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Vernal Stakes
Discontinued stakes race
Location	Sheepshead Bay Race Track; Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, United States
Inaugurated	1892–1910
Race type	Thoroughbred – Flat racing
Race information
Distance	5 furlongs (0.63 mi)
Surface	Dirt
Track	left-handed
Qualification	Two-year-old fillies

The Vernal Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old fillies held annually at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. A race on dirt, in its first two editions of 1892 and 1893 the race was run at a distance of six furlongs and was open to horses of either sex.^[1] In 1894 it was changed to an event exclusively for fillies and was set at a distance of five furlongs.^[2]^[3]

Future Champions who won the Vernal Stakes

The 1897 winner Briar Sweet was owned and trained by Walter Jennings. She would go on to be named American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly of 1898.^[4]

In 1899 Killashandra won the Vernal Stakes and the following year would also be named American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly. Killashandra was owned by William Whitney but raced under the name of stable manager Sydney Paget.^[5]

The 1903 edition of the Vernal Stakes was won by the great Beldame who would go on to be named American Horse of the Year in 1904 and following its formation, a U. S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. The Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park is named in her honor.

The 1908 running was won by Ocean Bound who was owned by Woodford Clay, a member of Kentucky's prominent Clay family. Ocean Bound would be named American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly for 1908 and the American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly of 1909. ^[6]

The final running of the Vernal Stakes in 1910 was won by Bashti. The filly was owned by the Newcastle Stable racing and breeding partnership headed by Life magazine co-founder Andrew Miller and which partnership also included trainer Thomas Welsh.^[7] A few weeks after Bashti's win she would be sold at auction for a record price to Harry Payne Whitney who shipped her to England to race as a three-year-old before eventually returning her to stand as a broodmare at his Kentucky breeding farm.^[8] Bashti would be named American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.

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. The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without income from betting.^[9] Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which resulted in the Vernal Stakes offering a purse in 1910 that was less than one-half of what it had been in earlier years. These small purses made horse racing unprofitable and impossible for even the most successful horse owners to continue in business. Further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which resulted in the deepening of the financial crisis for track operators and led to a complete shut down of racing across the state during 1911 and 1912. When a Court ruling saw racing return in 1913 it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay facility and it never reopened.^[10]^[11]

Records

Speed record:

0:59.00 @ 5 furlongs : Misgivings (1906)

Most wins by a jockey:

4 – Samuel Doggett (1893, 1894, 1895, 1898)

Most wins by a trainer:

4 – James G. Rowe Sr. (1902, 1906, 1907, 1908)

Most wins by an owner:

3 – James R. Keene (1902, 1907, 1908)

Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Dist. (Furlongs)	Time	Win$
1910	Bashti	2	Joe Notter	Thomas Welsh	Newcastle Stable	5 F	1:00.00	$1,890
1909	Ocean Bound	2	Edward Taplin	French Brooks	Woodford Clay	5 F	0:59.20	$1,925
1908	Melisande	2	Joe Notter	James G. Rowe Sr.	James R. Keene	5 F	0:59.60	$3,540
1907	Megg's Hill	2	Walter Miller	James G. Rowe Sr.	James R. Keene	5 F	1:01.40	$4,420
1906	Misgivings	2	Walter Miller	James G. Rowe Sr.	August Belmont Jr.	5 F	0:59.00	$4,510
1905	Edna Jackson	2	Frank O'Neill	Fred Burlew	Patrick H. McCarren	5 F	1:00.80	$4,330
1904	Tradition	2	William Travers	A. Jack Joyner	Sydney Paget	5 F	1:02.20	$4,010
1903	Beldame	2	John Bullman	Fred Burlew	Newton Bennington	5 F	1:01.40	$4,300
1902	Duster	2	Willie Shaw	James G. Rowe Sr.	James R. & Foxhall P. Keene	5 F	1:01.00	$3,505
1901	Hatasoo	2	Winfield O'Connor	Julius J. Bauer	Arthur Featherstone	5 F	1:00.60	$2,940
1900	Sweet Lavender	2	Fred Littlefield	Charles S. Littlefield Jr.	Charles S. Littlefield Jr.	5 F	1:02.00	$1,935
1899	Killashandra	2	Richard Clawson	Sam Hildreth	Sydney Paget	5 F	1:02.40	$2,140
1898	Whiplash	2	Samuel Doggett		James W. Colt	5 F	1:01.80	$2,340
1897	Briar Sweet	2	Fred Taral	Walter B. Jennings	Walter B. Jennings	5 F	1:01.80	$1,450
1896	Winged Foot	2	John J. McCafferty	John J. McCafferty	John J. McCafferty	5 F	1:02.40	$1,895
1895	Axiom	2	Samuel Doggett	Frank McCabe	Philip J. Dwyer	5 F	1:02.20	$1,450
1894	California	2	Samuel Doggett	Walter C. Rollins	Oneck Stable	5 F	1:02.40	$1,950
1893	J. P. B.	2	Samuel Doggett	Thomas Welsh	Charles Fleischmann & Sons	6 F	1:13.00	$2,930
1892	Harvest	2	Cox	Hardy Campbell Jr.	Michael F. Dwyer	6 F	1:13.40	$2,930

References

^ "Midget Lambley's Day". New York Sun. 1892-06-30. p. 4. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
^ "Two Stake Races at Sheepshead Bay This Afternoon". Daily Racing Form. 1910-07-02. Retrieved 2019-05-14 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
^ "SECOND RACE – The Vernal Stakes: for fillies two years old". New York Times. 1894-07-03. p. 3. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
^ "Briar Sweet's Vernal Stakes". The Times from Philadelphia. 1897-07-09. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
^ "Racing at Sheepshead Bay". New York Times. 1899-07-02. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
^ "New York Form Chart". Daily Racing Form. 1910-07-01. Retrieved 2019-01-10 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
^ "New York Form Chart". Daily Racing Form. 1910-07-03. Retrieved 2019-01-09 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
^ "Bashti Sells for $30,000: Filly by Ada-Disadvantage Brings Record-Breaking Price". Daily Racing Form. 1910-08-21. Retrieved 2019-05-14 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
^ "Keep Up Betting Ban". New York Times. 1908-09-01. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
^ "Destruction Wrought by Hughes". Daily Racing Form. 1908-12-15. Retrieved 2018-11-30 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
^ "Famous Old Track is Sold". Daily Racing Form. 1914-11-17. Retrieved 2018-11-30 – via University of Kentucky Archives.