Second Special Stakes

Horse race

Second Special StakesDiscontinued stakes race

Location| Gravesend Race Track
Gravesend, Coney Island, NY
Inaugurated| 1886–1907
Race type| Thoroughbred – Flat racing
Race information
Distance| 1½ miles (12 furlongs)
Surface| Dirt
Track| left-handed
Qualification| Three-years-old and up

The Second Special Stakes was a Thoroughbred horse race run between 1886 and 1907 at Gravesend Race Track in Gravesend, on Coney Island, New York. The race was run on dirt at a distance of one and one half miles in its last nine runnings and was open to horses of either sex age three and older since inception.[1]

## Historical notes[edit]

The Second Special Stakes had only two starters in 1892 through 1895, 1897, and again in 1906. Some of this lack of competition may well be as a result of the purse distribution during that era when a third-place finisher collected only a very tiny portion. This situation often limited the number of entrants if there were one or two dominant entries as owners would switch their horse to run on another day when there was a race where they might have a reasonable chance of winning. In these six Second Special Stakes races with just two horses competing, all were won by a national Champion.[2]

## Demise of the Second Special Stakes[edit]

After years of uncertainty, on June 11, 1908 the Republican controlled New York Legislature under Governor Charles Evans Hughes passed the Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation with penalties allowing for fines and up to a year in prison.[3] The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without income from betting.[4] Racetrack operators had no choice but cancel some races and drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which resulted in the Second Special Stakes being placed on hiatus. These small purses made racing horses highly unprofitable and impossible for even the most successful owners to continue in business.[5] Further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which deepened the financial crisis for track operators and after a 1911 amendment to the law that would have limited the liability of owners and directors was defeated, every racetrack in New York State shut down.[6] Owners, whose horses of racing age had nowhere to go, began sending them, their trainers and their jockeys to race in England and France. Many horses ended their racing careers there, and a number remained to become an important part of the European horse breeding industry. Thoroughbred Times reported that more than 1,500 American horses were sent overseas between 1908 and 1913 and of them at least 24 were either past, present, or future Champions.[7] When a February 21, 1913 ruling by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division Court saw horse racing return in 1913 it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay horse racing facility and it never reopened.[8][9]

## Records[edit]

Speed record:

* 1 1/8 miles : 1:54.75 – Clifford (1894)
* 1 1/2 miles : 2:31.80 – Ballot (1907)

Most wins:

* 2 – Clifford (1894, 1895)
* 2 – Imp (1899, 1900)
* 2 – Blues (1901, 1902)

Most wins by a jockey:

* 4 – Willie Simms (1892, 1894, 1895, 1897)

Most wins by a trainer:

* 3 – Thomas Welsh (1901, 1902, 1906)

Most wins by an owner:

* 3 – Dwyer Brothers Stable / Michael F. Dwyer (1887, 1888, 1897)

## Winners[edit]

Year
| Winner
| Age
| Jockey
| Trainer
| Owner
| Dist.
(Miles) | Time
| Win$

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1907  | Ballot | 3  | Dave Nicol | James G. Rowe Sr. | James R. Keene | 1 1/2 M  | 2:31.80  | $5,025
1906  | Running Water | 3  | Walter Miller | Thomas Welsh | Newcastle Stable (A. Miller/F. R. Bishop/B. Painter)  | 1 1/2 M  | 2:45.40  | $4,600
1905  | Oiseau  | 3  | Frank O'Neill | Matthew M. Allen | James B. Brady | 1 1/2 M  | 2:33.20  | $4,625
1904  | Beldame | 3  | Frank O'Neill | Fred Burlew | Newton Bennington (Lessee)  | 1 1/2 M  | 2:35.40  | $4,775
1903  | McChesney | 4  | Grover Fuller | Frank M. Taylor | Edward E. Smathers  | 1 1/2 M  | 2:34.00  | $2,375
1902  | Blues  | 4  | Jack Martin | Thomas Welsh  | Frank J. Farrell  | 1 1/2 M  | 2:35.40  | $2,625
1901  | Blues  | 3  | Willie Shaw | Thomas Welsh  | Frank J. Farrell  | 1 1/2 M  | 2:33.00  | $2,725
1900  | Imp | 6  | Tommy Burns | Charles E. Brossman | Daniel R. Harness  | 1 1/2 M  | 2:34.20  | $2,500
1899  | Imp | 5  | Peter Clay  | Charles E. Brossman  | Daniel R. Harness  | 1 1/2 M  | 2:34.00  | $2,675
1898  | Race not held
1897  | Ben Brush | 4  | Willie Simms | Hardy Campbell Jr. | Michael F. Dwyer | 1 1/4 M  | 2:10.00  | $1,850
1896  | Race not held
1895  | Clifford | 5  | Willie Simms | H. Eugene Leigh | H. Eugene Leigh | 1 1/8 M  | 1:56.50  | $1,350
1894  | Clifford | 4  | Willie Simms | H. Eugene Leigh | H. Eugene Leigh | 1 1/8 M  | 1:54.75  | $1,475
1893  | Tammany | 4  | Edward Garrison | Matthew Byrnes | Marcus Daly | 1 1/8 M  | 1:57.25  | $2,900
1892  | Lamplighter | 3  | Willie Simms | John W. Rogers | Samuel S. Brown | 1 1/8 M  | 1:57.50  | $3,100
1891  | Judge Morrow  | 4  | Alexander Covington  | Green B. Morris | Green B. Morris  | 1 1/8 M  | 1:55.75  | $3,100
1890  | Los Angeles | 5  | Shelby Barnes | Albert Cooper | Lucky Baldwin | 1 1/8 M  | 1:59.75  | $3,000
1889  | Reporter  | 3  | Marty Bergen | John W. Rogers | Samuel S. Brown  | 1 1/8 M  | 1:56.75  | $3,050
1888  | Kingston | 4  | Isaac Burns Murphy | Frank McCabe | Dwyer Brothers Stable | 1 1/8 M  | 1:56.75  | $3,000
1887  | Hanover | 3  | Jim McLaughlin | Frank McCabe  | Dwyer Brothers Stable  | 1 1/8 M  | 1:57.50  | $2,680
1886  | Elkwood  | 3  | William J. Fitzpatrick  | James B. Dyer  | Walter Gratz  | 1 1/4 M  | 2:13.25  | $1,925

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Important Stake Dates". Daily Racing Form. 1907-09-26. Retrieved 2019-02-06 - via University of Kentucky Archives.
2. ^ The Bloodhorse.com Champion's history charts Archived September 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ "Penalties in the New York Bills". Daily Racing Form. 1908-01-18. Retrieved 2018-10-26 - via University of Kentucky Archives.
4. ^ "Keep Up Betting Ban". New York Times. 1908-09-01. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
5. ^ "Coney Island Clubs Sturdy Stand". Daily Racing Form. 1908-08-11. Retrieved 2019-02-03 - 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. ^ "Thoroughbred Times". www.ThoroughbredTimes.com. February 14, 2000. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
8. ^ "Destruction Wrought by Hughes". Daily Racing Form. 1908-12-15. Retrieved 2018-11-30 - via University of Kentucky Archives.
9. ^ "Famous Old Track is Sold". Daily Racing Form. 1914-11-17. Retrieved 2018-11-30 - via University of Kentucky Archives.