The New South Wales border town of Wentworth lies at the confluence of the Darling River and the Murray River and is close to the Victoria state border and less than 100 kilometres from the South Australia border. It is named after the famous explorer turned politician William Charles Wentworth and benefits from its own racecourse which has a long illustrious history. The Wentworth District Racing Club staged its inaugural meeting on New Years’ Day 1862 on a makeshift course in the north of the town. However, as early as December 1860 newspapers were advertising ‘annual races at Wentworth’ concerning a two day meeting which took place on 1st and 2nd January 1861.Towards the end of that year a further two day meeting, dinner and Ball was staged on Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th December 1861. At the end of the next year a two day meeting was held on Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th December 1862 when the feature races were the Town Plate, Publicans’ Purse and Hurdle race, details of which are shown below. At the end of the first day a Ball was held at MacGeorge’s Hotel when nearly all settlers and their families were present. Dancing took place until midnight when the bell sounded for supper, after which further dancing was kept up until 4am. After the second days racing a dinner was arranged for 40 gentlemen at Gunn’s Crown Hotel. |
By the 1870s the Wentworth Cup was the principal race on the card each April, with Moonlight recording a trio of successive victories towards the end of the decade.
1877 Wentworth Cup (50 sovereigns) over 2 ¼ miles was won by Moonlight owned by Mr W Roberston and ridden by Sims, beating Thane and Talk of the River
1878 Wentworth Cup (50 sovereigns) over 2 ¼ miles was won by Moonlight owned by Mr W Robertson and ridden by Sims, beating Timberoo and Goldfinder
1879 Wentworth Cup (50 sovereigns) over 3 miles was won by Moonlight owned by Mr W Robertson and ridden by Fry, beating Forerunner and Frank 6 ran |
Today the Racing Club continues to organise an excellent, well attended annual meeting which coincides with the Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday in November. The highlight of its racing year is the Wentworth Cup over 1800 metres.
Recent winners of the Wentworth Cup
(A full list of winners is available on request)
2009 Wentworth Cup ($6,650) over 1800 metres was won by Pelekunu Valley (3/1) trained by Ron Campbell and ridden by Murray Henderson, beating Eight Stitches and Armani Black 7 ran
2010 Wentworth Cup was not contested
2011 Wentworth Cup ($6,650) over 1400 metres was won by Da Thong (5/2) trained by Paula Trenwith and ridden by Wayne Kerford, beating Jeune Cheval and Nowhere To Go 7 ran
2012 Wentworth Cup ($5,820) over 1840 metres was won by Jeune Cheval (6/1) trained by William Barker and ridden by Murray Henderson, beating St Ives and Perisher Blue 5 ran
2013 Wentworth Cup ($5,820) over 1840 metres was won by Sierra Skies (9/2) trained by Paula Trenwith and ridden by Tamara Zanker, beating Con Thrust and Drafted 6 ran
2014 Wentworth Cup ($7,100) over 1840 metres was won by The Wild Thing (13/8 fav) trained by Ron Daniel and ridden by Paul Marks, beating Jack’s A Tiger Too and Cool As Hel 7 ran
2015 Wentworth Cup ($7,740) over 1840 metres was won by Honor The Moment (1/2 fav) trained by Cindy Brander and ridden by Stacey Metcalfe, beating Grassini and Micklem 8 ran
2016 Wentworth Cup ($7,820) over 1840 metres was won by Seulamont (15/4) trained by Joe Kelly and ridden by Jemma Frew, beating Honor The Moment and Alpha Auriga 6 ran
2017 Wentworth Cup ($7,715) over 1840 metres was won by Seulamont (7/2) trained by Joe Kelly and ridden by Dean McWhinney, beating Alpha Auriga and Honor The Moment 6 ran |
