Supply And Demand has justified his outright favouritism with an impressive start-to-finish win in the Listed Grafton Cup (2350m) this afternoon.
The Sebring gelding remained firm in Grafton Cup betting markets this afternoon, however punters continued to rally around the likes of Montauk and Benzini.
Jumping from the gates well, jockey Josh Parr allowed Supply And Demand to stride forward and immediately take up the running; leading the field past the post the first time, alongside the likes of Montauk and War Baby.
Settling into an ideal rhythm and experiencing a carefree run in transit, the four-year-old led the field into the final straight and was allowed plenty of time to balance before being asked for an extra effort.
Appearing to be dropping back towards the field with 300m to run, Supply And Demand only continued to find and worked to the line well to post a fourth-consecutive race win and second at Listed level.
Josh Adams delivered a gem of a ride on Get On The Grange, who flew home to finish second, while Montauk boxed on well to finish third.
Stable representative for trainers Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott, Neil Payne was thrilled with Supply And Demand’s performance in the Grafton Cup and was quick to lay the praise on Bott’s race placement, as well as Parr’s ride.
“Gai will be watching this race and will be over the moon,” Payne said after the race.
“All the credit goes to her co-trainer Adrian Bott – He has been planning this horse’s races over the last six weeks and has placed him beautifully from winning a couple in Sydney, up to the Caloundra Cup and to Grafton.
“He carried 58.5 today, so that was a really good effort.
“We were always worried that he couldn’t stay the distance, but then he proved that he could in the Caloundra Cup and then he’s topped it off today. Terrific.
“Josh said to me before the race that he’d dearly love to win this Grafton Cup, so this means more to him than the Caloundra Cup. Josh will be over the moon.”
Parr was thrilled to ride his first Grafton Cup winner this afternoon and was impressed by the toughness shown by his talented mount.
“It’s really, really special for me to win on this horse today,” Parr said.
“It was sheer toughness that got him home today. He was out on his feet when I went for him at the 500m and found half a length at best, but it was just sheer toughness that got him to the line today.”
Supply And Demand has posted seven wins and a further six minors through his seventeen career starts to date.