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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 2020 Grafton Cup ran on Thursday July 9, 2020 and saw the Kris Lees-trained favourite Sixties Groove salute carrying the 61kg top weight. 

Grafton Cup 2020
Date:	Thursday July 9, 2020
Track:	Grafton Racecourse
Distance:	2350m
Status:	Listed
Prize Money:	$200,000
Conditions:	Quality Handicap

2020 Grafton Cup Results

• 1st: #1 Sixties Groove
• 2nd: #5 The Lord Mayor
• 3rd: #2 Carzoff

A perfectly-timed ride by jockey Jason Collett saw last year’s Brisbane Cup winner Sixties Groove ($3.50F) return to winning form in the Grafton Cup 2020 results, the race favourite saluting narrowly for the punters in a history-making win under the hefty 61kg top weight when beating home The Lord Mayor (2nd) and Carzoff (3rd) from the Chris Waller stable.

Click here to read more on the gutsy 2020 Grafton Cup win by Sixties Groove.

Colour	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	1	SIXTIES GROOVE (IRE)	Kris Lees	Jason Collett		12	61kg		$3.50F
	2	5	THE LORD MAYOR (NZ)	Chris Waller	Lee Magorrian	0.22L	9	56kg		$9
	3	2	CARZOFF (FR)	Chris Waller	Glen Boss	1.16L	14	58kg		$4.60
	4	10	NEMINGAH (NZ)	Edward O’Rourke	Ms Rachel King	1.9L	6	54kg		$31
	5	12	COMMANDER BELL	Brett Partelle	Ms Mikayla Weir (a)	2.04L	2	54kg		$61
	6	7	PRIMITIVO	John Thompson	Jean Van Overmeire (a)	2.29L	3	54kg		$7
	7	6	LA PULGA	Michael Costa	Ben Looker	2.45L	11	54.5kg		$8
	8	3	BIG DUKE (IRE)	Kris Lees	Andrew Gibbons	3.56L	5	57.5kg		$15
	9	13	I’LL MISS YOU	Julie Pratten	Raymond Spokes	5.3L	7	54kg (cd 55kg)		$151
	10	11	CHAMPAGNE VEGA	Bruce Hill	Matthew McGuren	6.86L	8	54kg (cd 55kg)		$31
	11	16	KILMARNOCK	Lea Selby	Shane S Arnold	8.03L	1	54kg		$201
	12	14	WINKLER (NZ)	Ethan Ensby	Kyle Wilson-Taylor (a)	8.42L	4	54kg		$151
	13	9	PARTNERSHIP (NZ)	Ethan Ensby	Grant Buckley	10.52L	13	54kg		$101
	14	15	MISTER MAKER	Catherine Inwood	Jon Grisedale	12.78L	10	54kg		$201
	15	8	SATONO RASEN (JPN)	Chris Waller	Mitchell Bell	15.2L	15	54kg		$8
		4	FRANKELY AWESOME	Kris Lees	Jason Collett		0

*Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2020 Grafton Cup Odds

The winter’s latest Grafton Cup 2020 betting odds and market links to Ladbrokes.com.au will be available below leading-up to the race.

Sixties Groove ($3.50 in 2020) was the last favourite in Grafton Cup betting to salute for the punters.

2020 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.

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) was the last galloper 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 Sixties Groove (2nd in 2020) the last Grafton Cup winner to come via the Rosehill lead-up.

The official Grafton Cup 2020 Final Field & Barriers are set for release on the Monday of race week and will be published in full below.

The 2020 Grafton Cup field attracted 16 stayers including three for NSW Premiership leading trainer Kris Lees who will saddle-up veteran galloper Big Duke along with his WJ McKell Cup quinella of Frankely Awesome and Sixties Groove.

Click here to read more on the leading chances in the Grafton Cup 2020 field and betting markets.

Update: #4 Frankely Awesome (16) has been scratched from the 2020 Grafton Cup field after drawing the outside barrier and will instead be saved for a benchmark race in Sydney Saturday week.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	3321x0x972	SIXTIES GROOVE (IRE)	Kris Lees	Jason Collett (late alt)	12	61kg			106
2	945×024923	CARZOFF (FR)	Chris Waller	Glen Boss	14	58kg			100
3	326x750x90	BIG DUKE (IRE)	Kris Lees	Andrew Gibbons	5	57.5kg			99
4	7223x07x61	FRANKELY AWESOME	Kris Lees	Jason Collett	16	56kg			100
5	2133×08364	THE LORD MAYOR (NZ)	Chris Waller	Lee Magorrian	9	56kg			96
6	6×54121162	LA PULGA	Michael Costa	Ben Looker	11	54.5kg			93
7	x821950x68	PRIMITIVO	John Thompson	Jean Van Overmeire (a)	3	54kg			91
8	9x0225x004	SATONO RASEN (JPN)	Chris Waller	Mitchell Bell	15	54kg			91
9	8971116×00	PARTNERSHIP (NZ)	Ethan Ensby	Grant Buckley	13	54kg			67
10	336×521131	NEMINGAH (NZ)	Edward O’Rourke	Ms Rachel King (late alt)	6	54kg			64
11	4062323354	CHAMPAGNE VEGA	Bruce Hill	Matthew McGuren	8	54kg	55kg		60
12	x445416232	COMMANDER BELL	Brett Partelle	Ms Mikayla Weir (a)	2	54kg			60
13	x755650674	I’LL MISS YOU	Julie Pratten	Raymond Spokes	7	54kg	55kg		60
14	864×802468	WINKLER (NZ)	Ethan Ensby	Kyle Wilson-Taylor (a)	4	54kg			60
15	8802234733	MISTER MAKER	Catherine Inwood	Jon Grisedale	10	54kg			49
16	7745752574	KILMARNOCK	Lea Selby	Shane S Arnold	1	54kg			45

*Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2020 Grafton Cup Nominations

The Grafton Cup 2020 Nominations close the Thursday prior to the race, along with those for the Ramornie Handicap.

The 2020 Grafton Cup Nominations attracted 23 stayers with all-in betting led by the Kris Lees-trained mare Frankely Awesome and stablemate Sixties Groove who ran one-two in the Listed W J McKell Cup (2000m) at Rosehill last start.

Read more about the Grafton Cup 2020 Nominees & Weights. 

#	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	True Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	7223x07x61	FRANKELY AWESOME	M	4	Kris Lees	1=	56kg	56kg		100
2	336×521131	NEMINGAH (NZ)	G	4	Edward O’Rourke	1=	54kg	54kg		64
3	3321x0x972	SIXTIES GROOVE (IRE)	G	7	Kris Lees	3	61kg	61kg		106
4	945×024923	CARZOFF (FR)	G	7	Chris Waller	4	58kg	58kg		100
5	326x750x90	BIG DUKE (IRE)	G	8	Kris Lees	5	57.5kg	57.5kg		99
6	2133×08364	THE LORD MAYOR (NZ)	G	5	Chris Waller	6	56kg	56kg		96
7	6×54121162	LA PULGA	G	4	Michael Costa	7	54.5kg	54.5kg		93
8	x821950x68	PRIMITIVO	G	5	John Thompson	8=	54kg	54kg		91
9	9x0225x004	SATONO RASEN (JPN)	G	8	Chris Waller	8=	54kg	54kg		91
10	408×066075	KAONIC (NZ)	G	5	Chris Waller	10=	54kg	54kg		90
11	5756721381	LOTA CREEK GOLD	G	5	Harold Norman	10=	54kg	54kg		90
12	251111×168	THE KINGDOM	G	4	Les Kelly	12	54kg	54kg		86
13	22215×9681	OCEAN ADDICT (NZ)	M	5	Toby & Trent Edmonds	13	54kg	54kg		77
14	669×810004	PIRATE BEN	G	8	Damien Lane	14	54kg	54kg		69
15	8971116×00	PARTNERSHIP (NZ)	G	4	Ethan Ensby	15	54kg	54kg		67
16	x864444323	CHILLY CHA CHA (NZ)	M	5	Kris Lees	16	54kg	54kg		65
17	0406232335	CHAMPAGNE VEGA	G	4	Bruce Hill	17=	54kg	54kg		60
18	x445416232	COMMANDER BELL	G	4	Brett Partelle	17=	54kg	54kg		60
19	x755650674	I’LL MISS YOU	M	8	Julie Pratten	17=	54kg	54kg		60
20	864×802468	WINKLER (NZ)	G	6	Ethan Ensby	17=	54kg	54kg		60
21	3×03212459	LADY GRANDE (NZ)	M	5	Ethan Ensby	21	54kg	54kg		54
22	8802234733	MISTER MAKER	G	7	Catherine Inwood	22	54kg	54kg		49
23	9774575257	KILMARNOCK	G	7	Lea Selby	23	54kg	54kg		45

*Table Credit: Racing Australia.

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
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