Trained at Bathurst by Dean Mirfin, the eight-year-old gelding Sovereignaire was positioned midfield on the fence by Dunbar with Bon Honour setting the pace in the 2000 metres Oliver’s Hardware/Crutcher Developments Grenfell Cup.

Gentleman Max carrying the 61-kilogram top weight took a slender lead at the top of the straight however Sovereignaire ($6) finished strongly along the inside rail to score a convincing win over the Trevor Sutherland, Wagga Wagga trained stablemates Run Hoff Run (Bryan Murphy, $3.20) and Gentleman Max (Michael Travers, $4).

Dean Mirfin was responsible for a fine training feat as Sovereignaire hadn’t won for more than two years and was stepping up sharply in distance for the 2000m Cup.

Dunbar kicked off his big day with a winning double on the Wayne Collison, Narromine-trained pair Bring A Beer Along and Some Nights.

Bring A Beer Along ($5) shared the lead then broke clear to win the Benchmark 58 Handicap (1000m) from the fast finishing Malibu Stacy (Kath Bell-Pitomac, $21) and Benno’s Boy (Michael Travers, $2.80 favourite).

Some Nights ($5) then finished best to beat the leader Future In Doubt (James Rogers, $26) and Shake Off (Mathew Cahill, $10) in the Mawhoods IGA/Bromar Engineering Class 2 Handicap (1200m).

Feature event, the $8000 Cultiv8 Financials Loaded Dog BM 58 Handicap (1400m) saw the Karen McCarroll, Wellington-trained Smart Attire (Ken Dunbar, $4) leading for home and holding on to beat Cryfowl (Michael Hackett, $4) and Tearful Kitty (Michael Travers, $3.50 fav).

Other winners were Tiffoni (Richard Bensley, $1.60 fav) from the Matthew Dale stable at Canberra and Rip Into Ghia (Mathew Cahill, $1.80 fav) now trained at Canberra by Luke Pepper.

Rip Into Ghia had formerly raced in New Zealand and finished second at Timaru in July.

Despite the drought the Grenfell racecourse was presented in great order by a small but very enthusiastic committee.