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The Hennessey Meeting, Newbury – (The Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup)

24-26 November 2006

The Hennessey Meeting

The Hennessey Meeting (also known as Newbury Winter Festival) is a three-day horseracing event, which usually takes place on the last weekend of November. The highlight The Hennessey Meeting is The Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup, which takes place on the Saturday, and is a favourite with people who enjoy gambling on horse racing.

There are also plenty of other races that take place as part of The Hennessey Meeting, so there are a number of opportunities if you want to place a bet on more than one race. Sunday’s principal race is The Dubai Duty Free Fulke Walwyn Novices’ Steeplechase. Other races include The Stan James Intermediate Hurdle Race (for the Gerry Feilden Trophy).

History of The Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup

The first ever Hennessey Gold Cup Handicap Steeplechase was run at Cheltenham, not Newbury. The 3 mile 1 furlong race took place on 16 November 1957.

In 1960, the venue of the Hennessey Gold Cup changed to Newbury, and it has taken place there ever since, although in 1971 the name of the race was changed to The Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup. The jockeys now race their horses over a distance of 3 miles 2 and a half furlongs and the prize money for the winner has increased from the original £5,272 to £125,000.

The Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup – Previous Winners

The first horse to win The Hennessey Gold Cup was Mandarin, ridden by Gerry Madden and trained by Fulke Walwyn Mandarin went on to win the event again in 1961, ridden by Fred Winter. Mandarin was owned by Madame Hennessey, a member of the French cognac family, and she provided the trophy.

Only one other horse has managed to win The Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup more than once. The famous Arkle, trained by Tom Dreaper and ridden by Pat Taaffe, won the race in both 1964 and 1965.

The winner of the 2005 Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup was Trabolgan, trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Mick Fitzgerald. Celestial Gold in 2004 was the first horse since Bright Highway in 1980 to win both The Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup Steeplechase and the Paddy Power Gold Cup.

The last five winners of The Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup were:

Betting on The Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup

If you fancy placing a bet on The Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup and are looking for some betting tips, it’s worth keeping an eye on the results of The Sun Alliance Chase at The Cheltenham Festival in March for the last few years. In 1990, Chatham, trained by Martin Pipe and ridden by Peter Scudamore gained third place in The Sun Alliance Chase and went on to win The Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup in 1991.

In 1986, Peter Scudamore achieved third place in The Sun Alliance Chase on Strands of Gold, and the pair then won the 1988 Hennessey Cup. Brown Chamberlain, trained by Fred Winter and ridden by John Francome, was first past the post in the 1982 Sun Alliance Chase and also won the 1983 Hennessey Cup. Both Mandarin and Arkle also won both events.

Another tip is to look at the weights that the horses are carrying: until 2003, when Sun Bay took the trophy, no horse carrying over eleven stone had ever won the race.

And even if you don’t pick the winner of The Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup, don’t despair, because the race can provide clues for events later in the season. A number of Hennessey Cup winners, such as Couldn’t Be Better (1995), Brown Chamberlain (1983) and Bachelor’s Hall (1977) have gone on to be placed in the first three in The Cheltenham Gold Cup, while Bregawn (1982) went on to win it.

The Fulke Walwyn Novices Steeplechase

In 1951, a steeplechase called The Hopeful Steeplechase became part of the Newbury programme. In 1991, its name was changed to The Fulke Walwyn Novices’ Steeplechase after the famous trainer who trained the winner of the first Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup, Mandarin, along with numerous other winners of major horseracing events.

The Stan James Intermediate Hurdle

As far back as 1906, there was a race known as The Berkshire Hurdle in Newbury’s racing programme, but in 1960 the rules of the event changed, making it a non-handicap race purely for novices.

In 1982, the race underwent another name change and became The Gerry Fielden Hurdle after the racing administrator and Jockey Club Senior Steward, Major General Sir Randle Fielden. Although still registered under that name, and the winner is still awarded the Gerry Fielden Trophy, the race is now known as The Stan James Intermediate Hurdle.

Betting On Horseracing Events – Further Information

The Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup is just one of many events in the horseracing calendar. Check out the other forthcoming events!

If you want to bet on the Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup, or on any of the other races taking place at The Hennessey Meeting, but want tips on how to bet on horseracing - visit the Horse Racing – How To Bet section.

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