Among this projected crowd watching the five races of the day will be racing minister Grace Grace and Queensland Racing’s chief executive and chair, said club president Dan Ballard. 

“We are really excited to have them join us for the day and we are hoping to put on a great day’s racing for them,” he said. 

“The new board since they were appointed seem to have done a good job. 

“From the viewpoint of a country jockey and a club president I cannot see that they have done anything wrong.” 

The races include the Spring Cup, which has 10 racehorses accepted to compete for a total $20,000. 

Mr Ballard was thrilled with the size of the fields. The only thing that would limit the field size would be the number of jockeys riding in the region, he said. 

“I guess at some stage in the future if we can try to grow the industry locally we can attract more participants here and base themselves out of Mount Isa,” Mr Ballard said. 

The races will include a fashions on the field, a lucky door prize, and live music from Sydney based country musician Matt Cornell. 

Mr Ballard said there was slightly under 1000 people at the Spring Cup last year but that he had set a realistic estimate of attendance. 

There were a few events such as the Zinc Goes Pink fundraising gala which may impact the turnout, but Mr Ballard was unsure by how much. 

“It is a perfect day for socialising.” 

Sissi’s Flowers owner Corin Campbell suggested flower crowns as part of ladies’ racewear attire for the spring races. 

“They are becoming more popular even for weddings and for baby showers,” she said. 

She was already going to make a large pink flower crown for the breast cancer support races next month.

“I made a big green one for St Paddy’s. That one was really cool.” 

On Saturday the Buchanan Park gates open at 11am. The entry fee is $20. 

The first race of the day is the maiden plate which starts at 2pm.