Greenwood Cup Stakes
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| Class | Grade III |
|---|---|
| Location | Parx Casino and Racing Bensalem, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Inaugurated | 2002 (as Greenwood Cup Handicap) |
| Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
| Website | Parx |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1+1⁄2 miles |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Track | left-handed |
| Qualification | Three-year-olds and older |
| Weight | Base weights with allowances: Older: 126 lbs 3YOs: 123 lbs |
| Purse | $200,000 (since 2011) |
The Greenwood Cup Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and older, over a distance of one-and-one-half miles on the dirt held annually in September during the fall meeting at Parx Casino and Racing in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. The current purse is $200,000.
The race is named for Greenwood Racing, Inc. who purchased Philadelphia Park in December 1990.[1]
The inaugural running of the event was on 8 June 2002 under handicap conditions and held on the turf course as the Greenwood Cup Handicap. The event was won by multiple Grade I winner, eight-year-old Cetewayo, bred and owned by Dr. John A. Chandler. The horse finished strongly as the 1/2 odds-on favorite to win by a length in a time of 2:35.01.[2] The following year the event was moved off the turf and raced on a sloppy dirt track. It was won by Golden Ticket, who led all the way, winning by ten-and-one-quarter lengths.[2]
The event was not held between 2005 and 2007. When the event resumed, it was scheduled in mid-July and was held on the dirt track as a stakes allowance.[3]
Previously a Listed race, the event was upgraded to Grade III status for 2012 by the American Graded Stakes Committee.[1]
In 2013, Eldaafer, a former winner of the Grade III Breeders' Cup Marathon, won the event as an eight-year-old.[4]
In 2020, Parx Racing cancelled their race meeting due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[3]
Records
- Speed record
- 1+1⁄2 miles: 2:28.01 Redeemed (2012)
- Margins
- 25 lengths – Next (2023)
- Most wins
- 2 – Next (2023, 2024)
- Most wins by a trainer
- 2 - Brendan P. Walsh (2014, 2016)
- 2 - Todd A. Pletcher (2017, 2018)
- 2 - William D. Cowans (2023, 2024)
- Most wins by a jockey
- 4 - Paco Lopez (2015, 2018, 2021, 2022)
- Most wins by an owner
- 2 - Michael A. Foster (2023, 2024)