THE sun made a very brief appearance for the final day of this year’s Dante Festival at York Racecourse.

More importantly, the temperature was just warm enough for the ladies to shed their winter coats and display their glamorous summer dresses.

About 16,000 racegoers were at Knavesmire for the seven-card racing yesterday – nearly 2,000 more than at the third day of last year’s Dante meeting. Among them was TV quiz show panellist Ian Hislop.

Another punter was Joanne Meier, 41, a customer assistant at Tesco in Tadcaster Road, who enjoyed her first-ever trip to York Races despite living in the city her entire life.

She said: “We’re having a fantastic day.

“I won tickets to the meeting through a competition at work and I’ve come with a friend. We’ve had a couple of flutters, but no wins, so there’s been no beginners’ luck for us.

“It’s been fascinating seeing how the other half lives – some of the women look absolutely stunning.”

James Brennan, marketing manager at York Racecourse, said he was pleased to see lots of happy faces in spite of the less than spring-like weather.

He said: “The wind has had a bit of a bite to it and it’s not been the warmest of Dante Festivals, so we’re really pleased that people came down to support us. We’re now hoping the sun will favour us next Saturday for our next race day so people can pack their picnics.”

There were two Yorkshire-trained winners at yesterday’s meeting, in the fifth and sixth races. Hoof It came home first for Sheriff Hutton trainer Mick Easterby in the Ralph Raper Memorial Handicap, while Ingleby Lady romped to victory for Thirsk trainer, David Barron, in the Sportingbet.com Handicap.