Zoumon leads all the way to win Grafton Cup

By Tim Howard

The Gai Waterhouse Adrian Bott training partnership continued its stranglehold on the Grafton Cup, making it fve cups in 10 years when Zoumon powered across the line on Thursday.

And jockey Rachel King made it two Grafton Cups in a row, with a faultless ride. Bott, making his frst visit to Grafton, was delighted to be on track in front of a big crowd for the presentation of trophies.

The winner’s share of the $200,000 on offer for the 2023 Westlawn Finance Grafton Cup 2350m was always Zoumon’s to win.

The four-year-old gelding came to Grafton in superlative form with wins at his previous two starts, the Listed ATC McKell Cup (2000m) and Listed Caloundra Cup (2400m).

He found the track, rated a Good 4, to his liking and a jockey in King prepared to indulge his front running tendency.

After the race King was glowing in praise of her mount.

“Coming into the corner he was stepping out nicely in front and and when we had to change gears he responded perfectly.

“The more I asked from him, the more he had to give.”

Zoumon hit the line two lengths in front of Outlandos and another length back to thirdplace Spirit Ridge. But she said his laidback personality was a contrast to his dominating racing style. “At the starting gate I had to give him a bit of a squeeze to make sure he was awake.”

After the race Bott revealed this was his frst visit to Grafton, but it wouldn’t be his last as the stable wanted to build on its impressive Grafton Cup record.

“I know in the past 10 years we had three cup winners with Gai and now we have two more since I came on board,” he said.

He was not sure where to go with Zoumon, but suggested he had more to come this preparation.

“There’s the staying races in spring and they always seem to come up quickly,” he said. “We’d like to keep him racing over that time, but I’m not exactly sure what’s available.

“But he’s been lightly raced, so I feel he’s got plenty left in the tank.”

Bott was a popular fgure as the crowd surged down to the fence to get a closer look at the winning horse.

He posed for selfes and chatted with members of the crowd congratulating him.