Caroline Whelan, a newly-qualified primary school teacher and event planner from Ardrahan in County Galway was the stand-out winner at the vaughanshoes.ie Best Dressed Ladies Day at Ballinrobe Racecourse on Tuesday 27th June. Caroline collected the top prize of €1,500 cash and each of the nine runners-up received a goody bag to the value of €130.
Caroline wore a royal blue jumpsuit from Sarah Jane Boutique in Magherafelt in County Derry and her headpiece was by Galway-based milliner Caithriona King. Caroline’s embellished belt was from eBay, shoes from Penneys and she bought her bag in the Galway Hat Shop.
Caroline said: “I am absolutely shocked but delighted to win vaughanshoes.ie Best Dressed Lady competition at Ballinrobe Racecourse, especially when there was such outstanding style here tonight. I started with my wonderful Caithriona King headpiece and built my outfit around that. The cash prize is so generous and I love going racing, so I’m going to spend every penny of it on style for the Galway races.”
Ailish Vaughan of Vaughan Shoes said: “Once again, we are delighted to be associated with ladies day at Ballinrobe Racecourse. The fashion stakes was extremely high and it was brilliant to see all the ladies who made such an effort to dress-up and come to Ballinrobe this evening. Sponsoring ladies day at Ballinrobe Racecourse is the perfect fit for us. Congratulations to Caroline and all the finalists - they looked fantastic. A big thank you also goes to John Flannelly and his team for a great night.”
Judge, Marietta Doran, TV Fashion Stylist and Event MC, remarked: I’ve had the privilege of judging the vaughanshoes.ie Best Dressed Lady at Ballinrobe Racecourse for many years and I can’t get over how exceptional the style was this evening. It gets bigger and better every year. It’s a great testament to the stylish women of the West and the work Vaughan Shoes and Ballinrobe Racecourse do to promote the event.”
John Flannelly, Ballinrobe Racecourse Manager said: “The vaughanshoes.ie Ladies Day has really established itself as one of the best ladies days on the racing calendar. We were blown-away by the turnout and it was great to see so much colourful outfits and headpieces throughout the enclosure. No doubt, Marietta had a very tough job picking her ten finalists. I hope everyone had a great night.”
At Ballinrobe Races pictured were Finalists of the Best Dressed Lady Competition:Left to right: Race Committee Chairman John Staunton, Colleen Brady (Galway City), Michelle Barrett Manning (Belmullet), Isabelle Cummins (Ballinrobe), Paula Gannon (Athlone), Tara Lavin (Corrandulla), Ailish Vaughan (Vaughan Shoes-Ladies Day Sponsors), Best Dressed Lady Caroline Whelan (Ardrahan), Marietta Doran (Judge), Bernie McHale (Castlebar), Gretta Peters (Bansha, Tipperary), Helena Burke (Cong) and Mary Butler (Galway).
Pic: Trish Forde.
