashions on the Field winners were runner-up Clare Cork, bravery recipient Dawn Kenny and winner Annette Jones from Tuross Head. Fillies Fashions on the Field runner-up Sabrina Croon and winner Monique Craig.  

In the actual Melbourne Cup, owner Lloyd Williams wrote another chapter in his astonishing Melbourne Cup record when the northern hemisphere trained three year old Rekindling triumphed to give young Irish trainer Joseph O'Brien a Melbourne Cup winner at his first attempt.

The son of High Chapparal becomes the first three year old to win the race since 1941 and he was the second scorer for jockey Corey Brown, who won on Shocking in 2009.

Second home was Johannes Vermeer, also in Williams colours, who is trained by O'Brien's father, Aidan, while the third to finish was another European raider, Max Dynamite, for Irish trainer Willie Mullins. The same horse had finished second two years ago when Michelle Payne made history aboard Prince of Penzance.

Darren Weir fared best of the locals with Big Duke, a horse brought from Europe two years ago, who ran fourth.