Long Island Handicap
| Grade III race | |
| Location | Aqueduct Racetrack Ozone Park, New York, United States |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1894 (revived 1956) |
| Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
| Website | NYRA history of the Long Island Handicap |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1 1⁄2 miles (12 furlongs) |
| Surface | Turf |
| Track | Left-handed |
| Qualification | Fillies & mares, three-years-old & up |
| Weight | Assigned |
| Purse | $200,000 |
The Long Island Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in November at Aqueduct Racetrack, in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. The race is for fillies and mares, age three and up, willing to race the one and one-half miles on the turf.
Formerly a Grade II event, the race was down-graded to Grade III status in 2007.
Contents
Historical notes
The original Long Island Handicap was established in 1894 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. The race was open to horses of either gender age three and older and run on dirt over a distance of one mile and one furlong. It was last run in 1910 when the racetrack closed as a result of the Hart-Agnew Law, an anti-gambling bill passed into law by the Legislature of the State of New York
A second edition of the Long Island Handicap was inaugurated in 1956 at Belmont Park. Through 1971 the racewas open to horses of either gender, age three and older. It was hosted by Belmont Park in 1956–1960, 1962, 1964–1965, 1968–1969, 1972, 1975–1977, and 1989–1993.
The modern day race was contested on dirt from 1956 to 1959, 1972, 1975, 1989, 1997, and again in 2000. Since inception it has been raced at various distances:
- 1 mile, 1 furlong : 1894–1910
- 1 mile : 1972
- 1 1⁄16 miles : 1973–1977
- 1 3⁄16 miles : 1959, 1961, 1963–1967, 1970–1971
- 1 3⁄8 miles : 1960, 1962, 1968–1969, 1989, 1997, 2000
- 1 1⁄2 miles: 1990–1996, 1998–1999, 2001–present
- 1 5⁄8 miles : 1956–1958
It was run in two divisions in 1958, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1985, 1990, and 1998.
Records
(1956–present)
Speed record: (at current distance of 1 1⁄2 miles on turf)
- 2:29.00 - Villandry (1992)
Most wins:
- 2 - Parka (1964, 1965)
- 2 - Hush Dear (1982, 1983)
- 2 - Criticism (2008, 2009)
Most wins by an owner:
- 5 - Cragwood Stables (1967, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1976)
Most wins by a jockey:
- 5 - Jorge Velasquez (1969, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1980)
Most wins by a trainer:
- 5 - MacKenzie Miller (1967, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1976)
Winners of the Long Island Handicap
Winners of the Long Island Handicap at Sheepshead Bay
| Year |
Winner |
Age |
Jockey |
Trainer |
Owner |
Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910 | Hilarious | 4 | Vincent Powers | James G. Rowe, Sr. | James R. Keene | 1:52.00 |
| 1909 | Fashion Plate | 3 | H. Smith | William H. Karrick | Oneck Stable | 1:51.00 |
| 1908 | Far West | 6 | Clifford Gilbert | F. E. Brown | F. E. Brown | 1:52.00 |
| 1907 | Cottontown | 4 | Sanday | A. Baker | P. J. Millett | 1:53.40 |
| 1906 | Dishabille | 4 | Jack Martin | C. A. Mulholland | George C. Bennett | 1:54.80 |
| 1905 | Proper | 5 | Thomas H. Burns | Walter B. Jennings | Walter B. Jennings | 1:54.60 |
| 1904 | Major Daingerfield | 5 | Jack Martin | Thomas Welsh | W. B. Leeds | not found |
| 1903 | Douro | 6 | Arthur Redfern | Gwyn R. Tompkins | J. W. Colt | 1:53.20 |
| 1902 | Herbert | 5 | L. Smith | H. M. Mason | Walter C. Rollins | 1:55.00 |
| 1901 | Gold Heels | 3 | Thomas H. Burns | Matthew M. Allen | Fred C. McLewee/J. Brady | 1:53.00 |
| 1900 | Charentus | 6 | Willie Shaw | Jim McLaughlin | O. L. Richards | 1:54.00 |
| 1899 | Bangle | 4 | Richard Clawson | not found | E. S. Gardner, Jr. | 1:54.20 |
| 1898 | Ogden | 4 | Anthony Hamilton | William Lakeland | Marcus Daly | 1:54.80 |
| 1897 | Clifford | 7 | Tod Sloan | H. Eugene Leigh | H. E. Leigh & R. L. Rose | 1:54.40 |
| 1896 | Lucania | 4 | Tod Sloan | John W. Rogers | John W. Rogers | 1:55.00 |
| 1895 | Ramapo | 5 | Henry Griffin | John J. Hyland | David Gideon & John Daly | 1:55.00 |
| 1894 | Sir Walter | 4 | Samuel Doggett | Walter C. Rollins | Oneck Stable | 1:55.00 |
