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The 2020 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 2020 Ballarat Cup ran on Saturday November 21, 2020 and was won in an upset by the emergency runner Irish Flame. 

Ballarat Cup 2020
Date:	Saturday November 21, 2020
Racecourse:	Ballarat Racecourse
Distance:	2000m
Race Type:	Handicap
Status:	Listed
Prize Money:	$500,000

2020 Ballarat Cup Results

• 1st: #17e Irish Flame
• 2nd: #10 Affair To Remember
• 3rd: #14 Game Keeper

It was a devastatingly close finish in the Ballarat Cup 2020 results with the beaten favourite Affair To Remember ($3.90F) finishing a narrow second behind the upset Brett Scott-trained winner Irish Flame ($18) who got in as an emergency runner and overcame a horror run to keep his strong form going.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	17e	IRISH FLAME (NZ)	Brett Scott	Michael Walker		16	56kg		$18
	2	10	AFFAIR TO REMEMBER	Dan O’Sullivan	Mark Zahra	0.1L	9	56kg		$3.90F
	3	14	GAME KEEPER	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	Luke Currie	0.2L	8	56kg		$20
	4	2	HARLEM (GB)	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Craig Williams	0.3L	12	61.5kg		$17
	5	11	ODEON (NZ)	Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra	Daniel Moor	0.4L	6	56kg		$14
	6	15	DOUBLE YOU TEE	Patrick Payne	Billy Egan	0.5L	14	56kg		$14
	7	7	PACODALI (IRE)	Maddie Raymond	Dean Yendall	2.25L	4	59kg		$10
	8	4	JUNIPAL	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Kerrin McEvoy	2.35L	11	60kg		$5.50
	9	9	PLEIN CIEL (GER)	Danny O’Brien	Jamie Mott	2.65L	3	56.5kg		$17
	10	1	SO SI BON	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Damian Lane	3.9L	1	62kg		$19
	11	6	KIWIA	Archie Alexander	John Allen	4.9L	15	59.5kg		$31
	12	5	AL GALAYEL (IRE)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ben Melham	5L	10	59.5kg		$15
	13	3	KINGS WILL DREAM (IRE)	Chris Waller	Michael Rodd	5.5L	13	61.5kg		$15
	14	13	FURRION (GB)	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Luke Nolen	5.7L	7	56kg		$81
	15	8	INVERLOCH (IRE)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Daniel Stackhouse	8.95L	5	57.5kg		$41
	16	12	OUR BIG MIKE (NZ)	Brett Scott	Jordan Childs	12.95L	2	56kg		$101
		19e	KNIGHTS ORDER (IRE)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Michael Dee		0
		20e	PARADEE	Danny O’Brien	Damien Oliver		0
		16	POWER SCHEME	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Jye McNeil		0
		18e	MONGOLIAN MARSHAL (NZ)	Stuart Gower	Zac Spain		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2020 Ballarat Cup Odds

The season’s top Ballarat Cup 2020 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.

2020 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 2020 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 2020 final field features a capacity line-up of stayers led in betting by Junipal coming off a win in last Saturday’s Group 3 Sandown Stakes and the Danny O’Brien-trained Affair To Remember last seen winning the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m) at Flemington.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	6×45397341	SO SI BON	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Damian Lane	1	62kg		108
2	4549×76825	HARLEM (GB)	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Craig Williams	13	61.5kg		107
3	32050×3003	KINGS WILL DREAM (IRE)	Chris Waller	Michael Rodd	14	61.5kg		107
4	1037×31191	JUNIPAL	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Kerrin McEvoy	11	60kg		104
5	02×9041116	AL GALAYEL (IRE)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ben Melham	10	59.5kg		103
6	361x8x0030	KIWIA	Archie Alexander	John Allen	17	59.5kg		103
7	10x482x897	PACODALI (IRE)	Maddie Raymond	Dean Yendall	4	59kg		102
8	2107×40720	INVERLOCH (IRE)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Daniel Stackhouse	5	57.5kg		99
9	0x31428255	PLEIN CIEL (GER)	Danny O’Brien	Jamie Mott	3	56.5kg		97
10	133×501921	AFFAIR TO REMEMBER	Dan O’Sullivan	Mark Zahra	9	56kg		96
11	2635×72423	ODEON (NZ)	Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra	Daniel Moor	6	56kg		96
12	110×322819	OUR BIG MIKE (NZ)	Brett Scott	Jordan Childs	2	56kg		96
13	x5021x0000	FURRION (GB)	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Luke Nolen	7	56kg		95
14	1111×33606	GAME KEEPER	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	Luke Currie	8	56kg		93
15	0725032253	DOUBLE YOU TEE	Patrick Payne	Billy Egan	16	56kg		92
16	52366×3112	POWER SCHEME	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Jye McNeil	20	56kg		92
17e	96×3352211	IRISH FLAME (NZ)	Brett Scott	Michael Walker	19	56kg		92
18e	5x0x955841	MONGOLIAN MARSHAL (NZ)	Stuart Gower	Zac Spain	18	56kg		92
19e	131181×614	KNIGHTS ORDER (IRE)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Michael Dee	12	56kg		92
20e	13116×4532	PARADEE	Danny O’Brien	Damien Oliver	15	56kg		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
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