The New South Wales town of Berrigan is located in the Riverina region of the state on the Riverina Highway close to the border with neighbouring Victoria. Its history dates back to the late 1800s and today has a population of approximately 1,000 inhabitants. The town has a successful racecourse where racing is administered by the Berrigan Race Club, currently hosting 3 meetings annually, the highlight of the racing year being the Berrigan Gold Cup over 1600 metres, contested in late October or early November and timed to be held on the same day as the Victoria Cup. However, the races date back to the final years of the 19th century, beginning with an impromptu meeting in November 1888 when the Berrigan Handicap was won by an unnamed gelding owned by Mr J McColl, defeating Mr P Murphy’s selection. |
After that 1888 meeting Berrigan races became an annual event, although they moved from November to Friday 22nd February the next year and from then on were held in March. The racecourse was on the slopes of Green Hills, within 2 miles of the township. The principal event at that time was the Berrigan Handicap over 1 ½ miles. Results from the first few years are shown below, although all results are available on request.
Tuesday 3rd March 1890
Berrigan Handicap (25 sovereigns) over 1 ½ miles
1. Butterfly owned by Mr J Halburd and ridden by F Hoystead
2. Bumble Bee owned by Mr T Howard and ridden by Islesly
3. Trentham owned by Mr W White and ridden by Wynne
Tuesday 4th March 1891
Berrigan Handicap (£25) over 1 ½ miles
1. Unity owned by Mr A R Brown
2. Dancing Master owned by Mr J Hoysted
3. Bee owned by Mr R Alexander
4, INO owned by Mr J Shaw
Wednesday 9th March 1892
Berrigan Handicap (£25) over 1 ½ miles
1. Night Owl owned by Mr C J Kean
2. Greylight owned by Mr T Quinn
3. Belle Blue owned by Mr R Alexander
7 ran
In 1893 the Berrigan Handicap was held on Wednesday 22nd March and was won by Saxon, who defeated Wombat and Theorem. |
Recent Berrigan Cup Winners
2008 The Berrigan Cup ($6,500) over 1500 metres was won by Roi Polloi (2/1) trained by Rick Freyer and ridden by Brendan Ward, beating Stash of Gold and Gala Evening 5 ran
2009 The Berrigan Cup ($6,500) over 1500 metres was won by Aussie Bomber (5/2) trained by Rick Freyer and ridden by Jamie Anstice, beating Electric Puha and Sharni’s Rein 9 ran
2010 The Berrigan Cup ($6,500) over 1500 metres was won by Smokey Scene (12/1) trained by Emma Steel and ridden by Michael Fitzgerald, beating Regular Aussie and Aussie Bomber 10 ran
2011 The Berrigan Cup ($6,500) over 1500 metres was won by Regular Aussie (5/6 fav) trained by Mick Hartney and ridden by Nick Souquet, beating Jeunealistic and Rouge Rose 9 ran
2012 The Berrigan Cup ($7,100) over 1600 metres was won by Regular Aussie (5/6 fav) trained by Mick Hartney and ridden by Brodie Loy, beating Wingardium Leviosa and Jaffar 7 ran
2013 The Berrigan Cup ($7,100) over 1600 metres was won by Regular Aussie (5/2) trained by Mick Hartney and ridden by Nick Souquet, beating He’s An Angel and Brillanconi 6 ran
2014 The Berrigan Cup ($7,100) over 1600 metres was won by Defenceman (7/2) trained by Emma Steel and ridden by Jake Duffy, beating Cee Cee ‘N’ Dry and Street Ride 7 ran
2015 The Berrigan Cup meeting was abandoned
2016 The Berrigan Cup ($7,180) over 1600 metres was won by Zarreig (7/1) trained by Peter Clancy and ridden by Bradley Vale, beating Marchello and Kinselmac Manner 8 ran
2017 The Berrigan Cup ($8,975) over 1600 metres was won by Dyrham Park (6/4 fav) trained by Dave Heywood and ridden by Simon Miller, beating Zarreig and Marchello 6 ran |
