Junior Champion Stakes (Gravesend)

Junior Champion Stakes
Discontinued stakes race
LocationGravesend Race Track, Gravesend, New York, USA
Inaugurated1898–1908
Race typeThoroughbredFlat racing
Race information
Distanceabout 6 furlongs
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationTwo-years-old

The Junior Champion Stakes was a race for two-year-old Thoroughbred horses at Gravesend Race Track in Gravesend, on Coney Island, New York State. The September 18, 1909 edition of the Daily Racing Form stated that for a number of years it had been one of the East Coast's most important and valuable stakes for two-year-olds.[1]

Among the race winners, Mesmerist was chosen the 1899 American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse as was Commando (1900), Highball (1903), Sysonby (1904) and Salvidere in 1906.[2][3][4]

Demise

[edit]

In 1908, the administration of Republican Governor Charles Evans Hughes signed into law the Hart–Agnew bill that effectively banned all racetrack wagering in New York State. A 1910 amendment to the legislation added further restrictions that meant by 1911 all racetracks in the state ceased operations. Although the law was repealed in time to resume racing in 1913, the Gravesend Race Track never reopened.[5]

In 1923, a new Junior Champion Stakes, later renamed the Cowdin Stakes, was inaugurated at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park neighborhood in Queens, New York City.[6]

Records

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Speed record:

  • 1:09.00 at 6 F ± – Suffragette (1908)
  • 1:13.80 at 6 F – Commando (1900)

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

Winners

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DRF history of the Junior Champion Stakes, 1898–1908[7]

Year
Winner
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Dist.
(Furlong)
Time
Win$
1908 Suffragette Joe Notter James G. Rowe Sr. James G. Rowe Sr. 6 F ± 1:09.00 $2,250
1907 Celt Walter Miller James G. Rowe Sr. James R. Keene 6 F ± 1:10.00 $5,425
1906 Salvidere Walter Miller John E. Madden Thomas Hitchcock Sr. 6 F ± 1:10.80 $13,475
1905 Pegasus Lucien Lyne John W. Rogers Harry Payne Whitney 6 F ± 1:10.40 $11,775
1904 Sysonby Arthur Redfern James G. Rowe Sr. James R. Keene 6 F ± 1:09.60 $6,010
1903 Highball Grover Fuller John W. May Walter M. Shiftel & John W. May 6 F ± 1:10.40 $12,760
1902 Acefull Harry Cochran John E. Madden William C. Whitney & Herman B. Duryea 6 F ± 1:09.40 $13,425
1901 Goldsmith Nash Turner John W. Rogers William C. Whitney 6 F ± 1:11.20 $12,650
1900 Commando Henry Spencer James G. Rowe Sr. James R. Keene 6 F 1:13.80 $10,510
1899 Mesmerist Winfield O'Connor Julius J. Bauer Bromley & Co. (Joseph E. Bromley & Arthur Featherstone) 6 F 1:15.00 $18,320
1898 Armament Danny Maher Walter C. Rollins Oneck Stable 6 F 1:14.25 $9,600

References

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  1. ^ Daily Racing Form September 18, 1909 article on the Junior Champion Stakes
  2. ^ Daily Racing Form December 10, 1899 article titled "Bromley and Cos Horses" Retrieved September 23, 2018
  3. ^ Daily Racing Form December 29, 1903 story on Champion Highball in article titled "Gossip of the Turf" Retrieved September 22, 2018
  4. ^ Daily Racing Form July 12, 1908 article titled "Salvidere Gone To Farm To Rest.: Champion of 1906" Retrieved September 22, 2018
  5. ^ "Oral Betting Held Legal: Appellate Division of New York Supreme Court Renders Important Decision". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1913-02-22. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  6. ^ Bloodhorse.com October 13, 2002 article on the 80th running of the Cowdin Stakes Retrieved September 21, 2018
  7. ^ Daily Racing Form September 18, 1909, history of the Junior Champion Stakes