Mermaid Stakes

Last updated
Mermaid Stakes
Discontinued stakes race
Location Sheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York
Inaugurated1880–1910
Race type Thoroughbred – Flat racing
Race information
Distance1 mile (8 furlongs)
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationThree-year-old fillies

The Mermaid Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. An important event for three-year-old fillies, the race was run on dirt over a distance of one mile and one furlong until 1910 when it was set at one mile. [1]

Contents

First run in 1880, there was no race from 1895 through 1901. During the twenty-four years the race was held, it was won by eight Champions of which four would be elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. The final running in 1910 was won by Lily Livingston's Amelia Jenks in a major upset over Ocean Bound, the undefeated 1909 American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly. [2]

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. [3] The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without betting. [4] Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which by 1909 saw the Mermaid Stakes offering a purse that was as little as one-third of what it had been in earlier years. [5] Further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which deepened 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 horse racing facility and it never reopened.

Champions who won the Mermaid Stakes:

  1. Miss Woodford (HoF)
  2. Firenze (HoF)
  3. Yorkville Belle
  4. Beldemere
  5. Beldame (HoF)
  6. Perverse
  7. Stamina
  8. Maskette (HoF)

Records

Speed record:

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

Winners

Year
Winner
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Dist.
(Miles)		Time
Win$
1910Amelia Jenks Matt McGee Matthew Feakes Lily A. Livingston 1 M1:39.40$1,450
1909 Maskette Richard Scoville James G. Rowe Sr. James R. Keene 11⁄8 M1:52.00$3,990
1908 Stamina Eddie Dugan A. Jack Joyner Harry Payne Whitney 11⁄8 M1:53.00$4,875
1907Yankee Girl Herman Radtke George P. BrazierCharles R. Ellison11⁄8 M1:54.80$4,870
1906 Perverse Lucien Lyne John W. Rogers Harry Payne Whitney 11⁄8 M1:54.00$3,600
1905Tradition Willie Davis A. Jack Joyner Sydney Paget 11⁄8 M1:58.60$4,360
1904 Beldame Frank O'Neill Fred Burlew Newton Bennington11⁄8 M1:54.40$5,570
1903Daisy Green John Bullman Harry M. Mason John N. Follansbee11⁄8 M1:59.60$4,480
1902Gunfire Tommy Burns John W. Rogers William C. Whitney 11⁄8 M1:54.80$3,315
1895– 1901Race not held
1894 Beldemere Willie Simms Edward Feakes Preakness Stables 11⁄8 M1:56.00$5,160
1893Afternoon Samuel Doggett John W. Rogers Samuel S. Brown 11⁄8 M1:56.80$3,510
1892 Yorkville Belle Isaac Burns Murphy Matthew M. Allen Frank A. Ehret11⁄8 M2:00.60$3,810
1891Equity George Taylor John Huggins J. Gardner Cassatt 11⁄8 M1:56.20$4,400
1890Her Highness Anthony Hamilton James G. Rowe Sr. August Belmont Sr. 11⁄8 M1:57.00$5,080
1889She Edward Garrison James G. Rowe Sr. August Belmont Sr. 11⁄8 M1:56.00$4,730
1888Bella B Jim McLaughlin Frank McCabe Dwyer Brothers Stable 11⁄8 M1:57.25$5,280
1887 Firenze Jim McLaughlin Matthew Byrnes James Ben Ali Haggin 11⁄8 M1:56.00$4,340
1886Bandala Fred Littlefield Charles BoyleRichmond Stable11⁄8 M2:02.00$3,870
1885Wanda Harris Olney Matthew Byrnes Rancocas Stable 11⁄8 M1:59.50$3,470
1884Duchess William Donohue Evert V. Snedecker E. V. Snedeker & Co.11⁄8 M1:59.00$3,150
1883 Miss Woodford Jim McLaughlin James G. Rowe Sr. Dwyer Brothers Stable 11⁄8 M1:58.25$3,600
1882Hiawasse Edward Feakes Matthew Byrnes Pierre Lorillard IV 11⁄8 M1:57.25$2,700
1881Thora William Donohue James Lee Charles Reed 11⁄8 M1:57.00$2,150
1880Glidelia William Donohue George RiceWilliam M. Conner11⁄8 M1:59.50$1950

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References

  1. ↑ "The Mermaid Stakes Today". Daily Racing Form. 1909-07-07. Retrieved 2018-11-07– via University of Kentucky Archives.
  2. ↑ "Ocean Bound Beaten By A Carless Ride". New York Times. 1910-07-01. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  3. ↑ "Penalties in the New York Bills". Daily Racing Form. 1908-01-18. Retrieved 2018-10-26– via University of Kentucky Archives.
  4. ↑ "Keep Up Betting Ban". New York Times. 1908-09-01. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  5. ↑ "Striking Falling off in Value of Ten Greatest Stakes". Daily Racing Form. 1910-07-16. Retrieved 2018-10-15– via University of Kentucky Archives.
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