Spring Stakes (Sheepshead Bay)
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| Location | Sheepshead Bay Race Track, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1886 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred – Flat racing |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 5 furlongs (3,300 ft; 1,006 m) |
| Track | Dirt, left-handed |
| Qualification | Two-year-olds |
The Spring Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run on dirt for twenty-five years between 1886 and 1910 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. Open to two-year-old horses, from inception through 1889 it was raced over a distance of 6 furlongs (3,960 ft; 1,207 m) and then from 1890 through 1909 it was run on the futurity course at a distance of 5+3⁄4 furlongs (3,795 ft; 1,157 m). Its final running in 1910 was at a distance of 5 furlongs (3,300 ft; 1,006 m).[1][2][3]
1909: Eddie Dugan beat Eddie Dugan
The inaugural running of the Spring Stakes took place on June 22, 1886. It was won by Tremont, a colt would who would finish the year having won all thirteen of his starts.[4]
Scottish Chieftain, the 1896 winner, went on to win the 1897 Belmont Stakes which race would become the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series.[5]
The 1900 edition of the Spring Stakes was won by Richard T. Wilson Jr.'s The Parader who would go on to win the 1901 Preakness Stakes, a race that would become the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series.
The Spring Stakes of 1909 was won by Uncas Chief who went wire-to-wire under one of the country's top jockeys Eddie Dugan. Running second and in close pursuit throughout was a colt owned by Sam Hildreth named Eddie Dugan to honor the jockey.[6]
The End of a Race and of a Racetrack
Passage of the Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation by the New York Legislature under Republican Governor Charles Evans Hughes led to a state-wide shutdown of racing in 1911 and 1912.[7][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]