Hawkesbury Gold Cup

Winners and Past Results for the Hawkesbury Gold Cup

The Hawkesbury Racing Club plays host to the Hawkesbury Gold Cup during the Melbourne spring racing carnival early in November each year.

The Group 3 Hawkesbury Gold Cup event is held under open handicap conditions at Hawkesbury Racecourse in NSW. The track is located opposite the Richmond Air Force Base, 65 km west of Sydney 's city centre.

$130,000 goes to the first horse to cross the finishing post over the 1600 metre distance. The Group 1 Crown Oaks is also held on the same day on what is also known as Ladies Day at the Hawkesbury track. Most horses that assemble for the race are local gallopers during the season when top quality horses head for Flemington in search of bigger success.

The Hawkesbury Gold Cup is among the final events to be held during the Sydney racing carnival. Among the major races leading up to the Hawkesbury Gold Cup is the Group 1 Epsom Handicap, from where horses may find their way to the Hawkesbury track.

From here, top performers may move on to the Group 2 Villiers Stakes at Randwick. Another event that quality milers may hope to conquer is the Group 2 Sandown Guineas in Victoria. Some of the quality milers and stayers to win the event include Mr. Impose in 1992, Magic Road in 1995-96, Referral in 1998, Huge Demand in 1999-2000, Stoway in 2003, Wild Queen in 2007, and Keepin' The Dream in 2009.

The inaugural Hawkesbury Gold Cup in 1984 was a listed race won by Kutzbah. It was elevated to Group 3 in 1996 and has remained so ever since.

Somepin Anypin, winner in 2011, came into the race with two consecutive victories in the Bowermans Office Funtiure Handicap over 1350 metres and Centrebets Pick Your Own Field over 1400 metres at Rosehill.

2010 title holder Thankgodyou'rehere came into the race after a win in a BM85 event over 1400 metres at the Randwick track. Runner up in 2011, Willy Jimmy ran fourth in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap at Randwick earlier in October. Third placed in 2011, Renewed Vitality finished eleventh out of a field of seventeen in the Epsom Handicap and was runner up in the Centrebets Pick Your Own Field before tackling the Hawkesbury Gold Cup.

2012 Hawkesbury Gold Cup

Merlin Mustang and Malavio led in the early stages, and they kept up an honest pace as they approached the halfway point of the race. Darci Be Good was another front-runner, challenging for the lead before jockey Kathy O'Hara opted to take a trail. As they came to the turn, O'Hara pushed Darci Be Good forward, in a bold move that would prove decisive. Into the straight, Darci Be Good powered to the lead as the pace-setters flagged, and the four-year-old then fought hard to resist the finishing runs of Isopach and Praecido. In the end, Darci Be Good was too strong, holding on to score a narrow but deserved win.

2012 Hawkesbury Gold Cup result

1. Darci Be Good
2. Isopach
3. Praecido

Then came:

4. Malavio
5. Sainthood
6. World Wide
7. Alma's Fury
8. Wild And Proud
9. Merlin Mustang
10. Kontiki Park
11. Fromelles
12. Offenders