Turf Monster Stakes
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| Class | Grade III |
|---|---|
| Location | Parx Casino and Racing Bensalem, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Inaugurated | 2002 (as Turf Monster Handicap) |
| Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
| Website | Parx |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 5 furlongs |
| Surface | Turf |
| Track | left-handed |
| Qualification | Three years old and older |
| Weight | Base weights with allowances: Older: 126 lbs 3YOs: 122 lbs |
| Purse | $300,000 (2019) |
The Turf Monster Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three years old or older, over a distance of five furlongs on the turf held annually in September at Parx Casino and Racing racetrack in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. As of 2019, the event currently carried a purse of $300,000.
The race was inaugurated on May 27, 2002[1] with an attractive purse offered of $100,000[1] as the Turf Monster Handicap.
In 2011 the event was upgraded to a Grade III.[2]
The event has attracted fast sprinters from the East Coast of the US, including Pure Sensation, who won this event four times[3] and Ben's Cat who won this event twice.[4]
The race was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] In 2021 the ten-year-old Hollywood Talent finished with a late surge and won by 1+1⁄4 lengths at odds of 108-1,[5] but the horse was later disqualified after drug testing found the prohibited substance levamisole.[6]
The 2024 running was moved off the turf to the dirt track due to the poor state of the turf track.[7]
Records
Speed record:
- 5 furlongs – 55.53 - Smart Enough (2007)
Margins:
- 5+1⁄4 lengths – Worldwind Romance (2005)
- Most wins by a jockey
- 4 – Kendrick Carmouche (2008, 2015, 2017, 2018)
- Most wins by a trainer
- 4 – Christophe Clement (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019)
- Most wins by an owner
- 4 – Patricia A. Generazio (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019)
- Winners of Parx Dash Stakes – Turf Monster Stakes double
- Ben's Cat (2012), Pure Sensation (2017, 2019)