Thousands of punters were blessed when the sun overcame the odds of rain yesterday as a holiday crowd celebrated the new year at the Interislander Summer Festival Hawke's Bay races.
Afternoon rain was forecast by MetService but a bright start to 2014 helped racing fans enjoy the annual meeting at the Hastings Racecourse.
Hawke's Bay Racing general manager Jason Fleming said about 6000 people flocked to the races on a "quintessential Hawke's Bay day".
"The hot weather, the timing with the holidays has certainly helped to generate such a large crowd.
"We haven't seen this many cars in the parking lot and 6000 will definitely be up there in terms of record crowds."