Surf Stakes

The Surf Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually for thirty-one years from 1880 through 1910 on the dirt course at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. A race for two-year-olds of either sex, it was last run at a distance of five and one-half furlongs but from inception through 1895 it was contested at five furlongs.[1]

Surf Stakes
Discontinued stakes race
LocationSheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, United States
Inaugurated1880 - 1910
Race typeThoroughbred - Flat racing
Race information
Distance5 furlongs (5/8 mile)
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationTwo-year-olds

Historical notes

The 1880 inaugural edition of the Surf Stakes was won by George Lorillard's filly Spinaway that had the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga Race Course named in her honor.[2][3] Her performances in 1880 led to Spinaway being retrospectively selected by Thoroughbred Heritage as that year's American Champion Two-Year-Old Female.[4]

Tremont, owned by the Dwyer Brothers Stable who notoriously over-raced their horses, came into the June 12, 1886 running having won the Foam Stakes two days earlier. Tremont went on to an undefeated Championship two-year-old campaign in which he won all thirteen of his starts but never raced again.[5][6]

Owner and trainer Byron McClelland won the 1890 race with Sallie McClelland which he had named for his wife. The filly too would be retrospectively selected by Thoroughbred Heritage as that year's American Champion Two-Year-Old Female.[7]

Hastings was a surprise winner of the 1895 edition, beating the heavily favored Handspring by three lengths. A month later, Hastings would be sold at auction to August Belmont Jr. for a then record price of $37,000. [8][9]

En route to a career that would see his induction into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame, Peter Pan won the 1906 Surf Stakes.[10]

The end of a race and of a racetrack

On June 11, 1908, the Republican controlled New York Legislature under Governor Charles Evans Hughes passed the Hart-Agnew anti-betting legislation.[11] The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without income from betting.[12] Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which resulted in the Surf Stakes offering a purse in 1909 that was more than ninety percent less than what it had been the previous year. These small purses made horse racing unprofitable and impossible for even the most successful horse owners to continue in business. As such, for the 1910 racing season management of the Sheepshead Bay facility dropped some of its minor stakes races and used the purse money to bolster more most important events such as the Surf Stakes.[13]

In spite of strong opposition by prominent owners such as August Belmont, Jr. and Harry Payne Whitney, reform legislators were not happy when they learned that betting was still going on at racetracks between individuals and they had further restrictive legislation passed by the New York Legislature in 1910.[14] The Agnew-Perkins Law, a series of four bills and recorded as the Executive Liability Act, made it possible for racetrack owners and members of its board of directors to be fined and imprisoned if anyone was found betting, even privately, anywhere on their premises.[15] After a 1911 amendment to the law that would limit the liability of owners and directors was defeated, every racetrack in New York State shut down.[16] As a result the Surf Stakes was not run in 1911 and 1912.

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.[17] When a February 21, 1913 ruling by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division Court saw horse racing return in 1913.[18] However, it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay horse racing facility and it never reopened.[19][20]

Records

Speed record:

  • 1:00.40 @ 5 furlongs - Hastings (1895)
  • 1:06.80 @ 5.5 furlongs - Mombassa (1907)

Most wins by a jockey:

  • 2 - Lloyd Hughes (1880, 1882)
  • 2 - Jim McLaughlin (1885, 1886)
  • 2 - Spyder Anderson (1889, 1890)
  • 2 - Henry Griffin (1894, 1895)
  • 2 - Fred Littlefield (1897, 1900)
  • 2 - Willie Shaw (1901, 1904)

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

Winners
Year
 Winner
 Age
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Dist.
(Miles)		 Time
 Win$
1910 Lahore 2 James Butwell James G. Rowe Sr. James R. Keene 5.5 F 1:07.20 $2,170
1909 Dalmatian 2 Vincent Powers Sam Hildreth Sam Hildreth 5.5 F 1:08.00 $330
1908 Suffragette 2 Joe Notter James G. Rowe Sr. James G. Rowe Sr. 5.5 F 1:07.00 $3,970
1907 Mombassa 2 George Mountain John W. Rogers Harry Payne Whitney 5.5 F 1:06.80 $4,880
1906 Peter Pan 2 Herman Radtke James G. Rowe Sr. James R. Keene 5.5 F 1:07.00 $5,010
1905 Inquisitor 2 Jack Martin Thomas Welsh Andrew Miller 5.5 F 1:07.40 $3,920
1904 Sparkling Star 2 Willie Shaw T. J. Healey Richard T. Wilson Jr. 5.5 F 1:08.00 $4,350
1903 Inflexible 2 Tommy Burns John W. Rogers William Collins Whitney 5.5 F 1:07.00 $5,385
1902 Monte Carlo 2 George M. Odom Walter N. House J. Grant Lyman 5.5 F 1:10.00 $4,015
1901 Smart Set 2 Willie Shaw Thomas Welsh Julius Fleischmann 5.5 F 1:07.40 $3,080
1900 Watercolor 2 Fred Littlefield Charles Littlefield Jr. Charles Littlefield Jr. 5.5 F 1:07.20 $3,320
1899 Missionary 2 Winfield O'Connor Julius J. Bauer Bromley & Co. (Joseph E. Bromley & Arthur Featherstone) 5.5 F 1:08.80 $3,330
1898 Autumn 2 Tod Sloan A. Jack Joyner A. Jack Joyner 5.5 F 1:07.20 $3,155
1897 Varus 2 Fred Littlefield R. Wyndham Walden Alfred H. & Dave H. Morris 5.5 F 1:09.40 $2,950
1896 Lithos 2 Mr. Hart Lew Ellmore Trowbridge & Co. (Samuel Trowbridge) 5 F 1:02.40 $1,425
1895 Hastings 2 Henry Griffin John J. Hyland David Gideon & John Daly 5 F 1:00.40 $4,525
1894 Keenan 2 Henry Griffin John J. Hyland August Belmont Jr. 5 F 1:01.00 $3,825
1893 Declare 2 Willie Simms Frank McCabe Philip J. Dwyer & Son 5 F 1:02.60 $4,625
1892 Hammie 2 Fred Taral Hardy Campbell Jr. Michael F. Dwyer 5 F 1:02.40 $3,775
1891 Merry Monarch 2 Marty Bergen John J. Hyland David Gideon 5 F 1:04.00 $4,150
1890 Sallie McClelland 2 Spyder Anderson Byron McClelland Byron McClelland 5 F 1:02.60 $3,950
1889 Torso 2 Spyder Anderson Charles Leighton William Lawrence Scott 5 F 1:01.80 $4,975
1888 Reporter 2 P. Godfrey John W. Rogers Samuel S. Brown 5 F 1:02.75 $3,600
1887 Magnetizer 2 Mr. Link James G. Rowe Sr. August Belmont Sr. 5 F 1:02.00 $3,800
1886 Tremont 2 Jim McLaughlin Frank McCabe Dwyer Brothers Stable 5 F 1:02.00 $2,875
1885 Portland 2 Jim McLaughlin Frank McCabe Dwyer Brothers Stable 5 F 1:03.50 $2,475
1884 Wanda 2 Harris Olney Matthew Byrnes Pierre Lorillard IV 5 F 1:03.00 $3.075
1883 Thackeray 2 James Brennan R. Wyndham Walden George L. Lorillard 5 F 1:03.00 $2,950
1882 Jacobus 2 Lloyd Hughes Richard Dwyer James E. Kelley 5 F 1:05.00 $2,525
1881 Marsh Redon 2 Billy Donohue Barney Riley David D. Withers 5 F 1:03.25 $2,525
1880 Spinaway 2 Lloyd Hughes R. Wyndham Walden George L. Lorillard 5 F 1:04.25 $2,025
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References
  1. "Condensed History Of The Surf Stakes". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1908-06-25. Retrieved 2019-07-01.
  2. "The American Turf - Performances For 1880". Wallace's Monthly, 1880 Volume VI. 1880-01-01. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  3. "Spinaway Stakes". NYRA. 1942-06-27. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  4. "Turf Hallmarks - Champions of the Turf". Thoroughbred Heritage. 2019-07-19. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  5. "HARK'TIS THE TROUBADOUR; WHO TAKES THE GREAT PRIZE OF THE SUBURBAN HANDICAP. THE SURPRISES WHICH MARKED THE OPENING OF THE SEASON AT SHEEPSHEAD.BAY, TO THE LOSS OF THE BOOKMAKERS". The New York Times. 11 June 1886. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  6. "TREMONT SHOWS HIS SUPERIOR QUALITIES". The New York Times. 13 June 1886. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  7. "Turf Hallmarks - Champions of the Turf". Thoroughbred Heritage. 2019-07-19. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  8. "Hastings A Surprise". New York Times. 1895-06-27. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  9. "A RACING STABLE SOLD.; Good Prices Paid for the Gideon & Daly Thoroughbreds". New York Times. 1895-07-16. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  10. "Coney Island Form Chart". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1906-06-29. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  11. "Penalties in the New York Bills". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1908-01-18. Retrieved 2018-10-26.
  12. "Keep Up Betting Ban". New York Times. 1908-09-01. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  13. "Coney Island Clubs Sturdy Stand". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1908-08-11. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  14. Liebman, Bennett (May 24, 2009). "The First American Triple Crown Series". The Rail. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  15. "Racing Men Attack Anti-Betting Bills - Place Every Man Who Makes Private Wager in Jeopardy". New York Times. 1910-04-07. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  16. 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.
  17. "Thoroughbred Times". www.ThoroughbredTimes.com. February 14, 2000. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  18. "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.
  19. "Destruction Wrought by Hughes". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1908-12-15. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  20. "Famous Old Track is Sold". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1914-11-17. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
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