Flying Handicap

Flying Handicap
Discontinued stakes race
LocationSheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn,
New York, United States
Inaugurated1893–1909
Race typeThoroughbred – Flat racing
Race information
Distance6+1⁄2 furlongs (.81 miles)
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationThree years old

The Flying Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run from 1893 through 1909 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. A race for three-year-old horses of either sex, it was last run on dirt over a distance of 6+1⁄2 furlongs.[1][2]

Historical notes

Future Hall of Fame horses who won the Flying Handicap include Domino in 1894 and Broomstick in 1904.[3]

Hall of Fame inductee George M. Odom won this race both as a jockey (1903) and as a trainer/owner (1909).

The 1911–1912 statewide shutdown of horse racing

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.[4]

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 [5] that 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. After a 1911 amendment to the law to limit the liability of owners and directors was defeated,[6] every racetrack in New York State shut down. As a result, the Flying Handicap 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.[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:

  • 1:18.40 @ 6.5 furlongs (4,300 ft; 1,300 m) – Spooner (1908)
  • 1:12.80 @ 6 furlongs (4,000 ft; 1,200 m) – Dublin (1901)
  • 1:10.00 @ 5+3⁄4 furlongs (3,800 ft; 1,200 m) – Domino (1894)

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 Prince Gal 3 James Butwell George M. Odom George M. Odom 6.5 F 1:20.20 $1,050
1908 Spooner 3 Clifford D. Gilbert Max Hirsch F. B. Lemaire 6.5 F 1:18.40 $1,050
1907 Baby Wolf 3 Joe Notter John W. Rogers Harry Payne Whitney 6 F 1:15.00 $2,500
1906 Inquisitor 3 Walter Miller Thomas Welsh Newcastle Stable 6 F 1:13.20 $2,750
1905 Oxford 3 Lucien Lyne James J. McLaughlin James J. McLaughlin 6 F 1:14.00 $2,600
1904 Broomstick 3 Tommy Burns Robert Tucker Samuel S. Brown 6 F 1:13.60 $2,600
1903 Shot Gun 3 George M. Odom Thomas Welsh Newcastle Stable 6 F 1:14.60 $1,770
1902 Hatasoo 3 Willie Shaw Julius Bauer Arthur Featherstone 6 F 1:13.00 $2,050
1901 Dublin 3 Patrick A. McCue W. Fred Presgrave Goughacres Stable 6 F 1:12.80 $1,750
1900 Vulcain 3 Milton Henry Sam Hildreth Sam Hildreth 6 F 1:13.40 $1,400
1899 Toluca 3 Richard Clawson Sam Hildreth Sydney Paget 6 F 1:14.00 $1,430
1898 Bendoran 3 Danny Maher Walter Jennings Walter Jennings 6 F 1:14.40 $1,280
1897 Casseopia 3 Fred Littlefield R. Wyndham Walden Alfred H. & Dave H. Morris 6 F 1:15.20 $1,450
1896 Refugee 3 Tod Sloan William M. Wallace William M. Wallace 6 F 1:16.00 $1,400
1895 Rey del Caredes 3 Fred Taral Sam Hildreth Santa Anita Stable 5.75 F 1:11.40 $1,400
1894 Domino 3 Fred Taral William Lakeland James R. & Foxhall P. Keene 5.75 F 1:10.00 $1,475
1893 Cactus 3 Monk Overton David Gideon David Gideon & John Daly 5.75 F 1:11.60 $1,095

References

  1. ^ "Condensed history of the Flying Handicap 1893–1908". Daily Racing Form. 1909-09-01. Retrieved 2019-06-01 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  2. ^ "Flying to Added Starter: Prince Gal Takes Handicap Feature at Sheepshead Bay". Daily Racing Form. 1909-09-02. Retrieved 2019-06-01 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  3. ^ "Twenty Years Ago Today". Daily Racing Form. 1924-08-29. Retrieved 2019-06-01 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  4. ^ "Penalties in the New York Bills". Daily Racing Form. 1908-01-18. Retrieved 2018-10-26 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  5. ^ Liebman, Bennett (May 24, 2009). "The First American Triple Crown Series". The Rail. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  6. ^ "Race Track Bill Defeated In Senate; Measure Modifying Directors' Liability for Gambling Fails of Passage". The New York Times. July 14, 1911. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  7. ^ "Racing Through the Century". Thoroughbred Times. February 14, 2000. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  8. ^ "Destruction Wrought by Hughes". Daily Racing Form. 1908-12-15. Retrieved 2018-11-30 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  9. ^ "Famous Old Track is Sold". Daily Racing Form. 1914-11-17. Retrieved 2018-11-30 – via University of Kentucky Archives.