Ballarat Cup News

2023 Ballarat Cup Field & Betting Update

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• 2017 Ballarat Cup Betting Tips & Update

The 2024 Ballarat Cup is a 2000m event held at Ballarat Racecourse in late November or early December 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 2022 Ballarat Cup form was franked with the second placed mare Atishu going on to run third next-up in the $2 million The Ingham (1600m) in Sydney. She also returned in 2023 and won the Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) and Group 1 Champions Stakes (2000m).

The 2024 Ballarat Cup runs on Saturday December 7, 2024. 

2024 Ballarat Cup Results

• 1st: TBD
• 2nd: TBD
• 3rd: TBD

2024 Ballarat Cup Betting

The season’s top Ballarat Cup 2024 betting markets and end-of-spring betting odds will be open at Ladbrokes.com.au on the Listed Victorian Cups race and provided here at Races.com.au.

Captain Envious ($3.70 in 2023) was the last favourite in Ballarat Cup betting to win.

2024 Ballarat Cup Form Guide

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2024 BALLARAT CUP FORM GUIDE

2024 Ballarat Cup Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Ballarat Cup 2024 Tips on the half-a-million-dollar showdown this spring.

• To Win: TBD

2024 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 2024 Ballarat Cup field and barriers are set for release on the Wednesday before the race and will be published in full below.

2024 Ballarat Cup Nominations

Early Ballarat Cup nominations for 2024 close the Monday of race week and will be updated below once announced.

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