Discontinued stakes race | |
Location | Sheepshead Bay Race Track Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York |
---|---|
Inaugurated | 1885–1909 |
Race type | Thoroughbred – Flat racing |
Race information | |
Distance | 1+1⁄8 miles (9 furlongs) |
Surface | Dirt |
Track | left-handed |
Qualification | Three-years-old and up |
The Omnium Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York from 1885 thru 1909. A race for horses of either sex age three and older, it was run on dirt over a distance of a mile and one-eighth. The Omnium was the third and last of the track's autumn serials, coming after the Fall Handicap at 6½ furlongs and the Ocean Handicap at one mile. [1]
New to racing in New York, a relatively unknown western-based horse named Joquita won the inaugural running. Lightly regarded by the betting public, Joquita was sent off at odds of 20–1. However, once those odds were telegraphed across the country, a group of western people each quietly put down what the Daily Racing Form called an "enormous sum of money" with bookmakers. The Joquita "killing" would be talked about for years to come. [2]
The final running of the Omnium was won by King James, owned and trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Sam Hildreth. [3] King James's performance for the year would earn him recognition as the American Champion Handicap Horse of 1909.
In 1903 His Eminence, winner of the 1901 Kentucky Derby, [4] set a new Sheepshead Bay track record as did Firestone in winning the 1908 Omnium Handicap. [5]
After years of uncertainty, 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. [6] The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without income from betting. [7] Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which resulted in the Omnium Handicap offering a purse in 1909 that was one-third of what it had been in earlier years. These small purses made horse racing highly unprofitable and impossible for even the most successful horse owners to continue in business. As such, for the 1910 racing season management of the Sheepshead Bay facility dropped some of its less important stakes races and used the purse money to bolster its most important events. The effect was to place the Omnium Handicap on hiatus. [8] Further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which deepened the financial crisis for track operators and after a 1911 amendment to the law to limit the liability of owners and directors was defeated every racetrack in New York State shut down. [9] 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. [10] 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. [11] [12]
Speed record:
Most wins:
Most wins by a jockey:
Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Dist. (Miles) | Time | Win US$ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1909 | King James | 4 | James Butwell | Sam Hildreth | Sam Hildreth | 11⁄8 M | 1:52.00 | $1,050 |
1908 | Firestone | 3 | James Butler Jr. | Henry E. Rowell | Thomas H. Williams | 11⁄8 M | 1:51.40 | $1,425 |
1907 | Brookdale Nymph | 4 | Joe Notter | John W. Rogers | Harry Payne Whitney | 11⁄8 M | 1:52.40 | $3,280 |
1906 | Proper | 6 | Leroy Williams | Walter B. Jennings | Walter B. Jennings | 11⁄8 M | 1:54.80 | $3,720 |
1905 | Proper | 5 | Gene Hildebrand | Walter B. Jennings | Walter B. Jennings | 11⁄8 M | 1:53.20 | $3,865 |
1904 | Colonial Girl | 5 | Willie Davis | Charles E. Rowe | Charles E. Rowe | 11⁄8 M | 1:53.60 | $3,580 |
1903 | His Eminence | 5 | W. A. Higgins | George Hill | Fred Gebhard | 11⁄8 M | 1:52.20 | $2,160 |
1902 | Colonel Bill | 3 | Willie Shaw | James H. McCormick | Louis V. Bell | 11⁄8 M | 1:52.80 | $1,950 |
1901 | Herbert | 4 | Lewis Smith | Walter C. Rollins | Walter C. Rollins | 11⁄8 M | 1:58.20 | $1,950 |
1900 | Potente | 5 | Patrick A. McCue | John J. McCafferty | John J. McCafferty | 11⁄8 M | 1:52.80 | $1,950 |
1899 | Maxine | 5 | Willie Shaw | Abraham J. Stemler | Abraham J. Stemler | 11⁄8 M | 1:56.00 | $1,450 |
1898 | Algol | 4 | Tommy Burns | George Walker | John W. Schorr & Son | 11⁄8 M | 1:54.20 | $1,450 |
1897 | Ben Brush | 4 | Willie Simms | Hardy Campbell Jr. | Michael F. Dwyer | 11⁄8 M | 1:55.00 | $1,425 |
1896 | Buck Massie | 4 | John Hill | J. Healy | James M. Murphy | 11⁄8 M | 1:54.40 | $1,500 |
1895 | Clifford | 5 | Willie Simms | John W. Rogers | H. Eugene Leigh | 11⁄8 M | 1:53.20 | $1,425 |
1894 | Roche | 4 | Henry Griffin | William Donohue | William Donohue | 11⁄8 M | 1:56.40 | $1,950 |
1893 | Sir Walter | 3 | Samuel Doggett | Walter C. Rollins | Oneck Stable | 11⁄8 M | 1:55.80 | $1,870 |
1892 | Aloha | 7 | John J. McCafferty | John J. McCafferty | John J. McCafferty | 11⁄8 M | 1:56.00 | $2,005 |
1891 | Mabel Glenn | 4 | Alec Covington | A. Thompson | 11⁄8 M | 1:58.00 | $1,650 | |
1890 | Tournament | 3 | William Hayward | Matthew M. Allen | George Hearst | 11⁄8 M | 1:56.40 | $2,030 |
1889 | Firenze | 4 | Jim McLaughlin | Matthew Byrnes | James Ben Ali Haggin | 11⁄8 M | 1:54.60 | $2,525 |
1888 | Climax | 5 | Robert "Tiny" Williams | Lamasney Brothers | 11⁄8 M | 1:55.40 | $1,912 | |
1887 | Kaloolah | 4 | P. Godfrey | James Murphy | J. D. Morrissey | 11⁄8 M | 1:55.25 | $2,122 |
1886 | Jim Douglas | 8 | William Farley | 11⁄8 M | 1:55.50 | $2,434 | ||
1885 | Joquita | 4 | George Covington | William Mulkey | 11⁄8 M | 1:58.00 | $2,206 |
Sheepshead Bay Race Track was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility built on the site of the Coney Island Jockey Club at Sheepshead Bay, New York.
The Spindrift Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually between 1885 and 1909 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track at Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York City. A race for three-year-olds, it was contested on dirt over a distance of 1¼ miles from 1885–1892 and at 1⅛ miles from 1893 through 1909.
The Advance Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually from 1899 through 1910 at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Brooklyn, New York. An important race open to horses age three and older, it was raced on dirt. The final running took place on June 27, 1910 and was won by Ballot for the second time.
The Flight Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race first run in 1887 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. A race for horses of either sex and of all ages, it was run on dirt over a distance of seven furlongs.
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The Flatbush Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. Held in September, it was an important event for two-year-olds of either sex. The race was run on dirt over a distance of seven furlongs and was generally the longest distance to that point for the participants who were in their first year of racing.
The Double Event Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in two parts from 1889 through 1910 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. A race on dirt for two-year-old colts and fillies, the first part was run on the track's opening day in June and at a distance of 5½ furlongs throughout its term. The second part was run in mid July at a distance of 5 3/4 furlongs until 1901 when it was set at six furlongs. Each race originally carried a guaranteed purse of $10,000 and a bonus of $1,000 to the owners of any horse who won both parts.
The Ocean Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York from 1894 thru 1909. A race for horses of either sex age three and older, it was run on dirt over a distance of 1 mile. The Ocean Handicap was the second of the track's autumn serials, coming after the Fall Handicap at 6½ furlongs and before the Omnium Handicap at 1⅛ miles.
The Fall Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York from 1894 thru 1909 for horses of either sex age three and older. For easier identification purposes, the race is sometimes referred to as the Coney Island Fall Handicap. For its first two editions, the Fall Handicap was run on the track's short futurity course at 5¾ furlongs then for the next twelve runnings at 6 furlongs and the final two years at 6½ furlongs. The Fall Handicap was the first of the track's autumn serials, preceding the Ocean Handicap at 6½ furlongs and the Omnium Handicap at 1⅛ miles.
The Dash Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race first run in 1887 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. A race for two-year-old horses of either sex, it was run on dirt over a distance of 5¾ furlongs.
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The Bay Ridge Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run from 1901 through 1910 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. A race for horses age three and older of either sex, it was run on dirt over a distance of a mile and a quarter until 1910 when it was reduced to a mile and a sixteenth.
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.
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The Surf Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually for thirty-one years from 1880 through 1910 on the dirt course at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. A race for two-year-olds of either sex, it was last run at a distance of five and one-half furlongs but from inception through 1895 it was contested at five furlongs.
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