Greenwood Cup Stakes

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.

Greenwood Cup Stakes

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)

History

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)

Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Distance	Time	Purse	Grade	Ref
2024	Next	6	Luan Machado	William D. Cowans	Michael A. Foster	1+1⁄2 miles	2:33.61	$200,000	III	[5]
2023	Next	5	Luan Machado	William D. Cowans	Michael A. Foster	1+1⁄2 miles	2:33.28	$200,000	III	[6]
2022	Ridin With Biden	4	Paco Lopez	Robert E. Reid Jr.	Cash Is King & LC Racing	1+1⁄2 miles	2:32.92	$200,000	III	[7]
2021	Magic Michael	4	Frankie Pennington	Jamie Ness	Morris E. Kernan Jr., Yo Berbs & Jagger, Inc.	1+1⁄2 miles	2:32.01	$200,000	III	[8]
2020	Race not held
2019	Adventist	6	John Bisono	Uriah St. Lewis	Bleu Max Stable	1+1⁄2 miles	2:33.81	$200,000	III	[9]
2018	You're to Blame	4	Paco Lopez	Todd A. Pletcher	Bortolazzo Stable	1+1⁄2 miles	2:32.40	$200,000	III	[10]
2017	Madefromlucky	5	Javier Castellano	Todd A. Pletcher	Cheyenne Stables & Mac Nichol	1+1⁄2 miles	2:32.72	$200,000	III	[11]
2016	Scuba	5	Kendrick Carmouche	Brendan P. Walsh	DARRS, Inc.	1+1⁄2 miles	2:32.76	$200,000	III	[12]
2015	Neck 'n Neck	6	Paco Lopez	Ian R. Wilkes	Ted Mitzlaff	1+1⁄2 miles	2:33.64	$200,000	III	[13]
2014	Cary Street	5	Miguel Mena	Brendan P. Walsh	JBL Thoroughbreds & Walsh Racing	1+1⁄2 miles	2:30.71	$200,000	III	[14]
2013	Eldaafer	8	Ricardo Santana Jr.	Diane D. Morici	Jim Atwell & Kevin Jacobsen	1+1⁄2 miles	2:33.73	$200,000	III	[4]
2012	Redeemed	4	Ramon A. Dominguez	Richard E. Dutrow Jr.	Jay Em Ess Stable	1+1⁄2 miles	2:28.01	$200,000	III	[15]
2011	†Birdrun	5	Rajiv Maragh	William I. Mott	Preston Stables	1+1⁄2 miles	2:30.30	$200,000	Listed	[16]
2010	A. U. Miner	5	Frankie Pennington	Clark Hanna	Don L. Benge	1+1⁄2 miles	2:29.97	$240,000	Listed	[17]
2009	Alcomo (BRZ)	6	Willie Martinez	Eduardo Caramori	Abdul Rahman Al Jasmi	1+1⁄2 miles	2:31.88	$250,000	Listed	[18]
2008	Evening Attire	10	Jose L. Espinoza	Patrick J. Kelly	Mary & Joseph Grant & Thomas J. Kelly	1+1⁄2 miles	2:29.90	$250,000	Listed	[19]
2005–2007		Race not held
2004	In Hand	4	Rafael Mojica Jr.	Philip J. Oliver	Shining Armor Stable & G. Watts Humphrey Jr.	1+1⁄2 miles	2:33.32	$100,000	Listed	[20]
2003	Golden Ticket	5	Cesar DeAlba	Clifford W. Sise Jr.	Glenn Holsinger	1+1⁄2 miles	2:31.61	$100,000	Listed	Off turf[21]
2002	Cetewayo	8	Clinton L. Potts	Michael W. Dickinson	Dr. John A. Chandler	1+1⁄2 miles	2:35.01	$100,000	Listed	[2]

Legend:
  Turf   Dirt
Notes:
† In the 2011 running, A. U. Miner was first past the post and wagering was paid out as the winner, however the horse returned a positive swab for methylprednisolone and was disqualified from first place purse money. The redistributed winner's purse went to Birdrun, who finished second.^[22]

See also

• List of American and Canadian Graded races