Second Special Stakes

The Second Special Stakes was a Thoroughbred horse race run between 1886 and 1907 at Gravesend Race Track in Gravesend, on Coney Island, New York. The race was run on dirt at a distance of one and one half miles in its last nine runnings and was open to horses of either sex age three and older since inception.[1]

Second Special Stakes
Discontinued stakes race
LocationGravesend Race Track
Gravesend, Coney Island, NY
Inaugurated1886-1907
Race typeThoroughbred - Flat racing
Race information
Distance1½ miles (12 furlongs)
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationThree-years-old and up

Historical notes

The Second Special Stakes had only two starters in 1892 through 1895, 1897, and again in 1906. Some of this lack of competition may well be as a result of the purse distribution during that era when a third-place finisher collected only a very tiny portion. This situation often limited the number of entrants if there were one or two dominant entries as owners would switch their horse to run on another day when there was a race where they might have a reasonable chance of winning. In these six Second Special Stakes races with just two horses competing, all were won by a national Champion.[2]

Demise of the Second 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.[3] The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without income from betting.[4] Racetrack operators had no choice but cancel some races and drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which resulted in the Second Special Stakes being placed on hiatus. These small purses made racing horses highly unprofitable and impossible for even the most successful owners to continue in business.[5] Further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which deepened the financial crisis for track operators and after a 1911 amendment to the law that would have limited the liability of owners and directors was defeated, every racetrack in New York State shut down.[6] 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 horses 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 of them at least 24 were either past, present, or future Champions.[7] When a February 21, 1913 ruling by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division Court saw horse racing return in 1913 it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay horse racing facility and it never reopened.[8][9]

Records

Speed record:

  • 1 1/8 miles : 1:54.75 - Clifford (1894)
  • 1 1/2 miles : 2:31.80 - Ballot (1907)

Most wins:

  • 2 - Clifford (1894, 1895)
  • 2 - Imp (1899, 1900)
  • 2 - Blues (1901, 1902)

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer:

  • 3 - Thomas Welsh (1901, 1902, 1906)

Most wins by an owner:

Winners
Year
 Winner
 Age
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Dist.
(Miles)		 Time
 Win$
1907 Ballot 3 Dave Nicol James G. Rowe Sr. James R. Keene 1 1/2 M 2:31.80 $5,025
1906 Running Water 3 Walter Miller Thomas Welsh Newcastle Stable (A. Miller/F. R. Bishop/B. Painter) 1 1/2 M 2:45.40 $4,600
1905 Oiseau 3 Frank O'Neill Matthew M. Allen James B. Brady 1 1/2 M 2:33.20 $4,625
1904 Beldame 3 Frank O'Neill Fred Burlew Newton Bennington (Lessee) 1 1/2 M 2:35.40 $4,775
1903 McChesney 4 Grover Fuller Frank M. Taylor Edward E. Smathers 1 1/2 M 2:34.00 $2,375
1902 Blues 4 Jack Martin Thomas Welsh Frank J. Farrell 1 1/2 M 2:35.40 $2,625
1901 Blues 3 Willie Shaw Thomas Welsh Frank J. Farrell 1 1/2 M 2:33.00 $2,725
1900 Imp 6 Tommy Burns Charles E. Brossman Daniel R. Harness 1 1/2 M 2:34.20 $2,500
1899 Imp 5 Peter Clay Charles E. Brossman Daniel R. Harness 1 1/2 M 2:34.00 $2,675
1898 Race not held
1897 Ben Brush 4 Willie Simms Hardy Campbell Jr. Michael F. Dwyer 1 1/4 M 2:10.00 $1,850
1896 Race not held
1895 Clifford 5 Willie Simms H. Eugene Leigh H. Eugene Leigh 1 1/8 M 1:56.50 $1,350
1894 Clifford 4 Willie Simms H. Eugene Leigh H. Eugene Leigh 1 1/8 M 1:54.75 $1,475
1893 Tammany 4 Edward Garrison Matthew Byrnes Marcus Daly 1 1/8 M 1:57.25 $2,900
1892 Lamplighter 3 Willie Simms John W. Rogers Samuel S. Brown 1 1/8 M 1:57.50 $3,100
1891 Judge Morrow 4 Alexander Covington Green B. Morris Green B. Morris 1 1/8 M 1:55.75 $3,100
1890 Los Angeles 5 Shelby Barnes Albert Cooper Lucky Baldwin 1 1/8 M 1:59.75 $3,000
1889 Reporter 3 Marty Bergen John W. Rogers Samuel S. Brown 1 1/8 M 1:56.75 $3,050
1888 Kingston 4 Isaac Burns Murphy Frank McCabe Dwyer Brothers Stable 1 1/8 M 1:56.75 $3,000
1887 Hanover 3 Jim McLaughlin Frank McCabe Dwyer Brothers Stable 1 1/8 M 1:57.50 $2,680
1886 Elkwood 3 William J. Fitzpatrick James B. Dyer Walter Gratz 1 1/4 M 2:13.25 $1,925
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gollark: Well, two - one for digital redstone lines and one for bundled lines.
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gollark: They work for the government, who also fool you into believing in birds.

References
  1. "Important Stake Dates". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1907-09-26. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  2. The Bloodhorse.com Champion's history charts Archived September 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Penalties in the New York Bills". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1908-01-18. Retrieved 2018-10-26.
  4. "Keep Up Betting Ban". New York Times. 1908-09-01. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  5. "Coney Island Clubs Sturdy Stand". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1908-08-11. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  6. 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.
  7. "Thoroughbred Times". www.ThoroughbredTimes.com. February 14, 2000. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  8. "Destruction Wrought by Hughes". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1908-12-15. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  9. "Famous Old Track is Sold". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1914-11-17. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
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