| Grade III race | |
| Location | Monmouth Park Racetrack Oceanport, New Jersey, United States |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1947 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
| Website | Monmouth Park Racetrack |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1 1⁄16 miles (8.5 furlongs) |
| Surface | Turf |
| Track | Left-handed |
| Qualification | Three-years-old & up |
| Weight | Assigned |
| Purse | $150,000 |
The Oceanport Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early August at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. Open to horses age three and older, the Grade III event is contested on turf over a distance of 1 1⁄16 miles(8.5 furlongs).
Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with Darby Development, LLC.
Oceanport is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 5,832, reflecting an increase of 25 (+0.4%) from the 5,807 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn declined by 339 (-5.5%) from the 6,146 counted in the 1990 Census.
A graded stakes race is a thoroughbred horse race in the United States that meets the criteria of the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). A specific grade level is then assigned to the race, based on statistical analysis of the quality of the field in previous years, provided the race meets the minimum purse criteria for the grade in question. In Canada, a similar grading system is maintained by the Jockey Club of Canada. Graded stakes races are similar to Group races in Europe but the grading is more dynamic in North America.
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Inaugurated in 1947 as a six furlong sprint race on dirt, it was switched to the turf course in 1964.
A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, or 10 chains.
The race was not run in 1996 due to Hurricane Bertha. It was run in two divisions in 1956, 1966–1969, 1971, 1973, 1975–1976, 1979, 1982.
Hurricane Bertha was an intense and early-forming major hurricane that affected areas from the Leeward Islands to the United States in July of the 1996 Atlantic hurricane season. The second tropical cyclone and named storm during the season, Bertha originated from a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa in early July. Steadily organizing while moving generally towards the west, the disturbance was designated as a tropical depression at 0000 UTC on July 5, and was further upgraded to a tropical storm by 1200 UTC later that day. Over the next few days, continued intensification occurred, and Bertha became a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, the first hurricane of the season, prior to moving through the northern Leeward Islands. Late on July 8, a period of rapid intensification began, and at 0600 UTC on July 9, Bertha reached its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) with a minimum barometric pressure of 960 mbar (28 inHg). Moving around the western periphery of the subtropical ridge, Bertha passed north of the Bahamas as a weakening hurricane before turning towards the north-northeast and undergoing another period of rapid intensification. Late on July 12, Bertha made landfall between Wrightsville Beach and Topsail Beach, North Carolina with winds of 90 mph (140 km/h). Gradual weakening ensued the following day as Bertha moved up the Mid-Atlantic and into New England before becoming an extratropical cyclone on July 14.