Challenge Stakes (New Zealand)

The Challenge Stakes (formerly Mudgway Stakes) is a Thoroughbred horse race run at Hastings Racecourse in Hawke's Bay and is New Zealand's first Group One race of the season. It is run over a distance of 1400m on the first Saturday in September.

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.

As a result, the winners list for the last few years is extraordinarily strong for a New Zealand race. Included among the winners are champion mare Sunline, the brilliant Xcellent and Australian visitor and subsequent European Group 1 winner Starcraft. Seachange is the only back-to-back winner of the race.

As hard as it is to believe by looking at the winners list, the race was only given Group 2 status until 2003, when Miss Potential took out the first Group 1 running of the race.

The race is often used by Spring Classic contenders, with that race being run a month later over 2040m. Along with the 1600m Windsor Park Plate, these races form the Hawke's Bay Triple Crown.

Winners of the Challenge Stakes