IF you want to get ahead, get a hat.

That saying was taken to heart by model Lizzie Towndrow, when she sported a show-stopping number during the highlight of May's meeting at York Racecourse.

Lizzie's headgear, designed by York-based Elizabeth Parker, and based on city rail firm GNER, drew plenty of attention when she presented the prize to Neil Callan, the winning jockey of the GNER 10th Birthday Stakes.

The more fashion-conscious race-goers mingled with punters clad in anoraks at totesport Dante Day - the showpiece of the three-day event.

Racing kicked off at 1.45pm, but the champagne and Pimms lawns were teeming with people much earlier. James Brennan, racecourse spokesman, estimated the event attracted between 14,000 and 15,000 race-goers - a similar figure to the same day last year.

"The important thing is that people are having a good time," he said.

Soaking up the racing action was birthday girl Joanne Miller, of York, whose party of friends were clutching their hats against the blustery wind. "It's a lovely day, but we could do with the wind stopping," said Joanne, 40.

Her friend, Mandy Gaias, had just won £25 on the first race by backing Frankie Dettori. "My husband is Sardinian, so I always back Frankie," she said.

Paul Sammut, 31, also of York, did not enjoy the same success when he backed the jockey in the second race, which was won by Strawberry Dale. "I put a tenner on Dettori, but he just did not have enough in the end," he said.

Young Ross Phipps Coltman, aged three, from Gloucester, had to hold on to his green jockey cap because of the wind.

His mum, Isobel, a former University of York languages student turned horse breeder, was back in the city to see her horse Kayf Aramis win in the afternoon's Sportsman Racing Stakes.

After the victory, she said: "I can't believe it. It is absolutely brilliant to have a winner here at York."

Updated: 11:07 Friday, May 19, 2006