The Wellington Cup is a Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

 in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 held annually in late January at Trentham Racecourse

Trentham Racecourse

Trentham Racecourse is the main thoroughbred horse racecourse for the Wellington city area in New Zealand.-Main Races:* G2 Wellington Cup; 2400m .* G1 New Zealand Oaks; 2400m* G1 Telegraph Handicap; 1200m.* G1 Thorndon Mile; 1600m...

 in Trentham by the Wellington Racing Club

Wellington Racing Club

The Wellington Racing Club is a racing horse racing club based in Trentham, Wellington, New Zealand.Founded as the Wellington Jockey Club in 1854, the first race meetings held by the club were at Hutt Park in 1854 and at Burnham Water on the Miramar Peninsula.The Club first ran its signature...

.

Inaugurated in 1874, it was raced over various distances until 1974 when it was converted to a metric distance of 3200 meters

• 2 miles : 1874-1889, 1942–1973
• 1½ miles : 1890-1941
• 3200 meters : 1974-2008
• 2400 meters : 2009 onwards

The event is one of New Zealand's most important races and currently offers a purse of NZ$

New Zealand dollar

The New Zealand dollar is the currency of New Zealand. It also circulates in the Cook Islands , Niue, Tokelau, and the Pitcairn Islands. It is divided into 100 cents....

250,000. 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 meters in order to attract a higher quality field.

Records

Speed record:

• 3.15.59 - Daria's Fun 1988 3200 metres
• 3.16.2 - Il Tempo (1970 ( at pre 1974 distance of 2 miles)

Most wins:

• 3 - Cynisca
  Cynisca (horse)
  Cynisca was a Thoroughbred mare racehorse named for the Spartan princess Cynisca who became the first woman in history to win at the ancient Olympic Games when she won the four-horse chariot race in 396 BC....
  
   (1890, 1891, 1892)
• 3 - Great Sensation
  Great Sensation
  Great Sensation was a champion New Zealand bred Thoroughbred stayer. He was sired by Cassock and out of the mare, Speedy. Great Sensation began his racing career in 1956 at Wingatui Racecourse in Dunedin....
  
   (1961, 1962, 1963)
• 3 - Castletown
  Castletown (horse)
  Castletown is a New Zealand thoroughbred racehorse who won over $2 million in prize money and is best known for winning one of New Zealand's toughest staying tests, the Wellington Cup, on three occasions. He had over 100 starts, from two to eight years of age, including a record 13 races over...
  
   (1991, 1992, 1994)

Most wins by an owner:

• ? -

Most wins by a jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

:

• ? -

Most wins by a trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

:

• ? -

Winners since 1999

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
2011	Spiro	5	Kane Smith	Sylvia Kay	P J & Mrs S L Kay et al.	2:28.82
2010	Red Ruler	5	Mark Du Plessis	John Sargent	R J Arculli, A R Meehan & G B Sargent	2:27.42
2009	Megapins	5	Trudy Thornton	John & Karen Parsons	W R Campbell et al.	2.28.32
2008	Young Centaur	5	Michael Walker Michael Walker (jockey) Michael Walker is New Zealand jockey of Māori ancestry. He was born in Rotorua, New Zealand in the central districts of the North Island, although his family later moved to Waitara. At the age of 11 Walker approached noted thoroughbred trainer Allan Sharrock, asking for work with his horses....	John Sargent	J G Sargent & A Soon Shiong	3.22.15
2007	Willy Smith	5	Matthew Cameron	Mark Todd Mark Todd (equestrian) Mark James Todd, CBE is a New Zealand horseman noted for his accomplishments in the discipline of eventing, voted Rider of the 20th Century by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports, Mark James Todd, CBE (born 1 March 1956) is a New Zealand horseman noted for his accomplishments in the...	Mrs M K Hain / M McPhail	3.22.11
2006	Envoy	7	Grant Cooksley	Ken Kelso	K & B Kelso / R & J White	3:22.38
2005	Zabeat	5	Peter Johnson	Dean M. Logan	A.M. Goodwin / Mrs. D.M. Logan	3:20.73
2004	Cluden Creek	5	Andrew Calder	John Boon	B Barber/W Purvis/A MacDonald	3:26.49
2003	Oarsman	5	G. Grylls	P. Duncan	B E & R W Punch	3:19.53
2002	Cyclades	6	Lance O'Sullivan Lance O'Sullivan Lance Anthony O'Sullivan was one of New Zealand's best-known jockeys, now retired.He won a record number of races totalling 2479, mainly in the 1980s including the 1989 Japan Cup on champion mare Horlicks, which broke the world record over 2400m...	Cydne Evans	D N & W E Pye	3:20.20
2001	Smiling Like	6	Michael Walker Michael Walker (jockey) Michael Walker is New Zealand jockey of Māori ancestry. He was born in Rotorua, New Zealand in the central districts of the North Island, although his family later moved to Waitara. At the age of 11 Walker approached noted thoroughbred trainer Allan Sharrock, asking for work with his horses....	Graeme Rogerson	Sir Patrick & Lady Hogan	3:22.04
2000	Second Coming	5	Michael T. Coleman	Michael Moroney	Paul Moroney et al.	3.20.93
1999	Miss Bailey	7	Leanne Isherwood	Grant Cullen	Grant Cullen et al.	3:21.91