A FANTASTIC day was had by all at the Dederang Picnic Races on Saturday, 22 February, with a record number of more than 2500 people in attendance.

With gates open at 11am, attendees made the most of the beautiful sunny day, some getting in the spirit of the event and bringing a picnic to enjoy for the afternoon as races began at 1pm.

The winner of the Dederang Cup was won by ‘Star Of Mattner’, trained by Tyson Barton, whose mother herself trained a Dederang Cup winner 27 years ago.

"There was a strong field of entrants this year with some races very close," president of the Dederang Picnic Race Club, Marcus Goonan said.

"Everyone had a great day, the weather held and we were blessed with a cracking day out.

"The only challenge was the Telstra service went down, but this enabled people to unplug from their devices and fully enjoy the day.

"We were really lucky, as it didn’t seem to shut down the ticketing or impact vendors on site too much.

"The cash-out and money services were still able to operate; it just made things a little bit slower.

"All of the feedback we've received has been really positive.

"We’re already looking forward to next year's races, which are scheduled to be held on February 28."