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The Grafton Cup is a Listed race held annually at Grafton Racecourse in NSW. Held in the winter around mid-July, the Grafton Cup is run by the Clarence River Jockey Club (CRJC).

Conducted over 2350m, the Grafton Cup attracts a quality line-up of winter stayers and offers a total of $200,000 in prize money. The headline event of the two-day Grafton Cup Carnival, the black-type takes place on a Thursday and follows the Listed Ramornie Handicap (1200m) for the sprinters at the Grafton track on the Wednesday.

The 2022 Grafton Cup form was franked with the winner Arapaho going on to perform well in a host of subsequent Black-Type races including his Group 1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) win at Rosehill in March of 2023.

The 2023 Grafton Cup ran on Thursday July 13, 2023 and was won in dominating, front-running fashion by the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained favourite Zoumon ($2.50F). 

Grafton Cup 2023
Date:	Thursday July 13, 2023
Track:	Grafton Racecourse
Distance:	2350m
Status:	Listed
Prize Money:	$200,000
Conditions:	Quality Handicap

2023 Grafton Cup Results

• 1st: #2 Zoumon ($2.50F)
• 2nd: #9 Outlandos
• 3rd: #1 Spirit Ridge

The talented Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Zoustar four-year-old Zoumon ($2.50F) was given a beautiful, front-running ride by Rachel King to dominate the 2023 Grafton Cup results with a win by over two lengths making it three on the trot following his Listed WJ McKell Cup – Caloundra Cup double in the lead-up.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	2	ZOUMON	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Ms Rachel King		2	58.5kg		$2.50F
	2	9	OUTLANDOS	John Sargent	Ben Looker	2.22L	10	54kg		$9.50
	3	1	SPIRIT RIDGE (GB)	Annabel Neasham	Ryan Maloney	3.19L	11	59kg		$8.50
	4	12	OUR BAMBINO	Pat Murphy	Andrew Gibbons	4.35L	4	54kg		$31
	5	11	SHAMELESS MISS (NZ)	Chris Waller	Kyle Wilson-Taylor	5.37L	9	54kg		$15
	6	5	LONDON BANKER (NZ)	Kelly Schweida	Larry Cassidy	5.72L	7	56kg		$21
	7	6	TAPPY’S LAD (NZ)	Kerry Taplin	Ms Samantha Collett	5.83L	5	55.5kg		$26
	8	13	OLYMPIC CLASS	Michael Morrison	Anthony Allen	5.95L	12	54kg		$91
	9	3	REGAL LION (NZ)	Annabel Neasham	Ben Thompson	6.9L	8	58kg		$13
	10	7	BENAUD	John O’Shea	Tyler Schiller (a)	6.95L	13	55kg		$5.50
	11	15	BYAKKO (USA)	Donna Grisedale	Jon Grisedale	12.24L	1	54kg		$201
	12	16	DEVINE FALLS	George Sitek	Morgan Butler	12.46L	6	54kg (cd 55kg)		$201
	13	8	BELLACIAOCIAO (FR)	Annabel Neasham	Damien Thornton	19.15L	3	54kg		$8.50
		10	WILD CHAP	Brett Lazzarini	Matthew Palmer		0
		4	IRISH SEQUEL (IRE)	Chris Waller	James Orman		0
		14	GULF OF TOMINI	Cassandra Schmidt			0

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Grafton Cup Betting Odds

The winter’s latest Grafton Cup 2023 betting odds and market links to Ladbrokes.com.au will be available here leading-up to the race.

Sixties Groove ($3.50 in 2020) followed the next winter by Purrfect Deal ($3.40 in 2021) and that year’s Caloundra Cup winner Zoumon ($2.50 in 2023) are the latest favourites in Grafton Cup betting to salute for the punters.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 GRAFTON CUP ODDS (Final Field)

2023 Grafton Cup Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 GRAFTON CUP FORM GUIDE

2023 Grafton Cup Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Grafton Cup 2023 Tips on the popular winter feature this July.

• To Win: #7 Benaud ($5 at time of publish) – BET NOW

John O’Shea’s Reliable Man four-year-old was eye-catching posting a six-length win at Wyong with 59kg last time out. Steps up in grade here and is down to 55kg to help him in the Grafton Cup. Fourth go at the distance, yet to win but has been placed before and went well enough over 2100m last time out to suggest the mile and a half will be a non-issue. Group 1 placed previously and looks to be peaking.

2023 Grafton Cup Field

The Grafton Cup field features plenty of graduates out of the Queensland Winter Racing Carnival events including the Listed Caloundra Cup (2400m) held a fortnight prior at the Sunshine Coast with Arapaho (2nd in 2022) and Zoumon (1st in 2023) the latest Grafton Cup winners to come via the Caloundra Cup.

The other key lead-up race into the Grafton Cup field each winter is the Grafton Cup Prelude (2215m) conducted just a week before the Listed event. Rednav (2016) followed by Purrfect Deal (2021) are the latest gallopers to complete the Grafton Cup Prelude – Grafton Cup racing double.

Rosehill’s Listed W J McKell Cup (2000m) also serves as a nice form race into the Grafton Cup field each winter with Zoumon (2023) the latest to do the double.

The official Grafton Cup 2023 Final Field & Barriers are set for release on the Monday of race week and will be published in full below.

The 2023 Grafton Cup field features a quality line-up of winter stayers led in betting by McKell Cup – Caloundra Cup double winner his last two starts Zoumon from the Waterhouse/Bott stable.

Click here to read more on the key runners in the Grafton Cup 2023 field and betting markets.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	041233×652	SPIRIT RIDGE (GB)	Annabel Neasham	Ryan Maloney	12	59kg			100
2	x51165x211	ZOUMON	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Ms Rachel King	2	58.5kg			99
3	109437×016	REGAL LION (NZ)	Annabel Neasham	Ben Thompson	8	58kg			98
4	515711×075	IRISH SEQUEL (IRE)	Chris Waller	James Orman	9	56.5kg			95
5	174×760035	LONDON BANKER (NZ)	Kelly Schweida	Larry Cassidy	7	56kg			94
6	1100016063	TAPPY’S LAD (NZ)	Kerry Taplin	Ms Samantha Collett	5	55.5kg			93
7	60×9946581	BENAUD	John O’Shea	Tyler Schiller (a)	14	55kg			92
8	111x3222x7	BELLACIAOCIAO (FR)	Annabel Neasham	Damien Thornton	3	54kg			90
9	0834984191	OUTLANDOS	John Sargent	Ben Looker	11	54kg			87
10	10×6586744	WILD CHAP	Brett Lazzarini	Matthew Palmer	16	54kg	54.5kg		87
11	11x77x8973	SHAMELESS MISS (NZ)	Chris Waller	Kyle Wilson-Taylor	10	54kg			85
12	6005×41351	OUR BAMBINO	Pat Murphy	Andrew Gibbons	4	54kg			69
13	1723×67312	OLYMPIC CLASS	Michael Morrison	Anthony Allen	13	54kg			65
14	112×431183	GULF OF TOMINI	Cassandra Schmidt		15	54kg			64
15	432x1001x6	BYAKKO (USA)	Donna Grisedale	Jon Grisedale	1	54kg			59
16	6781221102	DEVINE FALLS	George Sitek	Morgan Butler	6	54kg	55kg		51

2023 Grafton Cup Nominations

The Grafton Cup 2023 Nominations close the Thursday prior to the race, along with those for the Ramornie Handicap.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	True Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	x51165x211	ZOUMON	G	4	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	1=	58.5kg	58.5kg		99
2	109437×016	REGAL LION (NZ)	G	4	Annabel Neasham	1=	58kg	58kg		98
3	515711×075	IRISH SEQUEL (IRE)	G	7	Chris Waller	1=	56.5kg	56.5kg		95
4	6005×41351	OUR BAMBINO	G	6	Pat Murphy	1=	54kg	54kg		69
5	041233×652	SPIRIT RIDGE (GB)	G	8	Annabel Neasham	5	59kg	59kg		100
6	174×760035	LONDON BANKER (NZ)	G	7	Kelly Schweida	6	56kg	56kg		94
7	1100016063	TAPPY’S LAD (NZ)	G	5	Kerry Taplin	7	55.5kg	55.5kg		93
8	60×9946581	BENAUD	G	4	John O’Shea	8	55kg	55kg		92
9	111x3222x7	BELLACIAOCIAO (FR)	M	5	Annabel Neasham	9	54kg	54kg		90
10	0834984191	OUTLANDOS	G	6	John Sargent	10=	54kg	54kg		87
11	10×6586744	WILD CHAP	G	6	Brett Lazzarini	10=	54kg	54kg		87
12	11x77x8973	SHAMELESS MISS (NZ)	M	5	Chris Waller	12	54kg	54kg		85
13	1723×67312	OLYMPIC CLASS	G	5	Michael Morrison	13	54kg	54kg		65
14	112×431183	GULF OF TOMINI	G	4	Cassandra Schmidt	14	54kg	54kg		64
15	432x1001x6	BYAKKO (USA)	G	5	Donna Grisedale	15	54kg	54kg		59
16	6781221102	DEVINE FALLS	H	4	George Sitek	16=	54kg	54kg		51
17	25311707×2	NATURE BOY (NZ)	G	6	Lea Selby	16=	54kg	54kg		51
18	16581649×8	SCILAGO	G	7	Leon Elliott	16=	54kg	54kg		51
19	88850×8051	SUBVERSIVE	M	4	Jason Reilly	19	54kg	54kg		50

Grafton Cup History

The Grafton Cup has long been an important part of NSW country racing. Since its inception, regional trainers have placed major emphasis on the race as one of the better staying events held outside of metropolitan areas. The Grafton Cup is held on the second Thursday of every July, a tradition that grants the CRJC a day with no competing black type events. The Wednesday prior to the Grafton Cup also boasts racing, forming a two day racing festival which is quite popular in the area. A half-holiday is granted throughout the shire on Grafton Cup Day.

Notable Grafton Cup winners include Mr O’Ceirin (2013), Twin Wing (2010) and Pacific Dancer (2004).

In 2020 Sixties Groove made Grafton Cup history carrying a record 61kg to victory.

Grafton Cup Results

The Grafton Cup winners and results since 2000 are listed below.

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 Grafton Cup	1st	Zoumon	2 minutes 25.66 seconds
	2nd	Outlandos
	3rd	Spirit Ridge
2022 Grafton Cup	1st	Arapaho	2 minutes 25.89 seconds
	2nd	Rebel Rama
	3rd	Dr Drill
2021 Grafton Cup	1st	Purrfect Deal	2 minutes 24.44 seconds
	2nd	Laure Me In
	3rd	Parry Sound
2020 Grafton Cup	1st	Sixties Groove	2 minutes 25.98 seconds
	2nd	The Lord Mayor
	3rd	Carzoff
2019 Grafton Cup	1st	Sacred Day	2 minutes 26.46 seconds
	2nd	Sopressa
	3rd	Vaucluse Bay
2018 Grafton Cup	1st	First Crush	2 minutes 23.3 seconds
	2nd	Winkler
	3rd	Reneged
2017 Grafton Cup	1st	Supply And Demand	2 minutes 23.33
	2nd	Get On The Grange
	3rd	Montauk
2016 Grafton Cup	1st	Rednav	2:24.44 seconds
	2nd	All Clear
	3rd	Jumbo Prince
2015 Grafton Cup	1st	Bonfire	2:22.59 seconds
	2nd	Kapour
	3rd	Shoreham
2014 Grafton Cup	1st	Queenstown	2:24.10 seconds
	2nd	Secessio
	3rd	Noisy Ocean
2013 Grafton Cup	1st	Mr O’Ceirin	2:26.16
	2nd	Yulalona
	3rd	Reuben Percival
2012 Grafton Cup	1st	Shamardashing	2:25.30
	2nd	Saint Encosta
	3rd	Warrior Within
2011 Grafton Cup	1st	Warrior Within	2:23.56
	2nd	Gold In Dubai
	3rd	Shuffle The Cash
2010 Grafton Cup	1st	Twin Wing	2:23.98
	2nd	Frozone
	3rd	Ironstein
2009 Grafton Cup	1st	Castle Heights	2:24.98
	2nd	Hume
	3rd	Twin Wing
2008 Grafton Cup	1st	Art Success	2:22.92
	2nd	Belmonte
	3rd	Juerga
2007 Grafton Cup	1st	Ashraf	2:22.91
	2nd	Kincharm
	3rd	Casa De Campo
2006 Grafton Cup	1st	Rocking On	2:26.41
	2nd	Gaze On
	3rd	Victory Charm
2005 Grafton Cup	1st	Stormhill	2:25.50
	2nd	Precise Timing
	3rd	Dancing Daggers
2004 Grafton Cup	1st	Pacific Dancer	2:26.48
	2nd	Corporate Queen
	3rd	Zabeat
2003 Grafton Cup	1st	Belus	2:27.20
	2nd	Majestically
	3rd	Legerdemain
2002 Grafton Cup	1st	Master Pom	2:26.86
	2nd	Paestum
	3rd	Asia
2001 Grafton Cup	1st	Desk Top Lover	2:27.78
	2nd	Crown Mahal
	3rd	Viva La Vie
2000 Grafton Cup	1st	Simigan	2:26.21
	2nd	Super Revenir
	3rd	Akwazoff