Virginia Gold Cup

Virginia Gold Cup
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May 3, 2025 (2025-05-03)
Next: 2026 Virginia Gold Cup
May 2, 2026 (2026-05-02)
LocationGreat Meadow Race Cource
The Plains, Virginia
InauguratedApril 3, 1922 (1922-04-03)
Race typeSteeplechase
SponsorGreat Meadow Foundation
WebsiteVirginia Gold Cup
Race information
Distance4 Miles
Record8:15, Doc Cebu (2020)
SurfaceTurf
PurseUS$450,000
1st: $60,000

The Virginia Gold Cup and International Gold Cup are annual steeplechase races held in The Plains, Virginia. Together, the races have become two of the largest outdoor social events held in Virginia. The races have been held in Fauquier County since 1922. It is sometimes seen as Virginia's answer to the Kentucky Derby.

The Virginia Gold Cup is held the first Saturday of May at Great Meadow, a field events center created and bequeathed by the Arundel Family in 1984. The International Gold Cup is the featured horse racing event of the Fall season and is managed today by the Virginia Gold Cup Association. Now held on the third Saturday of October, the International Gold Cup was founded in Tennessee in 1930.