Lisa Brockman sporting her 2015 pavilion hat with her husband, Paul. Photo contributed
The date is May 2, and clear, sunny skies smile down on the Virginia Gold Cup horse race.
Around 1:30 p.m. Lisa Brockman from Clifton begins to make her way toward the wooden pavilion on the grounds. With her hat perched precariously on her head and her husband by her side, she pushes her way forward to claim a spot for the upcoming competition. She has a good feeling this year, and not about which horse will win the cup, but about which hat will win the annual hat competition.
She adjusts her hat: a handmade replica of the pavilion she stands in front of, complete with Polly Pocket dolls conducting their own hat competition on the brim.
The hat competition is held every year at the Virginia Gold Cup horse races. Well-known members of the community judge for Best Racing Theme, Most Outrageous, Most Glamorous, Best Child and Best Men’s.
BROCKMAN first noticed the hat competition in 2008 while watching the races and immediately knew she wanted to enter the next year.
She entered her first hat in 2009 and was happily surprised when she won Best Racing Theme. She continued designing hats and ended up winning three more times, twice for Best Racing Theme and once for Most Outrageous.
“I try to top myself every year,” says Brockman. “I brainstorm constantly, and after a while an idea just comes to me. I try to think of designs that other people won’t.”
With an interior design degree and two horses—Piper and Missy—saddled up in a red barn behind her house, Brockman’s eye for design and love of horses has always been part of her life. It’s her newfound enthusiasm for competitive hat design that has melded two passions into one.
“Lisa is a designer and extremely creative, but what’s most impressive is her attention to detail,” says friend Sydney Sawyer, who attends the races with Brockman. “People who aren’t familiar with our tailgate think her hat is the centerpiece of our table until Lisa picks it up and puts it on her head.”
Winning the competition means appearing on the jumbotron and meeting the celebrity who is handing out awards (a gift card to a local hat company). Brockman has met Berry Dixon, Will Thomas and Kathryn Ireland through the hat contest.
This past year her husband, Paul Brockman, was allowed to accompany her onto the pavilion to claim her prize.
“Each time she wins I get a tear in my eye, because I’m so proud of her,” says Paul Brockman. “She doesn’t usually like to be the center of attention, so I love to see her up there having so much fun.”
Brockman has sustained various hot glue gun injuries and has put in weeks of preparation, but she does it all for laughs.
NOW, less than a month after the 2015 Virginia Gold Cup, Brockman already has a few creative ideas for next year’s competition. While she isn’t certain she’ll be designing another hat for the 2016 hat battle, there was talk of several hats on a smaller scale and hopes of entering in the Gold Cup’s tailgate competition. However, nothing is definite, and Brockman isn’t quick to give away the secrets behind her outrageous hats.
“I’m very competitive about it, but I also think it’s just fun and hilarious,” says Brockman. “The Virginia Gold Cup races is one of my favorite days of the year, and the hat competition is the icing on the cake.”