First Special Stakes

The First Special Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run between 1886 and 1909 at Gravesend Race Track in Gravesend, on Coney Island, New York. The race was run on dirt at a distance of one and one-quarter miles and was open to horses of either sex age three and older since 1887.

First Special Stakes
Discontinued stakes race
LocationGravesend Race Track
Gravesend, Coney Island, NY
Inaugurated1886-1909
Race typeThoroughbred - Flat racing
Race information
Distance1¼ miles (10 furlongs
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationThree-years-old and up

Historical notes

The 1886 inaugural running was for three-year-olds only and the one time it was raced at one and one-half miles. There were just two horses participating in the 1886 race won by Dewdrop who beat that year's Kentucky Derby winner Ben Ali.

In 1887, the race marked the beginning of an important event for older horses with the First Special Stakes attracting the top horses to such an extent that 14 of the 24 editions of the race were won by Champions. Fair Play, one of the non-champions who is best known today as the sire of Man o' War, won the 1908 running in track record time.

Demise of the First Special Stakes

After years of uncertainty, on June 11, 1908, the Republican controlled New York Legislature under Governor Charles Evans Hughes passed the Hart-Agnew anti-betting legislation with penalties allowing for fines and up to a year in prison.[1] The owners of Gravesend Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without income from betting.[2] Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which resulted in the cancellation of the Second Special Stakes after 1907 so that limited funds could be used to maintain the purses offered for other high-profile races.[3] Nonetheless for 1908 and 1909 the purse for the First Special Stakes was well less than half of what it had been.[4] Further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which deepened the financial crisis for track operators and led to a complete shut down of racing across the state during 1911 and 1912. After a 1911 amendment to the law to limit the liability of owners and directors was defeated, every racetrack in New York State shut down.[5] Owners, whose horses of racing age had nowhere to go, began sending them, their trainers and their jockeys to race in England and France. Many ended their racing careers there, and a number remained to become an important part of the European horse breeding industry. Thoroughbred Times reported that more than 1,500 American horses were sent overseas between 1908 and 1913 and that of them, at least 24 were either past, present, or future Champions.[6] When a February 21, 1913 ruling by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division ruling saw horse racing return in 1913 it was too late for the Gravesend horse racing facility never reopened.[7][8]

Records

Speed record:

Most wins:

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

Winners
Year
 Winner
 Age
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Dist.
(Miles)		 Time
 Win$
1909 Fitz Herbert Ŧ 3 Eddie Dugan Sam Hildreth Sam Hildreth 1 1/4 M 2:05.20 $2,300
1908 Fair Play 3 Eddie Dugan A. Jack Joyner August Belmont Jr. 1 1/4 M 2:03.40 $2,250
1907 Ballot Ŧ 3 David Nicol James G. Rowe Sr. James R. Keene 1 1/4 M 2:07.00 $5,000
1906 Cottontown 3 Leroy Williams Auval John Baker Patrick J. Millett 1 1/4 M 2:05.60 $5,250
1905 Colonial Girl 6 LaVerne Sewell Charles E. Rowe Charles E. Rowe 1 1/4 M 2:07.80 $4,800
1904 Beldame Ŧ 3 Frank O'Neill Fred Burlew Newton Bennington (Lessee) 1 1/4 M 2:06.00 $4,950
1903 McChesney 4 Grover Fuller Frank M. Taylor Edward E. Smathers 1 1/4 M 2:08.00 $4,920
1902 Hermis Ŧ 3 George M. Odom John H. McCormack Louis V. Bell 1 1/4 M 2:06.20 $2,875
1901 Advance Guard 4 Tommy Burns Alexander Shields James Carruthers & Alexander Shields 1 1/4 M 2:08.00 $2,825
1900 Kinley Mack Ŧ 4 Patrick A. McCue Peter G. Wimmer Augustus Eastin & Samuel E. Larabie 1 1/4 M 2:08.20 $2,475
1899 Imp Ŧ 5 Peter Clay Charles E. Brossman Daniel R. Harness 1 1/4 M 2:09.80 $2,875
1898 Briar Sweet Ŧ 3 Danny Maher Walter B. Jennings Walter B. Jennings 1 1/4 M 2:07.25 $2,650
1897 Ben Brush Ŧ 4 Willie Simms Hardy Campbell Jr. Michael F. Dwyer 1 1/16 M 1:48.25 $1,850
1896 Flying Dutchman 4 Skeets Martin Patrick Dunne Patrick Dunne 1 1/4 M 2:09.25 $1,850
1895 Henry of Navarre Ŧ 3 Henry F. Griffin John J. Hyland August Belmont Jr. 1 1/4 M 2:09.00 $1,850
1894 Banquet 7 Willie Simms Hardy Campbell Jr. Michael F. Dwyer 1 1/4 M 2:15.50 $2,650
1893 Lamplighter Ŧ 4 Fred Taral John Huggins Rancocas Stable (Pierre Lorillard) 1 1/4 M 2:13.50 $2,850
1892 Lamplighter Ŧ 3 Willie Simms John W. Rogers Samuel S. Brown 1 1/4 M 2:09.25 $5,000
1891 Tenny 5 Shelby Barnes William H. Karrick David T. Pulsifer 1 1/4 M 2:09.25 $4,700
1890 Kingston Ŧ 6 Jim McLaughlin Hardy Campbell Jr. Michael F. Dwyer 1 1/4 M 2:09.25 $4,650
1889 Kingston Ŧ 5 Isaac Burns Murphy Frank McCabe Dwyer Brothers Stable 1 1/4 M 2:06.50 $4,550
1888 Kingston Ŧ 4 Isaac Burns Murphy Frank McCabe Dwyer Brothers Stable 1 1/4 M 2:11.25 $2,640
1887 Volante 5 Isaac Burns Murphy Albert Cooper Lucky Baldwin 1 1/4 M 2:12.00 $2,800
1886 Dewdrop 3 Jim McLaughlin Frank McCabe Dwyer Brothers Stable 1 1/2 M 2:41.00 $2,850

Ŧ denotes a Champion.

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References
  1. "Penalties in the New York Bills". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1908-01-18. Retrieved 2018-10-26.
  2. "Keep Up Betting Ban". New York Times. 1908-09-01. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  3. "Coney Island Clubs Sturdy Stand". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1908-08-11. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  4. "Striking Falling off in Value of Ten Greatest Stakes". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1910-07-16. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  5. Times, Special To The New York (July 14, 1911). "Race Track Bill Defeated In Senate; Measure Modifying Directors' Liability for Gambling Fails of Passage". Retrieved September 2, 2017 – via NYTimes.com.
  6. "- Thoroughbred Times". www.ThoroughbredTimes.com. February 14, 2000. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  7. "Destruction Wrought by Hughes". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1908-12-15. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  8. "Famous Old Track is Sold". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1914-11-17. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
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