The Wellington Cup is a Group 3 Thoroughbred horse race in New Zealand held annually in late January at Trentham Racecourse in Trentham by the Wellington Racing Club.

History

Inaugurated in 1874, the Wellington Cup has been raced over various distances: There were two prior Wellington Cups in 1867 and 1868. These were unofficial events run by the first Wellington Jockey Club and not recognised by the NZ Turf Register. The Wellington Cup is one of New Zealand's most famous and popular races and currently offers a purse of NZ$300,000 which belies its Group Three status. Wellington Cup day attracts large crowds to Trentham Racecourse and the other races on the card include the Group One Thorndon Mile, the Group Three Desert Gold Stakes and the Douro Cup. The Wellington Cup was a Group 1 race until 2008. Given the prestige of the race, there was some disappointment at the news that the race would lose its Group One status from 2009. The Wellington Racing Club responded to the downgrade by reducing the distance to 2400 metres in order to attract a higher quality field. The race reverted to 3200m from 2016 to help encourage New Zealand stayers. However, in 2017 the race was downgraded again to Group Three status. Queen Elizabeth II attended in 1970. One of the most famous winners of the Wellington Cup was Kiwi, ridden by Jimmy Cassidy. The pair went on to win the 1983 Melbourne Cup for trainer, Snow Lupton of Waverley. Snow's grand-daughter Jaimee-Lee Lupton trained the 2020 Wellington Cup winner Soleseifei. In past years the Wellington Racing Club arranged celebrity guests of honour such as: The 2023 Wellington Cup is the 150th edition of the race. The biggest dividend paid for a Wellington Cup winner was $180 for Simon de Montfort, ridden by Brian Dodds in 1972. The 2024 edition was on the last race-day of calling by Tony Lee, after a 40 year career.

1954 racebook

Records

Speed record: Most wins: Most wins by a jockey: Most wins by a trainer:

Winners of the Wellington Cup since 1953

Earlier winners