From Gold to Gallopers:
Finn Finds Another Bathurst
BATHURST CUP 2026
Part 1. More to Bathurst than the Mountain
Finn knew Bathurst, or at least he thought he did.
Mount Panorama. The Great Race. Cars thundering around one of Australia’s most famous circuits.
So when Race Day Co sent him west for the Bathurst Cup, Finn figured he knew roughly what he was walking into.
Freja was staying home this time.
This was a solo assignment.
And somewhere between crossing the Blue Mountains and arriving in town, Finn discovered there was another Bathurst waiting for him.
A much older one.
Long before the mountain roared
Bathurst stands on Wiradjuri Country, where Aboriginal people had lived for thousands of years before Europeans crossed the Blue Mountains.
That crossing in 1813 opened the country west of Sydney to colonial expansion, and on 7 May 1815, Governor Lachlan Macquarie proclaimed Bathurst on the banks of the Macquarie River.
It became Australia’s first inland European settlement.
But that expansion came at enormous cost to the Wiradjuri people. Loss of land and conflict followed, with Windradyne becoming one of the best-known leaders of Wiradjuri resistance during the frontier conflict of the 1820s.
Finn hadn’t come to Bathurst expecting to find himself reading about any of this.
Then he discovered the gold.
The town that gold transformed
In 1851, the discovery of payable gold near Bathurst helped trigger Australia’s first gold rush.
Suddenly thousands of people were heading west.
Gold moved through Bathurst. Businesses sprang up. Hotels filled. Coaches traveled the roads, and where valuable gold travelled, bushrangers weren’t always far behind.
And while Finn was following that trail through town, one building caught his attention.
The Kings Hotel.
It has stood in George Street since 1853.
Finn checked his phone.
Then looked at the hotel.
Then checked google again on his phone again.
“1853?”
Now he was interested.
Because Kings Hotel isn’t simply attached to this year’s racing as a sponsor.
It was here while the gold rush was still reshaping Bathurst.
And then Finn found the fact that really stopped him.
A Melbourne Cup winner from Bathurst
The Barb.
Winner of the 1866 Melbourne Cup.
One of Australia’s great nineteenth-century racehorses.
And trained by legendary horseman John Tait at Bathurst.
Suddenly Finn’s assignment looked completely different.
More than 150 years before he arrived carrying a phone and a Race Day Co assignment, serious racehorses were already being prepared in this town.
Bathurst’s racing connections didn’t end there either. Champion Tulloch later had strong links to the district through the local Hayley family.
Finn had come looking for a country Cup.
Instead he’d found a racing history stretching back towards the earliest days of Australian racing.
Then there’s that mountain
Of course, there was no chance Finn was visiting Bathurst without heading to Mount Panorama.
The famous circuit is a public road outside major events.
That piece of information probably should never have reached Finn.
His phone rang, It was Kenny.
“Finn, are you at Bathurst yet?, been up the mountain ?
“No not yet mate."
“Just checking.”
A pause.
You know there’s a speed limit up there?”
“Yeah, why ?”
“Because I’ve met you, I know you”
Finn laughed, said I'll see you when you when I get back and hung up.
Probably wise.
But looking up at Mount Panorama gave him another clue to this weekend’s racing.
Because the mountain hasn’t merely made Bathurst famous around the world.
It has lent its name to one of the feature races at Tyers Park.
From The Barb to Tyers Park
The present Bathurst racecourse at Tyers Park opened for racing in 1959.
And on Sunday, 13 September 2026, Finn will be there for a meeting carrying two important races.
The Panorama, named for the mountain that towers over Bathurst’s sporting identity.
And the Bathurst Cup, carrying its own connection to something we’ve become very familiar with on our Country Cups journey.
The road to Randwick.
The Bathurst Cup is part of the Big Dance eligibility pathway, giving Sunday’s race significance well beyond Tyers Park.
Finn stood looking across the course.
He’d arrived thinking Bathurst meant Mount Panorama.
Instead he’d found Wiradjuri history, Australia’s first inland European settlement, gold, an 1853 pub, a Melbourne Cup winner and more than a century and a half of racing connections.
Not bad for a solo assignment.
And Freja hadn’t even been there to tell him where to look.
There was racing to think about now.
Sunday, 13 September 2026.
Tyers Park.
The Panorama and the Bathurst Cup.
Finn’s history lesson was over.
It was time to find the horses.
The Bathurst Country Cup
PART 2 – CUP DAY PREVIEW
Breakfast, Form and an Old Mate
Sunday morning arrived quietly in Bathurst.
Finn was up early.
He’d found his way back to the Kings Hotel, this time with breakfast in front of him, a coffee beside his phone and the Bathurst Cup field open on the screen.
Yesterday had been about gold, history, The Barb and a mountain he’d been warned not to drive around too quickly.
Today was about horses.
And one name jumped straight off the page.
Voracious.
Finn smiled.
“Hello again.”
The winner of the Forbes Cup was back.
Race Day Co had already watched Voracious take his place on the Road to Randwick at Forbes. Now here he was again, carrying 57.5kg and having another crack at a Country Cup.
It was beginning to feel less like a series of separate race meetings and more like old acquaintances turning up in different country towns.
But Voracious wasn’t the horse attracting most of the early attention.
Inquiring Minds sat at the top of the market.
His last-start fourth at Randwick had caught plenty of eyes, coming from well back and finishing strongly over 1600 metres. Now out to 1800 metres at Bathurst, the market clearly thought he’d found his race.
Finn took another sip of coffee and kept reading.
Forbidden Riff was hard to ignore after narrowly missing over 2200 metres at Warwick Farm.
Southerly Buster was dropping back from stronger metropolitan company and had Izzy Neale aboard.
And then there was Michelangelo.
His recent form figures weren’t exactly screaming “back me”, but more than one form assessment kept coming back to him. Home track. Lighter weight. Drop in grade. Back from 2400 metres.
Finn circled the name.
Four different form opinions.
Five horses he could make some sort of case for.
And one cold cup of coffee.
He folded the form away.
There was only so much you could learn over breakfast.
It was time to go and look at them.
An old racing bloke
Tyers Park was still waking up when Finn arrived.
The crowd hadn’t come yet. Horses were being walked about, stable staff were busy, and the morning had that peculiar racecourse calm that disappears once the gates open and everybody starts looking for a winner.
Finn wandered towards the stable area.
He was studying one of the horses when a voice beside him said:
“Form guide won’t tell you everything, mate.”
Finn turned.
The bloke looked as though he’d been around racehorses longer than Finn had been around anything.
“That’s unfortunate,” Finn said. “I’ve just spent breakfast reading one.”
The old bloke laughed.
They got talking.
Finn mentioned Inquiring Minds. Forbidden Riff. Southerly Buster. Michelangelo.
The old bloke listened.
“Nothing wrong with any of those,” he said. “But have a look at the horses as well. See who’s relaxed. Who’s walking nicely. Who looks like they actually want to be here.”
Finn looked back towards the horses.
“And that tells you the winner?”
The old bloke laughed again.
“If it did, I’d own the pub.”
Fair point.
They talked for another few minutes before the bloke finally asked what had brought Finn to Bathurst.
“I’m doing a story for Race Day Co.”
“Race Day Co?”
"Yeah. Couple of blokes behind it. Tommy’s one of them.”
The old bloke stopped.
“Tommy?”
“Yeah.”
A pause.
“Irish Tommy?”
Finn looked at him.
“That’s him.”
The bloke’s face broke into a grin.
“Wow. We go way back.”
He started walking away, then turned.
“Tell him Smitty says hello.”
Finn stood there for a moment.
Then reached for his phone.
The phone call
Tommy answered.
“Morning, mate. How’s Bathurst?”
“Good. But I’ve just met a bloke out here who reckons he knows you.”
“Poor bugger.”
“Calls himself Smitty.”
Silence.
“Smitty?”
“Yep. Asked if you were Irish Tommy. S
He said you two go way back. Told me to say hello.”
Another pause.
“He said that, did he?”
Finn waited.
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“Who the hell is Smitty?”
Tommy laughed.
“Ask him about our St Patricks Day years back, I'll just leave it there. I'll be surprised if you get anything out of bugger."
With that Tommy said, "enjoy the races, mate.”
And hung up.
Finn stared at the phone.
“Helpful.”
He slipped it back into his pocket and looked towards the track.
Breakfast had given him the form.
Smitty had reminded him to look at the horses.
And somewhere amongst them was the next name to be added to the Road to Randwick.
The Bathurst Cup was getting closer.
The Bathurst Country Cup
PART 3 – Race Results and Review
Michelangelo Paints the Picture at Bathurst
There had been plenty of talk before the Bathurst Cup about the visitors.
Inquiring Minds had brought strong Randwick form. Forbidden Riff had metropolitan form lines around him. Southerly Buster had been racing in stronger company.
And there was an old Race Day Co acquaintance in the field too.
Voracious.
The Forbes Cup winner had turned up again, still travelling along our Country Cups trail.
But this time the Bathurst Cup was staying much closer to home.
Michelangelo had won it for Dean Mirfin and young apprentice Jacob Stiff.
The one they noticed in the yard
There had been a clue before they even went to the barriers.
During the parade-ring coverage, Michelangelo was singled out as the horse who had caught the eye.
He’d already been well supported in betting, and his previous run over 2400 metres meant there was certainly no question about having miles in his legs.
The suggestion before the race was intriguing.
If the Bathurst Cup became a genuine staying contest, Michelangelo might be the horse who enjoyed it.
And with apprentice Jacob Stiff taking weight off his back, there was even speculation that the young jockey might make his move and try to use that advantage.
A few minutes later, it was time to find out.
The Bathurst Cup
Nine horses went around in the 1800-metre Cup, and once they were released, the little field began sorting itself out.
For Michelangelo, the important part would come when the race began to tighten and the pressure went on.
Turning for home, the Bathurst Cup was still there to be won.
Then Stiff found the room he needed.
Michelangelo began to lengthen.
The others were chasing, but the horse who had caught the eye in the parade ring was now catching the eye for an entirely different reason.
He was winning the Bathurst Cup.
Michelangelo crossed first.
Inquiring Minds, carrying the top weight, continued his good run into second.
And there in third was a horse we knew rather well.
Voracious.
From winning the Forbes Cup to placing in the Bathurst Cup, our old acquaintance had popped up again.
Finn might have to get used to this.
A young jockey and a home-town Cup
There was something particularly fitting about this result.
Michelangelo is trained by Dean Mirfin, whose stable is based right here at Tyers Park.
And aboard him was 19-year-old Dubbo apprentice Jacob Stiff.
A young country jockey.
A Bathurst-trained horse.
A Bathurst Cup.
Sometimes the story doesn’t need much decorating.
For Mirfin, this wasn’t simply another winner somewhere on the country circuit. His horse had won one of the feature races on his home track.
And for Stiff, still at the beginning of his riding career, his name now sits alongside the winner of the 2026 Bathurst Cup.
Not a bad Sunday afternoon for a 19-year-old from Dubbo.
And Finn?
Somewhere around Tyers Park, Finn probably had one more person to find before leaving.
Smitty.
The old racing bloke had told him that morning:
“Form guide won’t tell you everything, mate.”
Look at the horses.
See who’s relaxed.
See who’s walking well.
See who looks like they want to be there.
And before the Bathurst Cup, one horse had stood out in the yard.
Michelangelo.
Finn might still love his numbers.
But after breakfast at the Kings Hotel, a morning with Smitty and an afternoon watching Michelangelo win the Bathurst Cup, perhaps he’d learnt something else as well.
The numbers tell you a lot.
The track tells you the rest.
And this time, the track belonged to Michelangelo.
Michelangelo, 2026 Bathurst Cup winner.
Michelangelo earned Big Dance eligibility through the 2026 Bathurst Cup.
Follow the 2026 Big Dance field, qualifiers and ballot picture on Race Day Co’s
Road to Randwick.