A major feature of racing in the Riverina, the Graeme Hull Memorial Wagga Gold Cup has been won by numerous smart sprinters.
The inaugural Cup winner in 1998 was Drumwood Prince, while Cowra trainer Rod McDonald won with Easter Egg winner Dana Beatrice in 2009 and Dana Gretel in 2008.
Cosmic Prince won the feature in 2015, Gunshot Ridge took out the Cup in 2018, while Frank Hurst took Good Odds Buddy to Wagga in 2019 and took home the Gold Cup event.
In 2021, Correy Grenfell and his soon to be wife Samantha Ferguson brought a number of dogs to Wagga for the Cup heats, and finished with four in the final.
Correy's Yozo Bale began well from the eight box and was able to cross the field at the first turn and raced away for a brilliant win.
A year on and again the couple had four runners in the final, and this time it was Sam's Vayda Bale who speared to the lead off the red draw and was never in danger, winning easily from kennelmates Xavien Bale (runner-up for a second successive year) and Nikoli Bale. Yozo Bale finished back in seventh place.
The Grenfells were at it again when the race was rescheduled and run as the Bidgee Cup in November 2022.
Again it was Vayda Bale taking out the final with Xavien Bale, again a finalist, but unable to figure in the placings this time around.
