NE Manion Cup 2024 Tips, Betting Odds, Past Winners & Results

The N E Manion Cup is a Group 3 race for stayers held in March by the ATC at Rosehill Racecourse. The race is run over 2400 metres by horses aged three years and above competing under quality handicap conditions.

Prize money for the race is $200,000 as of 2023.

 

NE Manion Cup Race Details

Date: 23/3/24

Time: TBA

Racecourse: Rosehill

Race Distance: 2400m

Conditions: TBA

Prize Money: $200,000

How To Bet On The NE Manion Cup

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NE Manion Cup Betting Tips

1. TBA

2. TBA

3. TBA

When Is The NE Manion Cup: 23/3/24

What Time Is The NE Manion Cup: TBA

Where Is The NE Manion Cup: Rosehill Racecourse

How To Live Stream The NE Manion Cup

To live stream the NE Manion Cup, TAB Account Holders can watch the race live.

The 2023 winner was Timour, now a five-year-old gelding that works for Chris Waller. Unlike any Waller galloper we have ever seen, Timour has never run a barrier trial. After winning the Manion Cup, his next two jumps found him nearer the rear than the front, when he was 17th in the Group 1 Sydney Cup and 14th in the Listed grade Andrew Ramsden Stakes.

More Details about the N E Manion Cup

The N E Manion Cup is one of the undercard races at Rosehill’s biggest autumn meeting. Rosehill offers, on the day, Five Group 1 races jump – the Golden Slipper Stakes, the George Ryder Stakes, the Ranvet Stakes, The Galaxy Stakes and the Rosehill Guineas. Alongside the NE Manion Cup, are the Group 3 Epona Stakes and the Group 3 Birthday Card Stakes and the Listed Darby Munro Stakes.

Our sense of symmetry would appreciate there being a Group 2 race at the meeting, but still, we say that if only one Rosehill meeting could be attended, we would be hard pressed to suggest a better one than Golden Slipper Day.

History of the N E Manion Cup

The Manion Cup jumped for the first time in 1973.

It is named in honour of Neuman Manion, a former director of the Sydney Turf Club between 1973 and 1978, before the STC and the SJC merged in 2011 to create the ATC. We gave up on finding out what the “E” represents, but we feel that if our given name was Neuman we would use the initials exclusively. We almost gave up on finding Neuman, but we are glad we did not. Formatted properly, the race name should be the N. E. Manion Cup, but we are too poor as typists to deal with those periods following the initials. For the balance of this article, we will simply call the race the Manion Cup, knowing that our readers’ intelligence will know of which race we are writing.

The race was Principal grade until the Group classification system came about in 1978-79, when the race was declared Group 3.

It was demoted to Listed grade, sometimes referred to as Group 4, in 2006. It was restored to Group 3 in 2014.

It is not awfully common for race grades to be lowered, but in the case of the Manion Cup, an equally rare adjustment to the trip happened in 1979, when the race was stretched from 2000 to 2400 metres. We have often seen race distances reduced, but seldom increased.

The race would appear to have been run at Rosehill for the entirety of its 51 year history.

Venue for the N E Manion Cup

Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney is home to the N E Manion Cup. This is the sort of race we might expect to see shifting to Canterbury or Warwick Farm, but our expectations of what we will see are often inaccurate.

Rosehill opened in 1885 and currently holds about 25 meetings per year.

The day on which the race jumps finds Rosehill staging five of its nine annual Group 1 races. Over the year, Rosehill also offers 13 Group 2 and 14 Group 1 races.

The marquee race at the track is the Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes, but other Group 1 races at Rosehill are the old, elite legacy races that trace origins back to the 19th century.

Rosehill got its own version of The Everest in 2019, when the special conditions Golden Eagle came along to offer four-year-old horses to compete for $10 million in total prize money.

For a 2400-metre race, the horses complete one full circuit of Rosehill’s 2048-metre circumference, and then tack on an extra 352 metres.

Racing History of the N E Manion Cup

There are not a lot of Group 3 staying races, or staying races of any grade for that matter, so it was unusual to see a race going from a 2000 to a 2400-metre trip. Australian breeders and trainers seem to have been focused on the middle distance trips for decades, which would seem only logical, as the elite races seldom go beyond 2000 metres.

We cannot include every winner in the space allotted for this article, but we will be going through the list to look for racers that won at Group 1 level, earned major prize money, or supplied noteworthy offspring.

The winner of the first Manion Cup in 1973 was Odyssey.

As might be expected for a staying race, Odyssey originated in New Zealand. He left little by way of a racing record. His pedigree was mainly northern hemisphere on both sides, with a little bit of Kiwi on the dam’s side. His win in the Manion Cup came when the trip for the race was 2000 metres, but his wins in the 1973 Anniversary Handicap and the Summer Cup were both over 2400-metre trips.

He was gelded, so he left no progeny.

The 1974 winner was Gala Supreme.

Similar to many staying horses, Gala Supreme was predominantly of non-Australian origins.

Dissimilar to many staying horses, Gala Supreme won the Melbourne Cup. That win came in 1973. He made 40 jumps for 7 wins and 14 placings. In those days, apparently, the Melbourne Cup did not pay much, as Gala Supreme’s career earnings were less than today’s Group 3 winners might collect. His prize money was just above $181,000.

No other winner of the Manion Cup won the Melbourne Cup.

The 1977 winner, Rhalif, has as his main claim to fame the fact that he was prepared by Jim J. Atkins, who is commemorated annually by an Eagle Farm Group 1 race, the J.J. Atkins Stakes for two-year-olds.

Going through the list, we found nothing of note. The Manion Cup was often the best win any of the horses had. Many were geldings, but of those that were not, many left no progeny record and those that did were limited in quantity and most certainly quality.

We have not found a single female winner through 1983.

That last part changed when Hawaiian Rain won the Manion Cup in 1984. We learned that she was a Kentucky bred horse that was sent to Australia in 1983 and that she made 23 jumps and had four wins. We also learned that she was trained by Bart Cummings. By 1984, she was serving in the sheds, but most of her 10 foals were U.S. born and none seem to have been particularly adept at racing.

We finally found a quality winner in 1986’s Marooned.

Marooned was a British import that was sent to Australia as a five-year-old. He won the Manion Cup, the Group 2 Chairmans’ Handicap and the Group 1 Sydney Cup in three successive jumps.

After concluding his racing career, Marooned was a prolific stallion, at least by comparison to the previous winners.

Marooned’s best offspring was 1999’s Hardrada that won over $840,000. By rank, each of the next seven stakes winners earned above $200,000, so it could be said that Marooned did not leave his connections stranded with no way to get to the bank.

Six race winning Indian Raj was winner in 1987.

He had one win better than the Manion Cup, the Group 2 Winfield Gold Cup at Newcastle.

His stud career was brief, but he did supply 52 named foals, with the best earning just under $200,000. Fourteen of his other progenies won some money racing, although one managed to make 11 jumps and earn only $50.

The 1989 winner was a mare named Concordance.

While she did not set the turf on fire, or even scorch it, when she ran second to Conbituate Lady in the 1988 Group 2 Sandown Cup, Concordance crossed ahead of 1989 Melbourne Cup winner Tawrrific.

Her best stud work was being served by Bletchingly that produced Calculations, a horse that raced in Hong Kong and won over $1 million HKD.

The 1990 Manion Cup winner was a New Zealand horse named Lord Hybrow.

Finally, a hint of quality. Lord Hybrow won over $1.3 million.

His major wins were the 1988 Group 1 BATC Channel Nine Cup and the 1988 QTC Brisbane Cup. He tried the Brisbane Cup in 1990 to post second place and he also finished second in 1989.

He was an entire, but we found no progeny record for Lord Hybrow.

As we move into the modern era and better record keeping, we find the first winner to win more than once.

It was Dr. Grace in 1991 and 1992.

Dr. Grace was another New Zealander and made 57 jumps for 12 wins and 16 placings to earn more than $2.6 million. He was by the great Irish sire Sir Tristam.

When Dr. Grace won the 1992 Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes, he was chased unsuccessfully by none other than Super Impose. He beat Sydeston to win the 1991 Group 1 Underwood Stakes and he was often near the front at the finish when going up against the likes of Stylish Century and Zabeel. Some fast company, indeed.

Dr. Grace won four Group 1 races in all.

As a stallion serving mares, he was productive to the extent that three of his offspring won above $1 million.

A U.S. horse named Azzaam won in 1993.

Azzaam made 47 jumps for nine wins and seven placings to earn above $861,000. His Group 1 win was the 1993 Sydney Cup, where he beat Te Akau Nick and Subzero.

Azzaam was sire to quite a few, but only two of his offspring earned above $100,000.

The 1994 winner, Air Seattle, was a U.S. bred gelding that won over $1.1 million from 57 jumps for 7 wins and 12 placings. He won the 1993 Group 1 Queensland Derby. His win in the Manion Cup relegated 1993 winner Azzaam into second.

The 1997 winner was Palos Verdes.

She was handy, but not spectacular. Her form line of 26 jumps for 10 wins and 3 placings for $344,000 is not what makes her stand out. She did not win above Group 3 grade, but she was served by Pins to supply 2001’s El Segundo that won over $3.8 million.

Praise Indeed was another winner of above $1 million that won the Manion Cup in 1998. His best win was the Group 1 Brisbane Cup in 1998. When he ran third in the 1998 Group 1 Sydney Cup, he was behind Tie The Knot and Doriemus.

As we run short on space for this article, we jump ahead to the only other galloper to win the Manion Cup more than once in succession.

It was The Chieftain in 2007 and 2008.

Two, that is half of his four total career wins, were the Manion Cup. The other two wins were minor races at Wyong and Canterbury. His first Manion Cup win necessitated his beating just four others. That first win did find him beating horses that had won at Group 1 grade.

The 2008 Manion Cup was this gelding’s last win and his last nine jumps did not supply one single placing. He did have to outrun 15 other racers for that win.

The 2010 winner was a son of Zabeel.

It was a New Zealand gelding named Precedence and he won over $1.9 million from 69 jumps for 10 wins and 10 placings.

The 2011 winner was Bid Spotter that we mention only because he was sired by Redoute’s Choice, although he did win almost $600,000 from 53 jumps for nine wins and six placings.

The 2012 and 2015 winner was named Permit.

It is uncommon to see a multiple winner with two jumps in between the wins. Permit was a Brit horse that made 53 jumps for nine wins and 11 placings for $712,000.

In 2012, he beat 2010 winner Precedence.

Permit was trained by Chris Waller, so in addition to his 53 jumps, he ran 19 barrier trials.

The recognizable name of Libran appears as the 2016 Manion Cup winner. An Irish import, he won over $1.4 million from 44 jumps for nine wins and nine placings.

Libran was still racing in 2019 when a trackwork injury resulted in his being put down.

An Irish gelding, if it is not being redundant to use those two words together, Big Duke was the winner in 2017. He won almost $2 million from 45 jumps for 7 wins and 13 placings. He raced in Great Britain under the name Swashbuckling and while he never won at Group 1 level, he was often well-placed enough to receive good prize money.

The 2022 winner was No Compromise who was tipped heavily to win.

He was a 2016 colt by Pins that is currently active but has been spelled since recent jumps in the Group 1 Doomben Cup, where he ran eighth before running 11th in The Q22, a Group 2 race at Eagle Farm.

Conclusion

We found a few Group 1 winners that won in Brisbane and a couple that won the Group 1 Sydney Cup and one that won the Melbourne Cup.

There were few mares, just a few entires and many of the winners were from New Zealand and the northern hemisphere, as Australian breeders seemingly have abandoned breeding stayers. Those imports come in hopes of getting a slot in the Melbourne Cup, and then settle for the Sydney Cup or better grade races in Queensland.

ATC NE Manion Cup Past Winners