The Tarzino Trophy also known as the Challenge Stakes is a

Thoroughbred horse race Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

run at Hastings Racecourse in

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

and is

New Zealand's New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country b ...

first

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

race of the season. It is run over a distance of 1400m in September. The race is the first of the Hawkes Bay Triple Crown events and is followed by: * the 1600m Arrowfield Stud Plate in late September, and * the 2040m Livamol Classic in October. The race's timing, weight-for-age conditions and the reliably dry weather of the region at that time of the year combine to ensure that the race sees one of the strongest fields assembled in any race all season as a number of horses heading towards a campaign in Australia choose it as a starting point.

History

The Hawkes Bay Challenge Stakes was first run in April 1976 as a new

Weight for age {{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Weight for Age (WFA) is a term in thoroughbred horse racing which is one of the conditions for a race. History The principle of WFA was developed by Admiral Rous, a handicapper with the English Jockey Club. Rou ...

sprint to take place during the Hawkes Bay autumn carnival. The inaugural running of the event was won by

New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame The New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame recognises and honours those whose achievements have enriched the New Zealand thoroughbred horse racing industry. History The Hall of Fame's first group of honorees were inducted in 2006, and inductions are he ...

inductee

Grey Way Grey Way, the ''Washdyke Wonder'' was a champion New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse. He was foaled in Washdyke in 1970 near Timaru by Grey William out of Waybrooke who won the 'Broodmare of the Year' title in the 1977-78 season. Another famous ...

, ridden by Bob Skelton. When the group grading system was introduced in New Zealand in the 1978/79 season the Challenge Stakes was given group 3 status. In 1985 the race was moved from autumn to spring and was downgraded to listed status for a time, it would regain its group status in the 1991/92 racing season. It was renamed the Tarzino Trophy in 2017. named after

Tarzino Tarzino (foaled 29 September 2012) is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire bred in New Zealand and trained and Australia. He won the Victoria Derby and Rosehill Guineas, both Group One races. He has won over one and a half million d ...

, winner of the 2015

Victoria Derby The Victoria Derby, also known as the Penfolds Victoria Derby, is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held under Set Weights conditions over a distance of 2,500 metres at Flemington Racecourse, in Melbour ...

and 2016

Rosehill Guineas The Rosehill Guineas is an Australian Turf Club Group One Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds at set weights run over a distance of 2000 metres at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia annually in March. Total prize money for t ...

and an active sire at Westbury Stud.

Name

* Hawkes Bay Challenge Stakes (1976-1989) * Byerley Thoroughbred Stakes (1990) * Russell's Toshiba TV Stakes (1991-1992) * Russell's Akai Television Stakes (1993) * Enerco Stakes (1994-1997) * Mudgway Stakes (1998-2010) * Makfi Challenge Stakes (2011-2016) * Tarzino Trophy (2017–Present)

Group status

*1976-1978 (Stakes Race) *1979-1983 (Group 3) *1984-1990 (Listed) *1991-1993 (Group 3) *1994-2002 (Group 2) *2003–Present (Group 1)

Notable winners

* Sunline -

and Australian Racing Hall of Fame inductee and arguably New Zealand's greatest mare, winning 13 group 1 races throughout Australasia including 2 Cox Plates. *

Rough Habit Rough Habit (2 December 1986 – 7 November 2014) was a New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won 11 Group One (G1) races on both sides of the Tasman, and won New Zealand's Horse of the Year Award in 1992 and 1995. Background Rough H ...

- 11 Time Australasian group 1 winner and

inductee. *

W S Cox Plate The W. S. Cox Plate is a Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over under Weight for age conditions, over a distance of 2040 metres (approximately 1m 2f), that is held by the Moonee Valley Racing Club at Mo ...

winners

Poetic Prince Poetic Prince, known in Australia as Our Poetic Prince, was an Australian bred and New Zealand trained race-horse that was a top performer at Group 1 level. Racing career Poetic Prince was trained by John Wheeler at New Plymouth. Two year old s ...

, Surfers Paradise and Ocean Park. *

Starcraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance am ...

- Australian visitor and subsequent European champion winning the

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is s ...

in Britain and the

Prix du Moulin de Longchamp The Prix du Moulin de Longchamp is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and it is sc ...

in France. * Mufhasa 10 Time group 1 winner and two time

New Zealand Horse of the Year There is a New Zealand horse of the year in each of the racing codes: - Standardbred or harness racing, either pacers or trotters, and - Thoroughbred racing or gallopers. Harness Horse of the Year The New Zealand Harness Horse of the Year award ...

(2009, 2012) * Melody Belle - 14 time group 1 winner including 13 in New Zealand (Record) and two time

(2019, 2020).

Seachange ''SeaChange'' is an Australian television program that ran from 1998 to 2000 on the ABC and in 2019 on the Nine Network. It was created by Andrew Knight and Deborah Cox and starred Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham, William McInnes, John Howar ...

, Kawi, Melody Belle and Callsign Mav are all back-to-back winners of the race.

Race results

References