The Wadsworth Memorial Handicap is a Thoroughbred race for horses three years old and older of either gender set at a distance of one and one eighth miles on the dirt. Run at Finger Lakes Race Track on the 4th of July each year (the track is 46 years old in 2007), the Wadsworth is an ungraded stakes race offering a purse of $50,000.
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are considered "hot-blooded" horses that are known for their agility, speed, and spirit.
Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack is a thoroughbred horse-racing track and casino located in Farmington in western New York State, approximately 25 miles southeast of Rochester. The facility is about one mile south of New York State Thruway exit 44.
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.
In 2007, in order to attract the dual classic winner (Kentucky Derby & Preakness Stakes), Funny Cide, to the 31st running of the Wadsworth, Finger Lake Race Track raised the purse to $100,000.
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race that is held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of one and a quarter miles (2.0 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds and fillies 121 pounds.
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat thoroughbred horse race held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57 kg); fillies 121 lb (55 kg). It is the second jewel of the Triple Crown, held two weeks after the Kentucky Derby and two or three weeks before the Belmont Stakes.
Funny Cide is a Thoroughbred race horse who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in 2003. He is the first New York-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby and the first gelding to win since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929. He was an immensely popular horse and remains a fan favorite in retirement at the Kentucky Horse Park.
The Wadsworth will be in its 35th running in 2010.
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held on the first or second Saturday in June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile-long (2.4 km) horse race, open to three-year-old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds (57 kg); fillies carry 121 pounds (55 kg). The race, nicknamed The Test of the Champion, and The Run for the Carnations, is the third and final leg of the Triple Crown and is held five weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes. The 1973 Belmont Stakes and Triple Crown winner Secretariat holds the mile and a half stakes record of 2:24.
Saratoga Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States, with a capacity of 50,000. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the country, but is actually the fourth oldest racetrack in the US.
Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races is a race track and casino just outside the eastern city limits of Charles Town, West Virginia, owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Penn National Gaming. It features a six furlong thoroughbred horse racing facility that is home of the West Virginia Breeders' Classic. It is one of the busiest thoroughbred tracks in the country with over 240 racing dates scheduled for 2012. It generally runs a 5 days a week schedule. It also contains over 3,000 slot machines, table games, and sports betting.
José Adeón Santos León is a retired Chilean thoroughbred jockey who has been honored by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in the United States.
The Sleepy Hollow is an American ungraded restricted stakes race for two-year-olds Thoroughbreds held in the fall at Belmont Park, New York. Though not restricted to New York bred horses, this is not an open race: it is considered a race on the New York bred schedule.
The Bertram F. Bongard Stakes is a listed stakes race for Thoroughbred two-year-olds run in the fall at Belmont Park, New York.
The Dominion Day Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race run annually in July at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A Grade III event currently offering a purse of CAD$150,000 +, it is open to horses aged three years and up. The race was run at a distance of 1 1⁄8 miles from its inception until 1983 when it was changed to its present 1 1⁄4 miles format. It was raced on dirt until 2007 when a polytrack surface was installed. In 2016, the surface was changed to Tapeta synthetic turf.
The Mike Lee Stakes is the first leg of the "Big Apple Triple," a grouping of three races in New York state for New York breds. A horse who wins all three of the Big Apple Triple wins the purse total of $400,000 plus a $250,000 bonus. The second leg is the New York Derby held at Finger Lakes Racetrack and the third leg is the Albany Stakes at the Saratoga Race Course. The series began in 1999.
The New York Derby is the second leg of the "Big Apple Triple," a grouping created in 1999 consisting of three races at three different racetracks in New York state and restricted to three-year-olds bred in New York state. A horse who wins all three of the Big Apple Triple wins the purse total of $400,000 plus a $250,000 bonus. The first leg is the Mike Lee Stakes run at Belmont Park, and the third leg is the Albany Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.
The Albany Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race that is held at the Saratoga Race Course and is open to Thoroughbred three-year-old horses of either gender bred in New York state. It is run at a mile and one eighth on the dirt and currently offers a purse of $250,000.
Empire Maker is an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for winning the Belmont Stakes in 2003, and as the grandsire of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.
The Saratoga Breeders’ Cup Handicap was, until it was discontinued in 2005, a Thoroughbred race for horses three-years-old and up run at Saratoga Race Course in New York. A Grade II event, it was set in 1995 at one and one quarter miles on the dirt and offered a purse of $250,000.
Peace Rules, is a multiple Grade I-winning American Thoroughbred race horse. By Jules, a "black type" winner and classic sire in Brazil, Peace Rules' grandsire was Forty Niner, a son of the great sire- producing stallion, Mr. Prospector, a Leading sire in North America. His dam, Hold To Fashion, has dropped five foals, all winners.
The Phoenix Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of six furlongs and currently offers a purse of $250,000. Raced in early October, prior to 1989 it was run during the track's spring meeting. It became a Grade III event in 2000, then was upgraded to Grade II status in 2016.
Clyde Van Dusen (1926–1948) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and the winner of the 1929 Kentucky Derby.
The Funny Cide Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old horses bred in New York, approved by the New York State-Bred Registry, and run at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. An ungraded stakes race, it is set at a distance of 6 and 1/2 furlongs on the dirt and currently offers a purse of $200,000.
The 2003 Belmont Stakes was the 135th running of the Belmont Stakes. The 1 1⁄2-mile (2,400 m) race, known as the "test of the champion" and sometimes called the "final jewel" in thoroughbred horse racing's Triple Crown series, was held on June 7, 2003, three weeks after the Preakness Stakes and five weeks after the Kentucky Derby.
