The first ever Richmond Straight Cup was held on February 4, 2023 and taken out by the Paul Steedman-trained Prince Creed in an emotion charged finale that won't soon be forgotten.

Just days before the heats of the $25,000 feature were set to commence, Steedman sadly passed away due to a suspected heart attack at the age of 64. Prince Creed had been set for the race, so with the blessing of 'Steedy's' wife Jen, friend and fellow trainer Paul Roach stepped in as caretaker trainer for the remainder of the series.

Prince Creed jumped from Box 7 in the decider, and after initially crashing hard left, soon steadied and began to power up the middle of the track.

His main rivals headed to the rail and got into a bit of a bumping duel, allowing Prince Creed to power home in the fastest second sectional time of the race to win the feature in 17.20.

Zipping Garth (17.21), trained by Garry Coles, ran second while the Frank Hurst-prepared Wells Of Silence (17.24) finished third.

The 2024 final was taken out by the undisputed king of NSW straight track racing at the time, Shall Not.

The Darren Sultana-trained speedster jumped as a $1.30 favourite from Box 8 in the final event on the program, but after being slightly slow away, his rivals may have fancied their chances through the first 50m.

The cream of straight track chasing soon rose to the top though as Shall Not edged his way to the front and unleashed from the mid-way point of the race to fend off valiant Queenslander, We’re On One. Shall Not claiming the $25,000 feature by ¾ of a length in a winning time of 17.30, with Clint Keeping rattling home to run third.

“He did it a little bit tough because he missed the start and I thought “oh, he’s going to be in trouble here” but he started going through the field and he got to the front…luckily the winning post came up at the right time,” a relieved Sultana said post-race.

Shall Not, a son of Barcia Bale out of Hillary, notching his 23rd victory from 25 starts up the Richmond Straight in the process.

The stunning run of success drawing immediate comparisons to his former kennel mate and track record holder, Mr. America.

"Shall Not is a better race dog than Mr. America was,” Sultana admitted.

“At least if he’s on the outside, he’ll give you a run. If Mr. America was on the outside, he’d crash and you’re hoping for pot luck. I’m fortunate to get two good dogs [Shall Not and Mr. America] that go good up the straight. That’s all it comes down too.”