Kiwi stayer Benzini has been allocated the top weight in the final fifteen horse field for the Listed $160,000 McKimms Real Estate Grafton Cup (2350m) at Grafton on Thursday.

Benzini, above, will carry the top weight in the 2017 Grafton Cup at Grafton. Photo by Steve Hart.

Benzini, above, will carry the top weight in the 2017 Grafton Cup at Grafton. Photo by Steve Hart.

The Adrian and Harry Bull trained Benzini will carry 59kg while the in-form Supply And Demand has half a kilo less with 58.5kg as he chases his fourth win on the trot.

Supply And Demand carried 55.5kg with Josh Parr in the saddle to claim a hat trick of wins with his victory in the Listed $175,000 The Pump House Caloundra Cup (2400m) at the Sunshine Coast on July 1 while Benzini was just over five lengths away in sixth position with 59.5kg on his back.

Parr will again be on the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained Supply And Demand in the Grafton Cup.

The remaining thirteen Grafton Cup runners are all on the 54kg minimum with the Chris Waller trained Montauk next in saddlecloth order.

Montauk has been a consistent performer for the Waller stable and even though the four year old hasn’t been in the winner’s circle since his two wins in January in BenchMark Handicaps, he hasn’t been far off the pace.

Montauk finished third two starts back to Supply And Demand in the $100,000 Kensei Handicap (2000m) at Rosehill on June 17 followed by a second to Gallic Chieftain in the Listed $125,000 ATC Winter Cup (2400m)

Stradbroke Handicap winning jockey Corey Brown takes over from Tim Clark on Montauk in the Grafton Cup.

Brisbane’s premiership winning jockey Jeff Lloyd takes the mount again on the Jason Coyle trained More Energy after the pair combined to run second to Rudy in the Group 3 $200,000 Carlton Mid Tattersall’s Cup (2200m) at Doomben on June 24.

War Baby will be taking on Supply And Demand again after finishing third in the Caloundra Cup with Larry Cassidy retaining the ride while the Chris Munce trained First Crush will be looking for back to back wins at Grafton after winning the $25,000 Grafton Cup Prelude (2215m) last Thursday.

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.