The Monmouth Cup Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three-years-old and older run over a distance of 1+1⁄8 miles annually in early July at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey.
The event was inaugurated as the Meadowlands Cup and held at the Meadowlands Racetrack on 29 October 1977 and was won by Pay Tribute who was trained by the Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally and ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Ángel Cordero Jr. by 3⁄4 lengths in a time of 2:02+3⁄5 over the 1+1⁄4 miles distance.
Within two years when champion three-year-old Spectacular Bid won the event in stakes record time it was classed as Grade II.
[3] That year's running posed one of the largest upsets in North American racing history when Great Normand won at 181-1 odds.
[5] Sharp Azteca's win in 2017 set a track record at Monmouth for the distance of 1+1⁄16 miles, beating Formal Gold's 1:40.20 that was set in August 1997.