The Telegraph
The Telegraph is a Group 1 race run under WFA conditions for sprinters at Trentham race course conducted by the Wellington Racing Club.
The Telegraph is run over 1200m. It was first run in 1890 and won by Retina.
The Telegraph is the second of the feature New Zealand sprints over the summer.
Run over the six furlongs, it is part of the Wellington Cup carnival.
It was always run as a handicap until 2015 when switched to Set Weights & Penalties then WFA.
They can run some incredible times on firm tracks from this chute start with the one dogleg bend to overcome. Mid 66 seconds have been recorded.
One of the best sprinters to come out of New Zealand was Mr Tiz and he won the race twice, dead-heating in 1989 with Festal and winning it by himself in 1990.
Some of late that have had success in Australia include Darci Brahma, Mufhasa, Seachange, Gee I Jane and Avantage.
Lance O'Sullivan had an incredible run winning it on seven occasions between 1982 and 2002, winning most of them for Dave and Paul O'Sullivan.
Enzo's Lad won it twice and then in 2020 went within a head of making it a big treble only to be run down late.
Avantage did the big kiwi sprint double in taking the Telegraph in 2021. She led home a mares trifecta.
Levante got a deserved G1 with a bob of the head in 2022. She ran an almost unbelievable 66.18 seconds in defeating the eventual Newmarket Hcp winner. That win was backed up 12 months later.
The Telegraph was worth NZ$450,000 in 2024.
Notable winners of the Telegraph include Levante (2022/2023), Avantage (2020/2021), Enzo's Lad (2018/2019), Sacred Star (2015), Mufhasa (2009/2011), Seachange (2008), Darci Brahma (2007), Gee I Jane (2006), King's Chapel (2004), Tit For Taat (2003), Fritz (2000), O'Reilly (1997), Mr Tiz (1989/1990), Courier Bay (1987/1988), Blue Blood (1975/1976/1977), Serena (1967/1968), Meadow Lark (1929/1930), Statuette (1920/1921), Petrovna (1903/1905), Blazer (1900/1901/1902) and King's Bowman (1895/1896).
The 2023 Telegraph was won by Levante from Babylon Berlin and Ifndoubtgetout.