Pansy Stakes
Discontinued stakes race
LocationSheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay, New York
Inaugurated1890
Race typeThoroughbred – Flat racing
Race information
Distance6 furlongs
SurfaceTurf
TrackLeft-handed
QualificationTwo years old
PurseUS$

The Pansy Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually for twenty-one years from 1890 through 1910 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track at Sheepshead Bay, New York. Open to two-year-olds under selling conditions it was raced over a distance of six furlongs and, not very common at the time, on turf.[1]

Historical notes

The inaugural running of the Pansy Stakes took place on Friday, June 20, 1890. Sent off at 10-1 betting odds, Congressman William L. Scott's Vagabond upset the 2-1 favorite Lord Harry who would finish fourth.[2]

Winged Foot, the 1896 winner, was owned, trained and ridden by John McCafferty.[3]

The final edition of the Pansy Stakes was run on July 1, 1910 and was won by Peter Wimmer's filly Imprint.[4]

The End of a Race and of a Racetrack

Passage of the 1908 Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation by the New York Legislature under Republican Governor Charles Evans Hughes led to a compete shutdown of racing in 1911 and 1912 in the state.[5][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 Pansy Stakes offering a purse in 1908 that was nearly 80% less than what it had been in earlier years. These small purses made horse racing 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 minor stakes races and used the purse money to bolster this turf race along with its most important events.[8] A February 21, 1913 ruling by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division saw horse racing return in 1913.[9] However, it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay horse racing facility and it never reopened.[10][11]

Records

Speed record:

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer: (based on current info)

Most wins by an owner:

Winners

Year
 Winner
 Age
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Dist.
(furlongs) 		Time
 Win$
1910 Imprint 2 Jimmie Reid Peter Wimmer Peter Wimmer 6 F 1:13.00 $1,150
1909 Helen Carroll 2 J. "Buddy" Glass Andrew G. Blakely Andrew G. Blakely 6 F 1:15.00 $340
1908 Ethereal 2 Jack Upton John J. Hyland Elmwood Park Stable 6 F 1:12.80 $440
1907 Royal Vane 2 Eddie Dugan William A. McKinney Charles E. Durnell 6 F 1:15.00 $2,035
1906 Frank Lord 2 Walter Miller Archie Zimmer Timothy D. Sullivan 6 F 1:15.60 $1,755
1905 Anodyne 2 Harry W. Baird W. H. Snyder W. H. Snyder 6 F 1:14.00 $2,035
1904 St. Bellane 2 Herman Phillips William Shields Edward R. Thomas 6 F 1:13.40 $2,750
1903 Nameoki 2 Willie Gannon Frank D. Weir Frank J. Farrell 6 F 1:15.00 $2,170
1902 Sergeant 2 Tommy Burns William P. Burch Francis R. Hitchcock 6 F 1:16.80 $1,245
1901 Cameron 2 Winfield O'Connor Harry M. Mason John G. Follansbee & Davis 6 F 1:14.20 $780
1900 Moor 2 Patrick A. McCue W. Fred Presgrave Goughacres Stable 6 F 1:15.80 $680
1899 The Bobby 2 George M. Odom William P. Burch William C. Eustis 6 F 1:15.00 $1,070
1898 Sir Hubert 2 Tod Sloan Thomas Welsh C. Fleischmann's Sons 6 F 1:14.40 $1,105
1897 Central Trust 2 Harry Hewitt Henry Harris John E. McDonald 6 F 1:15.00 $1,170
1896 Winged Foot 2 John J. McCafferty John J. McCafferty John J. McCafferty 6 F 1:15.40 $1,150
1895 Merry Prince 2 Henry Griffin A. Jack Joyner Blemton Stable 6 F 1:16.20 $1,170
1894 Havoc 2 William Penn David A. Boyle David A. Boyle 6 F 1:15.60 $1,690
1893 Cataract 2 Willie Simms John Huggins Rancocas Stable (Pierre Lorillard IV) 6 F 1:15.00 $1,460
1892 Extra 2 Fred Littlefield Brookwood Stable 6 F 1:17.00 $1,325
1891 Ha'penny 2 Marty Bergen John J. Hyland David Gideon & John Daly 6 F 1:17.00 $1,480
1890 Vagabond 2 Isaac Lewis Charles Leighton William L. Scott 6 F 1:16.40 $1,395

References

  1. ^ "The Pansy Stakes". Daily Racing Form. 1909-07-08. Retrieved 2019-10-21 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  2. ^ "The Favorites Beaten". New York Times, page 8. 1890-06-21. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  3. ^ "Winged Foot Won the Pansy Stakes". New York Times. 1896-07-08. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  4. ^ "Imprint Home First In Pansy Stakes". New York Times. 1910-07-02. p. 9. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  5. ^ "Penalties in the New York Bills". Daily Racing Form. 1908-01-18. Retrieved 2018-10-26 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  6. ^ "Race Track Bill Defeated In Senate; Measure Modifying Directors' Liability for Gambling Fails of Passage". The New York Times. July 14, 1911. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  7. ^ "Keep Up Betting Ban". New York Times. 1908-09-01. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  8. ^ "Coney Island Clubs Sturdy Stand". Daily Racing Form. 1908-08-11. Retrieved 2019-02-03 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  9. ^ "Oral Betting Held Legal: Appellate Division of New York Supreme Court Renders Important Decision". Daily Racing Form. 1913-02-22. Retrieved 2019-06-29 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  10. ^ "Destruction Wrought by Hughes". Daily Racing Form. 1908-12-15. Retrieved 2018-11-30 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  11. ^ "Famous Old Track is Sold". Daily Racing Form. 1914-11-17. Retrieved 2018-11-30 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
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