While racegoers at Flemington shivered through a chilly race day, Ballarat residents celebrated the Melbourne Cup in style at the Mercure Hotel and Convention Centre.

Now in its second year, the event raises money for the Ballarat Cancer Research Centre, and gives the ladies an excuse to frock up in their finest.

BCRC development manager Julie O'Donohue said she was thrilled with the turn-out.

"We had about 170 guests, and we're hoping to raise $10,000, but we'll find out in the next day or so," she said.

"We had an absolute ball. There's been a lot of community support, and support from local businesses with more than $5000 in give-aways."

On the catwalk Luke Ingham and Andrea Smith were named best -dressed, taking home a bottle of champagne and a $500 Lisa Ho voucher respectively.

Special guests included a table of dancers from the Australian Ballet Company, including Ballarat born-and-bred dancer Brooke Lockett.

The dancers recently played a small part in the movie Mao's Last Dancer and relished the chance to shed their dancing shoes and slip into heels for the day.

"My mum owns Zena Boutique so it was a bit of a favour to her to bring along all the dancers to be in a fashion parade, especially after all the years she spent supporting me," Ms Lockett said.

"It's been a wonderful event, we had a great time."

All money raised will aid research into cell biology and chemotherapy sensitivity testing.