The Partridge Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Sheepshead Bay Race Track from 1890 through 1909. A race on turf over a distance of six furlongs (3/4 of a mile), it was open to two-year-old horses of either sex.[1]

Partridge Stakes
Discontinued stakes race
LocationSheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn,
New York, United States
Inaugurated1890
Race typeThoroughbredFlat racing
Race information
Distance6 furlongs
SurfaceTurf
TrackLeft-handed
QualificationTwo years old

Historical notes edit

In the 1891 Partridge Stakes Azra ran third to winner Rex but went on to win the 1892 Kentucky Derby.

The three-year-old gelding Dolly Spanker won the 1903 edition of the Partridge Stakes and went on to a long and successful career winning on both turf and dirt. A popular runner, the New York Times called Dolly Spanker "one of the best-know flat racers in the country" and had been "one of the best handicap horses on the Metropolitan tracks."[2]

The End of a Race and of a Racetrack edit

The 1908 passage of the Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation by the New York Legislature under Republican Governor Charles Evans Hughes created havoc in the state's racing industry and would lead to a compete shutdown of racing in 1911 and 1912.[3][4] The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without income from betting.[5] Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which resulted in the Partridge Stakes offering a substantially reduced purse in 1908 with further reduction in 1909 to where it less than one-sixth 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.[6] A February 21, 1913 ruling by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division saw horse racing return in 1913.[7] However, it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay horse racing facility and it never reopened.[8][9]

Records edit

Speed record:

  • Ethereal @ 6 furlongs: 1:13 2/5 (1908)

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

Winners edit

Year
Winner
Age
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Dist.
(Miles)
Time
Win
$
1909 Glennadeane 2 Albert Walsh Andrew G. Blakely T. W. O'Brien 6 F 1:14.40 $350
1908 Ethereal 2 James Butler Jr. John J. Hyland Elkwood Park Stable 6 F 1:13.40 $1,050
1907 Johnnie Blake 2 David Nicol William E. Phillips Fred Cook 6 F 1:13.80 $2,545
1906 Fountainblue 2 Jack Martin Matthew M. Allen Diamond Jim Brady 6 F 1:14.00 $2,325
1905 Yankee Consul 2 Jack Martin John W. May Tippah Farms Stable 6 F 1:16.20 $3,050
1904 St. Bellane 2 George M. Odom William Shields Edward R. Thomas 6 F 1:14.20 $2,650
1903 Dolly Spanker 2 Willie Gannon James G. Rowe Sr. Foxhall P. Keene 6 F 1:15.60 $2,370
1902 Wild Thyme 2 Lucien Lyne Thomas J. Healey Andrew Miller 6 F 1:14.60 $2,500
1901 Gay Boy 2 Patrick A. McCue Charles F. Hill Clarence H. Mackay 6 F 1:15.00 $2,180
1900 Demurrer 2 Milton Henry James J. McLaughlin Anthony L. Aste 6 F 1:14.00 $1,800
1899 Water King 2 John Bullman Green B. Morris Green B. Morris 6 F 1:15.00 $1,910
1898 King Barleycorn 2 Nash Turner H. Eugene Leigh Ella O. Pepper 6 F 1:15.00 $860
1897 Central Trust 2 Fred Taral Henry Harris John E. McDonald 6 F 1:17.00 $1,150
1896 George Rose 2 J. Hill Jim M. Murphy 6 F 1:16.00 $1,150
1895 One I Love 2 Fred Taral John J. Hyland William P. Thompson 6 F 1:15.20 $1,150
1894 Harry Reed 2 Willie Simms Hardy Campbell Jr. Michael F. Dwyer 6 F 1:14.40 $1,105
1893 Armitage 2 Samuel Doggett Harry M. Mason John G. Follansbee 6 F 1:16.60 $1,155
1892 Marshall 2 Samuel Doggett Walter B. Jennings Walter B. Jennings 6 F 1:16.80 $1,520
1891 Rex 2 Alexander Covington Green B. Morris Green B. Morris 6 F 1:16.20 $1,425
1890 Strathmeath 2 Fred Taral Green B. Morris Green B. Morris 6 F 1:15.60 $1,235

References edit

  1. ^ "Running of the Partridge Stakes". Daily Racing Form. 1909-08-31. Retrieved 2020-02-08 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  2. ^ "Dolly Spanker Drops Dead". New York Times. 1911-06-19. p. 7. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  3. ^ "Penalties in the New York Bills". Daily Racing Form. 1908-01-18. Retrieved 2018-10-26 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "Keep Up Betting Ban". New York Times. 1908-09-01. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  6. ^ "Coney Island Clubs Sturdy Stand". Daily Racing Form. 1908-08-11. Retrieved 2019-02-03 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  7. ^ "Oral Betting Held Legal: Appellate Division of New York Supreme Court Renders Important Decision". Daily Racing Form. 1913-02-22. Retrieved 2019-06-29 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  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.