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Today, The Future
Racing established itself an important part of Fauquier custom long before the first Gold Cup was contested. Mostly an unregulated sport during colonial days, horses raced at Garrett’s Race Paths near Upperville as early as 1,742, and in the 1830s, flat races were contested regularly at Fauquier White Sulphur Springs, with hurdle races recorded there by 1844.
An agricultural base drove Virginia’s economy from settlement through World War I, but when the dough boys returned home, machinery and mechanization changed the horse’s duty back from beast of burden to sporting animal.
Horse racing got a shot in the arm in 1922 when a commitee of nine organized the first running of the Virginia Gold Cup. A $1,000 gold trophy was purchased as a prize, and the National Steeplechase and Hunt Association (today the National Steeplechase Association) sanctioned the event to run under its rules and regulations.
Since its inception, the Gold Cup has weathered Five moves to four different courses. It survived the Great Depression, and. though jt . was canceled duArig .World War H, \ - • w»» renewed -in -1^44 - •
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