Havre de Grace Handicap

Last updated
Havre de Grace Handicap
Discontinued stakes race
Location Havre de Grace Racetrack
Harford County, Maryland,
United States
Inaugurated1912-1949
Race type Thoroughbred - Flat racing
Race information
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationThree-year-olds and up

The Havre de Grace Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race first run on the August 26, 1912 opening day of the new Havre de Grace Racetrack in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Although most of its runnings would take place in early fall, its final edition was run there on April 30, 1949. Due to Federal government wartime regulations, the 1943 edition was held at Laurel Park and in 1945 at Pimlico Race Course. A race for horses age three old or older, it was run on dirt over a distance of 1 1/8 miles with the exception of 1918 when it was set at 1 mile and 70 yards. From inception through 1939, the race was known as the Havre de Grace Cup Handicap. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Historical notes

The 38 runnings of the Havre de Grace Handicap produced a number of wins by racing's top horses. The 1915 edition saw Life magazine co-founder Andrew Miller win with his future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Roamer. The 1916 winner, The Finn, had won the 1915 Belmont Stakes and earned American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse honors. The next year saw the 1917 Kentucky Derby winner Omar Khayyam capture the Havre de Grace Handicap, then two years later Cudgel won. Owned by Commander J. K. L. Ross, in a very strong field Cudgel defeated two future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductees. The runner-up was Exterminator who was the 1918 Kentucky Derby winner, and in third place was Sir Barton, the 1919 U.S. Triple Crown champion. [4] The 1926 race was won by another future Hall of Famer, Crusader. He beat top horses such as Display, Sarazen and Princess Doreen. [5] Again in 1929 it was another future Hall of Famer Sun Beau who won.

The only time a mare ever won the event occurred in 1931 when Valenciennes defeated a field of eight males for owner Fannie Hertz who also owned Reigh Count, the 1928 Kentucky Derby winner and American Horse of the Year. Reigh Count would sire the great Count Fleet who would win the 1948 U.S. Triple Crown for Mrs. Hertz. [6]

Equipoise, who too would be elected to the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame, won with his usual come-from-behind charge down the homestretch to take the 1932 race going away. [7]

The 1938 running saw future Hall of Famer Seabiscuit put on a performance in the Havre de Grace Handicap that the New York Times described as "one of his most sensational victories." Bumped so hard at the first turn by another horse that jockey George Woolf thought he was going down, Seabiscuit regained his stride, caught up with the field, then took the lead away from the outstanding runner Menow and from there was hand-ridden to victory in a time of 1:50 flat that was just 1/5 of a second off the track record. [8]

In 1940, Challedon would become the only horse to win the Havre de Grace Handicap twice. Ridden by George Woolf, it marked the third straight win of this race for the future Hall of Fame jockey. [9]

Sarah F. Jeffords very fast colt Natchez added a third track record to his racing resumé with his 1948 victory in which he ran the mile and one-eighth in a clocking at 1:49 2/5. [10]

Records

Speed record:

Most wins:

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
1949Lord Grillo6Mike BasileCharles M. FeltnerGustave Ring11⁄81:50.20
1948 Natchez 5Donnie Padgett Oscar White Sarah F. Jeffords 11⁄81:49.40
1947Turbine5Mike BasileP. Da Lee WattsEstate of Mrs. H. Leibowitz11⁄81:49.60
1946Biscailuz5 Ruperto Donoso J. H. LoganJ. H. Logan11⁄81:50.00
1945Gay Bit4Donnie Padgett Albert Dunne Bobanet Stable (R. Bruce Livie)11⁄81:52.20
1944Some Chance5 John Gilbert B. Frank Christmas Abram S. Hewitt11⁄81:54.40
1943Thumbs Up4Otto Grohs Carl A. Roles Louis B. Mayer 11⁄81:52.60
1942 Tola Rose 5 Warren Mehrtens Max Hirsch Arthur J. Sackett11⁄81:50.00
1941Pictor4 Maurice Peters Louis J. Schaefer William L. Brann 11⁄81:51.20
1940 Challedon 4 George Woolf Don Cameron Branncastle Farm (William L. Brann)11⁄81:50.40
1939Challedon3 George Woolf Louis J. Schaefer Branncastle Farm (William L. Brann)11⁄81:52.60
1938 Seabiscuit 5 George Woolf Tom Smith Charles S. Howard 11⁄81:50.00
1937Eagle Pass3 Basil James John J. Flanigan Valdina Farm Stable 11⁄81:52.00
1936Roman Soldier4 Eddie Arcaro Phil ReuterElwood Sachsenmaier & Phil Reuter11⁄81:51.00
1935Good Goods4 Eddie Arcaro Robert A. Smith Brookmeade Stable 11⁄81:51.40
1934 Faireno 5 Thomas Malley James E. Fitzsimmons Belair Stud 11⁄81:50.20
1933Osculator4 Don Meade Joseph H. Stotler William R. Coe 11⁄81:49.80
1932 Equipoise 4 Raymond Workman Fred Hopkins Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney 11⁄81:50.20
1931 Valenciennes 4 Earl Steffen William J. Knapp Fannie Hertz 11⁄81:50.80
1930Spinach3 Alfred Robertson Clyde Phillips William Ziegler Jr. 11⁄81:51.00
1929 Sun Beau 4 Frank Coltiletti William Irvine Willis Sharpe Kilmer 11⁄81:55.60
1928Osmand4 Chick Lang Pete Coyne Joseph E. Widener 11⁄81:53.80
1927 Chance Play 4 Louis Morris John I. Smith Arden Farm 11⁄81:52.00
1926 Crusader 3 Earl Sande George H. Conway Glen Riddle Farm 11⁄81:50.00
1925Senalado3Edgar Barnes Thomas J. Healey Richard T. Wilson Jr. 11⁄81:52.80
1924Valador4Bennie BreuningTom MoranWilliam Martin11⁄81:51.00
1923Enchantment3 Linus McAtee James G. Rowe Sr. Harry Payne Whitney 11⁄81:50.80
1922 Bunting 3Frank Keogh James G. Rowe Sr. Harry Payne Whitney 11⁄81:53.60
1921Captain Alcock4 Linus McAtee James E. Fitzsimmons Quincy Stable (James Francis Johnson)11⁄81:52.40
1920 The Porter 5Harry LunsfordWilliam H. Brooks Edward B. McLean 11⁄81:54.00
1919 Cudgel 5 Johnny Loftus H. Guy Bedwell J. K. L. Ross 11⁄81:50.00
1918Slippery Elm5L. Stalker Robert A. Smith Woodland Stock Farm1m, 70 yds.1:44.00
1917 Omar Khayyam 3 Everett Haynes Richard F. Carmen Wilfrid Viau 11⁄81:53.00
1916 The Finn 4 Andy Schuttinger Edward W. Heffner Harry C. Hallenbeck 11⁄81:52.20
1915 Roamer 4 James Butwell A. J. Goldsborough Andrew Miller 11⁄81:51.20
1914Robert Bradley4 Eddie Ambrose John NaylorWilliam R. Mizell11⁄81:52.00
1913Nightstick3 Eddie Ambrose Albert Simons Harry P. Whitney 11⁄81:53.00
1912Adams Express4 Carroll Shilling Frank M. Taylor Harry C. Hallenbeck 11⁄81:54.00

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References

  1. ↑ "Stakes To Hallenbeck Stable.: Adams Express Carries Top Weight to Victory". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1912-08-27. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  2. ↑ "Lord Grillo Registers Havre Upset". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1949-05-02. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  3. ↑ "How Havre de Grace's racetrack was once a gem". cecildaily.com. 2016-08-27. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  4. ↑ "Havre De Grace Form Chart". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1919-09-28. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  5. ↑ "Crusader is Victor as 25,000 Look On". New York Times. 1926-09-26. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  6. ↑ "Valenciennes, filly, wins $20,000 Havre de Grace Cup". The Cincinnati Enquirer, page 35. 1931-10-04. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  7. ↑ "Equipoise and Repaid Move Into the Center of the Racing Stage". Brooklyn Daily Eagle, page 20. 1932-10-03. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  8. ↑ "$10,000 Added Test Goes to Seabiscuit". New York Times, page 34. 1938-09-29. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  9. ↑ "Havre de Grace Handicap Goes To Challedon for second Time". New York Times, Section Sports, page 80. 1940-09-29. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  10. ↑ "Natchez Sets New Track Record In Taking Havre de Grace Event". New York Times, Section Sports, page 4. 1948-07-18. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
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