Empire City Handicap

Empire City Handicap
Discontinued stakes race
LocationEmpire City Race Track,
Yonkers, New York,
United States (1920-1942)
Jamaica Race Course,
Jamaica, New York,
United States (1942-1953)
Inaugurated1920
Race typeThoroughbred - Flat racing
Race information
Distance1+316 miles (9.5 furlongs)
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationThree-year-olds
WeightAssigned
Purse$50,000 (1953)

The Empire City Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race inaugurated on October 22, 1900, as part of the opening day racecard at Empire City Race Track in Yonkers, New York. Sometimes referred in newspaper reports as the Empire City Stakes, it was raced at the Empire City track through 1942 then the following year it moved to the Jamaica Race Course in Jamaica, Queens where it remained until its final running on November 7, 1953.[1][2][3]

The first edition of the Empire City Handicap was open to horses age three and older. From 1937 until its final running in 1953, the race was restricted to three-year-old horses. There was no race run 1901–1906, and 1911–1913. That inaugural running was won by Charentus in a World record time of 2:04 flat for a mile and a quarter on dirt.[4]

During its tenure, the Empire City Handicap was contested at various distances:

  • 1 mile : 1907
  • 1+18 miles : 1908–1910, 1914–1922, 1934–1941
  • 1+316 miles : 1942-1953
  • 1+14 miles : 1900, 1923–1933

Records

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Speed record:

  • 1:50.00 @ 118 M : Swing And Sway (1941)
  • 1:56.00 @ 1316 M : Apache (1942)
  • 2:03.00 @ 114 M : Sting (1924)

Most wins:

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

Winners

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Year
Winner
Age
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Dist.
(Miles)
Time
1953 Find 3 Eric Guerin William C. Winfrey Alfred G. Vanderbilt Jr. 1316 M 1:58.00
1952 Tom Fool 3 Ted Atkinson John M. Gaver Sr. Greentree Stable 1316 M 1:58.00
1951 Counterpoint 3 Dave Gorman Sylvester Veitch C. V. Whitney 1316 M 1:58.60
1950 All At Once 3 Nick Wall W. M. Lyons John W. Nizlek 1316 M 1:59.00
1949 Palestinian 3 Eddie Arcaro Hirsch Jacobs Isadore Bieber 1316 M 1:57.20
1948 Miss Request 3 Ovie Scurlock James P. Conway Florence Whitaker 1316 M 1:57.40
1947 Phalanx 3 Ruperto Donoso Sylvester Veitch C. V. Whitney 1316 M 1:57.80
1946 Bonnie Beryl 3 Eric Guerin James E. Fitzsimmons Belair Stud 1316 M 1:56.80
1945 Gallorette 3 Ted Atkinson Edward A. Christmas William L. Brann 1316 M 1:56.80
1944 Stir Up 3 Eddie Arcaro John M. Gaver Sr. Greentree Stable 1316 M 1:56.20
1943 Chop Chop 3 Johnny Longden Harris B. Brown Josephine Douglas 1316 M 1:57.20
1942 Apache 3 James Stout James E. Fitzsimmons Belair Stud 1316 M 1:56.00
1941 Swing And Sway 3 Don Meade John M. Gaver Sr. Greentree Stable 118 M 1:50.00
1940 Fenelon 3 James Stout James E. Fitzsimmons Belair Stud 118 M 1:53.00
1939 Lovely Night 3 Nick Wall Henry McDaniel Florence Clark 118 M 1:52.00
1938 Stagehand 3 Jack Westrope Earl Sande Col. Maxwell Howard 118 M 1:51.00
1937 Rex Flag 3 Robert Merritt John P. Jones Louise Viau 118 M 1:52.40
1936 Esposa 4 Russell Kastner Matthew P. Brady William Ziegler Jr. 118 M 1:52.60
1935 Top Row 4 Johnny Longden Albert A. Baroni Albert A. Baroni 118 M 1:51.00
1934 Faireno 5 Silvio Coucci James E. Fitzsimmons Belair Stud 118 M 1:51.80
1933 Dark Secret 4 John Gilbert George Tappen Wheatley Stable 114 M 2:05.00
1932 Blenheim 4 Hank Mills James E. Fitzsimmons Wheatley Stable 114 M 2:06.60
1931 Questionnaire 4 Raymond Workman Edward J. Bennett James Butler 114 M 2:07.00
1930 Frisius 4 Whitey Abel James E. Fitzsimmons Belair Stud 114 M 2:06.00
1929 Sun Edwin 4 Linus McAtee Louis Feustel Arden Farm 114 M 2:05.75
1928 Recreation 4 Pete Goodwin Robert A. Smith| Jefferson Livingston 114 M 2:08.40
1927 Peanuts 5 Harold Thurber George M. Odom Robert L. Gerry Sr. 114 M 2:08.00
1926 Peanuts 4 Harry Richards George M. Odom Robert L. Gerry Sr. 114 M 2:06.00
1925 Mad Play 4 Laverne Fator Sam Hildreth Rancocas Stable 114 M 2:08.00
1924 Sting 3 Benjamin Breuning Jimmy Johnson James Butler 114 M 2:03.00
1923 Tryster 5 Earl Sande Scott P. Harlan Westmont Stable 114 M 2:05.40
1922 Grey Lag 4 Laverne Fator Sam Hildreth Rancocas Stable 118 M 1:54.00
1921 Yellow Hand 4 Charles H. Miller A. J. Goldsborough Charles A. Stoneham 118 M 1:51.00
1920 Naturalist 6 Clarence Turner Thomas Welsh Joseph E. Widener 118 M 1:53.00
1919 Lanius 8 Johnny Loftus A. Jack Joyner George D. Widener Jr. 118 M 1:51.80
1918 Roamer 7 Lawrence Lyke A. J. Goldsborough Andrew Miller 118 M 1:51.00
1917 Spur 4 Willie Knapp James H. McCormick James Butler 118 M 1:56.60
1916 Short Grass 8 Frank Keogh John J. Flanigan Emil Herz 118 M 1:51.20
1915 Gainer 4 Tommy McTaggart James G. Rowe Sr. Greentree Stable 118 M 1:51.60
1914 Buckhorn 5 Joe McCahey Jack D. Adkins Roderick J. Mackenzie 118 M 1:54.00
1913 Race not held
1912 No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law.
1911
1910 Dalmatian 3 George Archibald Sam Hildreth Sam Hildreth 118 M 1:51.00
1909 Maltbie 4 Stanley B. Page James Gass George Reif 118 M 1:53.80
1908 Pinkola 3 James Butler William H. Fizer William H. Fizer 118 M 1:54.80
1907 Prince Ahmed 3 Walter Ott John C. Ferris Jr. John C. Ferris Jr. 100 M 1:40.60
1900 Charentus 6 Willie Shaw Jim McLaughlin Orville L. Richards 114 M 2:04.00

References

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[citation needed]

  1. ^ "Naturalist Sets Pace All The Way". The New York Times. 1920-07-20. p. 17. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  2. ^ "Tom Fool Outruns Marcador By Head". The New York Times. 1952-11-09. p. 1 Sports Section. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  3. ^ "Jamaica Charts (Empire City Meeting)". Brooklyn Daily Eagle, page 26. 1953-11-08. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  4. ^ "Hangs Up New World's Record". Los Angeles Herald, Volume XXVIII, Number 22. 1900-10-23. Retrieved 2019-09-28.