On January 28, the Wellington Cup will hold its 150th race day, making it one of the oldest sporting events in New Zealand.
Kiwi, Castletown and Ed are just some of the champion horses that racing journliast Des Coppins has seen win the Wellington Cup but one horse – Simon de Montfort - will always be special.
In 1972, Simon de Monfort stormed home to win the cup.
”He was the biggest outsider ever. He paid in the vicinity of $180 to one. He led all the way, so I remember it vividly.”
It was the first Cup Day Coppins attended during his long career as a racing journalist, but what was extra special was that it was his first date with his future wife, Mary.
He had been on a blind date the year before with Mary but in 1972 he had come to Wellington to work for the Truth newspaper, The Friday Flash and Turf Digest. After accidently running in to Mary, he asked her to go to Trentham for Cup Day and they have been together ever since.
Next Saturday Coppins will watch his 52nd successive Wellington Cup. Although he has enjoyed them all, the win by Simon de Montfort was a treasured memory.
Another that was special was watching Top jockey Rosie Myers in induced coma after fall
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">Jimmy Cassidy win in 1983 on Kiwi.
Kiwi would go on to win the Melbourne Cup, running from the back of the field in spectacular fashion.
After Kiwi won the Wellington Cup, Coppins was having some drinks in the car park with jockey Jimmy Cassidy, when a helicopter landed nearby.
It was common for punters to arrive at Trentham by helicopter and Cassidy surprised Coppins by immediately approaching the pilot and asking for a flight.
“The pilot said ‘OK, I will take you.’”
Three time winner Castletown provided another special memory. Castletown’s last win was in 1994 – Coppins still remembers it clearly.
Kiwi model Rachel Hunter and husband Rod Stewart were guests of the club.
“Rod Stewart is one of my heroes and I was pretty keen to meet him.”
Hunter’s manager, former All Black Andy Haden, said Stewart would only do one interview and offered it to Coppins, who was working for TVNZ at the time.
Stewart went to the area where all the cameras were set up but when Coppins arrived, he found that a rival network had grabbed the singer. “I never got to interview my idol.”
Trentham has hosted many celebrities on Cup Day, including Jonah Lomu, Sir Edmund Hillary and then Prime Minister Helen Clark – they all greatly added to the atmosphere on race day, Coppins said.
“Sir Ed was the guest of the owners of (two time winner, Ed) who they named him after.”
In 2001, Smiling Like, owned by the late Sir Patrick Hogan provided another highlight. Hogan was one of the greats of New Zealand racing and it was fitting that with such a distinguished career, he won a Wellington Cup at Trentham.
A long-term committee member at Trentham, Coppins had never lost his love of the horses or the course.
The popularity of racing is declining but Coppins always looks forward to Cup Day and he is expecting a bumper turnout on Saturday.
“I have always believed the Wellington Cup is more than a horse race, it is an event.
“I don’t mind saying we have seen the best years of racing and I can only hope that we get a super horse that would change things.”
As to which horse is going to win the big race next Saturday, Coppins has two picks for punters.
“Waisake is the one to beat. He won the race two years ago and the other is another Allan Sharrock-trained horse, Ladies Man.”
Some cup history
If you are looking for a good trivial pursuit question, try this one.
Who was the first winner of the Wellington Cup? The answer is Policy. (And it was not held at Trentham but Hutt Park.)
Little is known about inaugural winner Policy, other than the fact he beat two other opponents over 3200 metres and lost his title the following year to a horse called Numa.
What is regarded as the first official Wellington Cup was held in 1874, again at Hutt Park, at a meeting run by the Wellington Provincial Jockey Club.
The winner, Castaway, won the two-mile event in 4 minutes and 5 seconds.
It was not until 1906, that the first Wellington Cup was run at Trentham, when Ropa cantered home to win by a length-and-a-half.
When Kiwi stormed from the back of the field to win the 1983 Melbourne Cup, he became the first and only horse to win the Wellington/Melbourne double.