The Victoria small town of Woodend lies in the Shire of Macedon region of the state, mid-way between Bendigo and Melbourne. It was first laid out as a town in 1836 by Major Thomas Mitchell, developing on the back of a gold rush in the area close to Bendigo. Today the population is in excess of 5,500, but at one time it had its own very successful racecourse, although today the Woodend Cup is held at Kyneton Racecourse, normally on the first Saturday in February.
The Woodland Racing Club held their inaugural meeting on Friday 18th March 1870 on the racecourse at the back of the town, in a very picturesque location, commanding a view over an extensive range of very romantic scenery, including Hanging Rock and Mount Macedon. However, on the negative side, the course was very undulating so as to be disagreeable for most horses. The feature races in the early days were the Dalhousie Handicap and the Newhamshire Handicap. In 1873 the Racing Club introduced the Woodend Cup for the first time, run over 3 times the course and the distance, about 2 miles in total.
Wednesday 16th April 1873
Woodend Cup (20 sovereigns) over 2 miles
1. Forester owned by Mr G Leirsch and ridden by Leirsch
2. Delhi owned by Mr E B Luttrell and ridden by Taylor
3. Ben Bolt owned by Mr C Clarke and ridden by Clarke
6 ran
Early Woodend Cup winners
(A full list of winners is available on request)
1873 The Woodend Cup (20 sovereigns) over 2 miles was won by Forester owned by Mr G Leirsch and ridden by Leirsch, beating Delhi and Ben Bolt 6 ran
1874 The Woodend Cup (20 sovereigns) over 2 miles was won by Topper owned by Mr C Clarke and ridden by Clarke, beating Delhi and Constance
1875 The Woodend Cup (20 sovereigns) over 2 miles was won by Kate owned by Mr W Burns and ridden by S Harper, beating Nonsense and Topper
1876 The Woodend Cup (20 sovereigns) over 2 miles was won by Ingomar owned by Mr G McCornell, beating Kate owned by Mr W Burn 5 ran
1877 The Woodend Cup (20 sovereigns) over 2 miles was won by Prince owned by Mr G Leirsch and ridden by Leirsch, beating Forester and Ingomar 5 ran
Recent winners of the Woodend Cup (run at Kyneton Racecourse)
2012 The Woodend Cup ($15,275) over 1850 metres was won by Tuscan Fire (10/1) trained by Dan O’Sullivan and ridden by Linda Meech, beating Mr O’Postrophe and Street Eclipse 12 ran
2013 The Woodend Cup ($15,000) over 1850 metres was won by To Be Honest (5/4 fav) trained by John Salanitri and ridden by Dean Yendall, beating Enchanting Waters and Firejet 7 ran
2014 The Woodend Cup ($12,000) over 1450 metres was won by Arena Rock (9/2) trained by Luke Oliver and ridden by Brian Park, beating Malan and The Travelling Man 8 ran
2015 The Woodend Cup ($12,000) over 1450 metres was won by Steep (13/2) trained by Glen James and ridden by Kevin Forrester, beating Leicameares and Murdoch’s Joy 10 ran
2016 The Woodend Cup ($13,750) over 1850 metres was won by Tally (11/8 fav) trained by John O’Shea and ridden by Andrew Mallyon, beating Grand Sai Wan and Global Assault 10 ran
2017 The Woodend Cup ($13,750) over 1850 metres was won by Us the Lot (8/1) trained by Tim Hughes and ridden by Georgina Cartwright, beating Hot Power and On Wings 7 ran
2018 The Woodend Cup ($14,850) over 1850 metres was won by Imperator Augustus (7/2) trained by Darren Weir and ridden by Brad Rawiller, beating Vungers and Bernie Boy 10 ran
