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The 2021 Ballarat Cup is a 2000m event held at Ballarat Racecourse during mid to late November each year at the very tail end of the Victorian Spring Racing Carnival.

A Listed event, the Ballarat Cup is worth a generous $500,000 in total prize money making it one of the richest provincial Victorian cups. It is held under open handicap conditions, and tends to attract some pretty solid talent each year.

Some lead-up races worth watching include other cup events such as the Kyneton Cup or the Bendigo Cup. The 2017 Ballarat Cup winner Grand Dreamer improved on a lead-up third in the Kyneton Cup for his win. The Group 3 Eclipse Stakes (1800m) run at Sandown’s Ladbrokes Park the Saturday before also serves as a good Ballarat Cup lead-up. Kiwia (5th in 2018) was the last Ballarat Cup winner to come out of the Eclipse Stakes. Kiwia returned in 2019 to enjoy back-to-back Ballarat Cup wins.

Many country runners, and even some metro types, often contest several country cups as part of their campaign. Other staying events during the Melbourne Cup Carnival are also often contested by horses on their way to the Ballarat Cup.

The Ballarat Cup represents the end of the spring racing carnival in Victoria, as it’s the last black-type meet and the last feature day.

Plenty of quality gallopers contest the Ballarat Cup, the form of which has stacked-up in tougher races including the 2013 winner The Offer backing-up the following autumn to win the 2014 edition of the Group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m).

The 2021 Ballarat Cup ran on Saturday November 20, 2021 and was won by the Ben & JD Hayes-trained mare Zayydani ($12). 

Ballarat Cup 2021
Date:	Saturday November 20, 2021
Racecourse:	Ballarat Racecourse
Distance:	2000m
Race Type:	Handicap
Status:	Listed
Prize Money:	$500,000

2021 Ballarat Cup Results

• 1st: #6 Zayydani ($12)
• 2nd: #1 Yonkers
• 3rd: #9 Vanna Girl

Jockey Luke Nolen gave the Ben & JD Hayes-trained mare Zayydani ($12) a peach of a ride to win the Ballarat Cup 2021 results following their lead-up Matriarch Stakes victory.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	6	ZAYYDANI (NZ)	Ben & JD Hayes	Luke Nolen		1	57.5kg		$12
	2	1	YONKERS (USA)	Chris Waller	Damien Oliver	0.1L	13	60kg		$26
	3	9	VANNA GIRL	Toby & Trent Edmonds	Zac Spain	0.2L	2	55.5kg		$26
	4	11	THOUGHT OF THAT	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ms Linda Meech	0.95L	6	54.5kg		$2.40F
	5	16	FOXY FRIDA	Andrew Noblet	Daniel Moor	1.25L	15	54kg		$9.50
	6	15	SKYMAN (GB)	Chris Waller	Damien Thornton	1.45L	3	54kg		$10
	7	18e	PAPPALINO (FR)	Archie Alexander	Declan Bates	2.2L	4	54kg		$61
	8	4	IN A TWINKLING	Lindsey Smith	Craig Newitt	3.2L	11	58kg		$41
	9	8	DOUBLE YOU TEE	Patrick Payne	Michael Dee	3.6L	14	56kg		$31
	10	20e	BARTHOLOMEU DIAS (GB)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Harry Coffey	3.8L	5	54kg		$31
	11	12	CHARLEISE	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jye McNeil	4.8L	10	54kg		$21
	12	2	DEFIBRILLATE (NZ)	Patrick Payne	Billy Egan	8.8L	12	59.5kg		$7
	13	17e	FLASH AAH	Matt Kropp	Ms Madeleine Wishart (a)	9.3L	9	54kg		$51
	14	7	PRINCESS JENNI (NZ)	Symon Wilde	Jordan Childs	13.3L	7	57kg		$61
	15	14	GHODELEINE	Andrew Noblet	Patrick Moloney	15.05L	8	54kg		$21
		19e	BONVICINI	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jye McNeil		0
		10	ROSTROPOVICH (IRE)	Ben & JD Hayes	Harry Coffey		0
		13	ONLY WORDS (NZ)	Chris Waller	Brett Prebble		0
		5	QUANTUM MECHANIC	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	John Allen		0
		3	HANG MAN (IRE)	Michael Moroney	Daniel Stackhouse		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2021 Ballarat Cup Odds

The season’s top Ballarat Cup 2021 odds and end-of-spring betting market links to Ladbrokes.com.au on the Listed Victorian Cups race will be provided below the week of the race.

2021 Ballarat Cup Field

The Ballarat Cup field usually attracts quite a few metro runners from Melbourne, which is only around 100km away. Sometimes the odd handy runner from Sydney will head down to run in the Ballarat Cup field chasing the lucrative end-of-spring prize money on offer.

Following a run in the Ballarat Cup field, the Listed Pakenham Cup (2500m) in early December makes a nice next-up target and the last to do the double was Pilote D’Essai (2016).

The 2021 Ballarat Cup field and barriers are set for release on the Wednesday before the race and will be published in full below.

The Ballarat Cup 2021 final field features a quality line-up of end-of-spring staying types including Group 2 Matriarch Stakes winning mare Zayydani drawn the rails and the in-form Thought Of That chasing a fourth win on the trot.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	441215×168	YONKERS (USAs)	Chris Waller	Damien Oliver	15	60kg		103
2	1166×82447	DEFIBRILLATE (NZ)	Patrick Payne	Billy Egan	14	59.5kg		102
3	3112570×96	HANG MAN (IRE)	Michael Moroney	Daniel Stackhouse	17	59kg		101
4	40134200×7	IN A TWINKLING	Lindsey Smith	Craig Newitt	13	58kg		99
5	12133×0340	QUANTUM MECHANIC	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	John Allen	19	58kg		103
6	23311×0341	ZAYYDANI (NZ)	Ben & JD Hayes	Luke Nolen	1	57.5kg		102
7	571520×040	PRINCESS JENNI (NZ)	Symon Wilde	Jordan Childs	8	57kg		101
8	62218×0573	DOUBLE YOU TEE	Patrick Payne	Michael Dee	18	56kg		95
9	9x1704x065	VANNA GIRL	Toby & Trent Edmonds	Zac Spain	2	55.5kg		98
10	0x00x50300	ROSTROPOVICH (IRE)	Ben & JD Hayes	Harry Coffey	12	55kg		93
11	835×556111	THOUGHT OF THAT	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ms Linda Meech	7	54.5kg		92
12	2121129753	CHARLEISE	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jye McNeil	11	54kg		94
13	19317×0441	ONLY WORDS (NZ)	Chris Waller	Brett Prebble	5	54kg		93
14	0x31431517	GHODELEINE	Andrew Noblet	Patrick Moloney	9	54kg		92
15	121×242622	SKYMAN (GB)	Chris Waller	Damien Thornton	3	54kg		91
16	215112×521	FOXY FRIDA	Andrew Noblet	Daniel Moor	20	54kg		90
17e	401434×847	FLASH AAH	Matt Kropp	Ms Madeleine Wishart (a)	10	54kg		90
18e	3x21x5x757	PAPPALINO (FR)	Archie Alexander	Declan Bates	4	54kg		90
19e	38478×9064	BONVICINI	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jye McNeil	16	54kg		89
20e	28434×1720	BARTHOLOMEU DIAS (GB)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace		6	54kg		89

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

Ballarat Cup History

The Ballarat Turf Club was established in 1854, making it one of the oldest racing organisations in Victoria. For some time now, Ballarat Cup Day has been the biggest meet of the year at Dowling Forest Racecourse, often drawing almost 20,000 people.

Not too long ago, the Ballarat Cup occupied a Wednesday slot as a mid-week event. However, it was moved to Sunday in 2011 in order to allow greater attendance and accommodate more metro runners. As of 2014, the Ballarat Cup has been run on a Saturday. It is the only black-type meet in Victoria and NSW on that day, so attracts considerable punting attention. The Group 1 Railway Stakes and Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes are held over at Ascot in Perth on the same day.

Notable recent Ballarat Cup winners include My Bentley (2010), The Offer (2013) and Junoob (2015). Ballarat Cup results, place getters and winning times since 2000 are provided below.

Ballarat Cup Winners

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2021 Ballarat Cup	1st	Zayydani	2 minutes 5.19 seconds
	2nd	Yonkers
	3rd	Vanna Girl
2020 Ballarat Cup	1st	Irish Flame	2 minutes 2.79 seconds
	2nd	Affair To Remember
	3rd	Game Keeper
2019 Ballarat Cup	1st	Kiwia	2 minutes 3.74 seconds (over 2000m)
	2nd	Double You Tee
	3rd	Another Dollar
2018 Ballarat Cup	1st	Kiwia	2 minutes 20.59 seconds
	2nd	Pilote D’essai
	3rd	Life Less Ordinary
2017 Ballarat Cup	1st	Grand Dreamer	2 minutes 25.79 seconds
	2nd	Oncidium Ruler
	3rd	Grey Lion
2016 Ballarat Cup	1st	Pilote D’Essai	2 minutes 14.14 seconds
	2nd	Scherzoso
	3rd	Manageress
2015 Ballarat Cup	1st	Junoob	2 minutes 18.45 seconds
	2nd	Wales
	3rd	Sonntag
2014 Ballarat Cup	1st	Mujadale	2 minutes 17.8 seconds
	2nd	At First Sight
	3rd	Fat Al
2013 Ballarat Cup	1st	The Offer	2 minutes 25.1 seconds
	2nd	Pelicano
	3rd	Hurdy Gurdy Man
2012 Ballarat Cup	1st	King Diamond	2 minutes 18.4 seconds
	2nd	Pelicano
	3rd	Exceptionally
2011 Ballarat Cup	1st	Domesky	2 minutes 19.2 seconds
	2nd	Rothera
	3rd	Sean Baile Mor
2010 Ballarat Cup	1st	My Bentley	2 minutes 17.0 seconds
	2nd	Kidnapped
	3rd	Allanthus
2009 Ballarat Cup	1st	Itstheone	2 minutes 14.4 seconds
	2nd	Gallions Reach
	3rd	Davcon
2008 Ballarat Cup	1st	Daka’s Gem	2 minutes 21.8 seconds
	2nd	Sentire
	3rd	Banana Man
2007 Ballarat Cup	1st	Sentire	2 minutes 23.9 seconds
	2nd	Bowl Along
	3rd	Red Riviera
2006 Ballarat Cup	1st	Rubijon	2 minutes 17.3 seconds
	2nd	Upstaged
	3rd	Lancettier
2005 Ballarat Cup	1st	Command N Conquer	2 minutes 17.4 seconds
	2nd	Maneroo Lue
	3rd	Steelworker
2004 Ballarat Cup	1st	Just The Part	2 minutes 15.4 seconds
	2nd	Irish Crusader
	3rd	Demerger
2003 Ballarat Cup	1st	Western Waters	2 minutes 16.2 seconds
	2nd	Delvecchio
	3rd	Dance On Wood
2002 Ballarat Cup	1st	Varsilayos	2 minutes 15.0 seconds
	2nd	As You Would
	3rd	Sale Of Century
2001 Ballarat Cup	1st	Aquiver	2 minutes 14.0 seconds
	2nd	Varsilayos
	3rd	Adolescence
2000 Ballarat Cup	1st	Royal Caliph	2 minutes 18.5 seconds
	2nd	Luther
	3rd	Laebeel