Hamilton Cup

Hamilton Cup

Betting Guide
Date: Saturday October 12, 2024
Location: Hamilton Racecourse – Victoria, Australia
Prize Money: $60,000
Distance: 2200m

THE Hamilton Cup is run to coincide with the Melbourne Cup carnival and is scheduled for the end of October every year.

It’s not one of the most well-known races on the thoroughbred calendar, but a big crowd turns out to the country Victoria venue and a full field of stayers is always on hand.

The $60,000 feature over 2200m competes with the Sale Cup, which is run a fortnight later and is worth $200,000, but the Hamilton Cup provides the second-rated stayers a chance to build their form heading into a potential spring carnival campaign.

Punters love betting on the Hamilton Cup meeting as it is run on the same day as the Caulfield Guineas at Caulfield and the full fields provide plenty punters with great viewing and betting pleasure across the eight-race card.


Best Hamilton Cup bookmakers

Any online bookmaker worth their salt has Hamilton Cup markets up at least a week in advance of the race date.

The bookies below are the ones we trust when it comes to framing Hamilton Cup markets.


2024 Hamilton Cup Final Field

Horsebetting.com.au will update this page when the 2024 Hamilton Cup field is released.


Previous Hamilton Cup Fields

Some of the best country-trained racehorses have competed in the Hamilton Cup. Check out the previous fields here.

  • No. Silks Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight
    1 Silks Hasta La War Sue Murphy Jack Hill 7 63kg
    2 Silks Team Captain Matt Cumani Will Gordon 10 59kg
    3 Silks Win O’Clock Matthew Williams Tahlia Hope 5 54kg
    4 Silks Donatrice Archie Alexander Will Price 2 54kg
    5 Silks Fearentless Paul Preusker Ryan Houston 9 54kg
    6 Silks Aravene Tom Dabernig Tom Madden 3 54kg
    7 Silks Insulation Peter Moody & Katherine Coleman Carleen Hefel 1 54kg
    8 Silks Eureka’s Victory Nicole Irwin N/A 8 54kg
    9 Silks Florida Dream Luke Oliver Fred Kersley 11 54kg
    10 Silks Royal Crown Michael Kent Carleen Hefel 4 54kg
    11 Silks Dr Colin Amy McDonald Alana Kelly 6 54kg
  • No. Silks Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight
    1 Teewaters Archie Alexander Will Gordon 2 61kg
    2 Pres De Toi Peter Chow Josh Richards 1 54kg
    3 Muntham Missile Belinda O’Loughlin Dean Holland 3 54kg
    4 Lindelani Michael Trotter Neil Farley 4 54kg
    5 Takumi Aaron Purcell Christine Puls 5 54kg
    6 The Delphi Aaron Purcell Sheridan Clarke 6 54kg
  • No. Silks Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight
    1 Constantinople Aaron Purcell N/A 5 60.5kg
    2 Think We’re Due Andrew Noblet Jason Maskiell 4 58.5kg
    3 Morton’s Fork Lindsey Smith Will Gordon 8 57.5kg
    4 Harmysian Clayton Douglas Joe Bowditch 1 56kg
    5 Team Captain Matt Cumani Blaike McDougall 7 55.5kg
    6 Muntham Missile Belinda O’Loughlin Jason Benbow 10 54kg
    7 Kings Full Aaron Purcell Will Price 6 54kg
    8 Nordic Symphony Symon Wilde Josh Richards 9 54kg
    9 Hostar Peter Chow Michael Poy 2 54kg
    10 Fabalot Maddie Raymond Lachlan Neindorf 3 54kg

2023 Hamilton Cup result

Win O’clock (GB) ridden by Tahlia Hope wins the 2023 Hamilton Cup. (Photo by Brett Holburt/Racing Photos)

1stWin O’Clock (+320)
2ndAravene (+110)
3rdDonatrice (-166.67)

Recent Hamilton Cup winners

  • At the pinnacle event of the year at Hamilton, the spotlight shone on Win O’Clock, skillfully trained by Matthew Williams, as the duo clinched victory in the Hamilton Cup with the talented jockey Tahlia Hope in the saddle. This triumph marked the first Australian win for the imported gelding, who had made his way Down Under earlier in the year. Executing a strategic move by settling towards the rear of the field, Hope guided the gelding along the outer edge of the track. With a burst of superior speed in the final stretch, Win O’Clock surged ahead, crossing the finish line ahead of rivals Aravene and Donatrice.
  • After Muntham Missile won her second Hamilton Cup, Belinda O’Loughlin became the talk of Coleraine and Casterton. The eight-year-old mare had previously won the Hamitlon Cup in 2020 and the Millicent Cup in 2021. This was her third county cup victory. The majestic Muntham hill, which separates Coleraine and Casterton, where the six owners of Muntham Missile reside, is the source of the mare’s name. Due to COVID regulations, the owners were unable to attend trackside at Hamilton for the cup triumph in 2020, but they were there in force in 2022. Paul Preusker initially trained Muntham Missile at Horsham for her first seven starts, which included a victory on her debut in 2018 at Donald. Muntham Missile has subsequently won 10 races from 40 starts for the O’Loughlin stable, thus it could be the case of “the one that got away” for Preusker. The Heavy 10 rating at Hamilton was built to order since the mare develops an extra leg on extremely wet footing, and she was backed accordingly to start second favourite ($3-$2.70) in the 2200-meter event. Only five racers competed in the $60,000 race, making for a very dismal cup field (numbers-wise), with many trainers evidently choosing to avoid the challenging circumstances. Thanks to a sweet ride from Dean Holland, who gave her the run of the race in second place, there was money for jam for the backers of Muntham Missile.
  • Having gained the perfect run in transit in the one-one position, the Matt Cumani-trained Team Captain proved to good for his rivals in the 2200m staying event. Ridden a treat by Blaike McDougall, the Cumani galloper simply never looked like getting beaten following his perfect run. He loomed up on the home turn three deep and with 300m to go, he put a couple of lengths on his rivals in quick time and managed to put two lengths on his closest rival Kings Full when eased down close to the winning post.
  • Having been ridden cold at the back of the field, the Belinda O’Loughlin-trained Muntham Missile claimed an impressive victory in the 2020 Hamilton Cup. Jockey Harry Coffey had his mount travelling underneath him approaching the home turn and simply just needed a touch of luck to help get his mount to the outside. Once Muntham Missile hit the centre of the track, he lengthened nicely and managed to kick clear from his rivals inside the final 50m and won running away from them.
  • The Paul Preusker-trained Rupture was an impressive winner in the 2019 Hamilton Cup, with the lightly race six-year-old. There was hardly any nerves for favourite backers, with Rupture putting some six lengths on Instigator in the 2200m event. The win was Rupture’s fourth win in seven starts and showed his true ability throughout.
  • It was a last-to-first job for Master Zephyr, who teared away beautifully to win the Cup for Darren Weir. Settling at the back of the field early, two lengths detached from the field Christine Plus never lost her cool, patiently waiting for the front runners to tire before unleashing the Master at the 400m. The horse simply outstayed his rivals to record a three quarters of a length win.
  • An early move to take to the head of affairs paid dividends for Bling Dynasty, which hit the line strongly after doing some early work. Getting trapped wide at the beginning of the race Holly McKechnie took Bling Dynasty to the front of the field and never yielded the top position alongside Survived. The latter wilted at the 200m but Bling Dynasty stayed on strongly to take out the Cup.
  • Darren Weir continued his recent dominance of the Hamilton Cup with Leica Day winning in 2016. The five-year-old was heavily-backed at $2.80 and it did the job easily, winning by 2.25 lengths over Viva Espana and Sun Disk. The win gave Weir consecutive wins in the Hamilton Cup after Rainbow Storm won in 2015 and three wins from the past four years. The 2016 edition was run on a heavy track and the race featured a protest between the second and third placegetters.
  • Rainbow Storm was the first of back-to-back Hamilton Cup wins for trainer Darren Weir and it was the most impressive. The imported son of Desert King had plenty of ability heading into the race and punters backed it late into $4.50. The five-year-old destroyed the field by four lengths in a dominant display of racing and it was one of the more impressive Hamilton Cup winners in the history of the race. The field wasn’t bless with much talent, and the winner was clearly the best thoroughbred.
  • Jockey Nikita Beriman scored one of her more memorable wins in 2014 when guiding Bunchloch to victory in a tight tussle. The five-year-old by West Quest scored by a long neck over Sudden Moment to return odds of $9.10. They finished four lengths ahead of race favourite Count Encosta, which had the best form leading into the race. The win gave popular trainers Terry and Karina O’Sullivan one of their career highlights, which is what country racing is all about in Australia.
  • Darren Weir scored the first of his three Hamilton Cup wins Hurdy Gurdy Man in 2013. The six-year-old by Street Cry had its fair share of supporters going into the race and it got backed into $2.50 come start time. The always-popular runner had to hold off despised outsider Bredlign ($11.30 to place) in the finish, but it was able to find enough in the reserve tank. The field of 11 had to cope with the rain-affected track conditions which caught a few spring thoroughbreds off guard.
  • The 2012 Cup went to New Zealand with the Kevin Meyers-trained Crocodile Canyon taking the spoils. The eight-year-old settled off a hot speed up front and it was saved for one last shot at them. The $18 chance defeated race favourite Commanding Time in the shadows of the post, which frustrated punters. The win was the seventh from 40 starts for the Kiwi runner and it took its prize money to over $100,000.

Previous winners of the Hamilton Cup

Hamilton Cup Past Winners
Year Horse Trainer Jockey
2023 Win O’Clock Matthew Williams Tahlia Hope
2022 Muntham Missile Belinda O’Loughlin Dean Holland
2021 Team Captain Matt Cumani Blaike McDougall
2020 Muntham Missile Belinda O’Loughlin Harry Coffey
2019 Rupture Paul Preusker Dean Holland
2018 Master Zephyr Darren Weir Christine Puls
2017 Bling Dynasty Paul Preusker Holly McKechnie
2016 Leica Day Darren Weir John Allen
2015 Rainbow Storm Darren Weir Dean Yendall
2014 Bunchlock Terry O’Sullivan Nikita Berriman
2013 Hurdy Gurdy Man Darren Weir Brad Rawiller
2012 Crocodile Canyon Kevin Meyers Craig Robertson
2011 Risk it All Michael O’Leary Jason Lyon
2010 Lady Avacan Sue Jaensch Brad Rawiller
2009 Larry’s Never Late Rodney Douglas Glen Boss
2008 Brough Superior Ciaron Maher Brady Cross
2007 Baughurst Bill Wilde Craig Robertson
2006 Forest Knight Fran Houlahan Brad Rawiller
2005 Palio Archway Brendan McCarthy Dean Yendall
2004 Badgers Wood Bill Wilde Michael Evans
2003 Le Destina Robert Smerdon Sam Hyland
2002 Sly Rambler Barbara Marshman Linda Meech
2001 Samosiera Robert Smerdon Sam Hyland
2000 Fuss Bevan Laming Darren Gauci

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