Great Eastern Handicap

The Great Eastern Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race first run in 1883 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. A race for two-year-old horses of either sex, it was run on dirt over a distance of 6 furlongs.[1]

Great Eastern Handicap
Discontinued stakes race
LocationSheepshead Bay Race Track, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York
Inaugurated1883–1909
Race typeThoroughbred – Flat racing
Race information
Distance6 furlongs
TrackDirt, left-handed
QualificationTwo years old
PurseUS$2,000

The end of a race and of a racetrack

The Great Eastern Handicap was last run in September 1909 after the Republican controlled New York Legislature under Governor Charles Evans Hughes passed the Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation on June 11, 1908. The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without betting.[2] Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which resulted in the Great Eastern Handicap offering a purse in 1909 that was one-quarter of 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 its most important events.[3] Further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which resulted in the deepening of the financial crisis for track operators and led to a complete shut down of racing across the state during 1911 and 1912. When a Court ruling saw racing return in 1913 it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay facility and it never reopened.[4][5]

Historical notes

Jockey LaVerne Sewell, who won the 1906 edition, was killed in a racing accident later that year at Aqueduct Racetrack on November 9. In its story on the accident, the Pittsburgh Press called Sewell one of the most promising riders in the East. Sewell's death had been the fourth on the Eastern racetracks so far that year.[6]

Race distances:

  • 6 furlongs: 1883–1889, 1901–1909
  • 5.75 furlongs: 1890–1900 (Futurity course 1263 yards, 1 foot)

Records

Speed record:

  • 5.75 furlongs: 1:09.20 – Black Venus (1898)
  • 6 furlongs: 1:10.60 – Sewell (1906)

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer: Ŧ

Most wins by an owner:

Ŧ based on 23 of the 27 years the race was run.

Winners
Year
 Winner
 Age
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Dist.
(Miles)		 Time
 Win$
1909 Livonia 2 Eddie Martin Max Hirsch Max Hirsch 6 F 1:12.40 $1,425
1908 Mediant 2 Dalton McCarthy John Huggins Herman B. Duryea 6 F 1:11.20 $5,850
1907 Meelick 2 Eddie Dugan John E. Madden John E. Madden 6 F 1:13.20 $5,850
1906 Sewell 2 LaVerne Sewell Charles E. Rowe Charles E. Rowe 6 F 1:10.60 $5,850
1905 Burgomaster 2 Gene Hildebrand John W. Rogers Harry Payne Whitney 6 F 1:12.80 $5,850
1904 Tradition 2 Lucien Lyne A. Jack Joyner Sydney Paget 6 F 1:11.60 $5,925
1903 Lady Amelia 2 Jack Martin Woodford Clay Woodford Clay 6 F 1:12.00 $5,850
1902 Golden Maxim 2 Frank Landry James J. McLaughlin J. P. Kramer 6 F 1:14.40 $5,925
1901 Endurance By Right 2 Johnny Woods John F. Schorr John W. Schorr 6 F 1:13.00 $5,850
1900 Beau Gallant 2 John Bullman Sam Hildreth Sam Hildreth 5.75 F 1:12.80 $5,850
1899 Mesmerist 2 Winfield O'Connor Julius Bauer Bromley & Co. (Joseph E. Bromley & Arthur Featherstone) 5.75 F 1:10.40 $3,970
1898 Black Venus 2 Tod Sloan H. Eugene Leigh Ella O. Pepper 5.75 F 1:09.20 $3,900
1897 Hamburg 2 Fred Taral John E. Madden John E. Madden 5.75 F 1:10.20 $3,975
1896 Ogden 2 Fred Taral William Lakeland Marcus Daly 5.75 F 1:10.00 $3,840
1895 One I Love 2 Samuel Doggett John J. Hyland William P. Thompson 5.75 F 1:10.20 $3,925
1894 Gutta Percha 2 Fred Littlefield R. Wyndham Walden J. A. Morris, A. H. & D. H. Morris 5.75 F 1:10.00 $3,900
1893 Jack of Spades 2 Anthony Hamilton A. Jack Joyner Blemton Stable (August Belmont Jr.) 5.75 F 1:13.00 $7,900
1892 Lady Violet 2 Edward Garrison A. Jack Joyner Blemton Stable (August Belmont Jr.) 5.75 F 1:10.20 $7,340
1891 Ludwig 2 Marty Bergen John Daly 5.75 F 1:10.40 $8,663
1890 Sallie McClelland 2 Shelby Barnes Byron McClelland Byron McClelland 5.75 F 1:14.40 $8,274
1889 Tournament 2 William R. Midgely Matthew M. Allen George Hearst 6 F 1:17.00 $8,337
1888 Diablo 2 Jim McLaughlin Castle Stable (Mr. A. Kraemer) 6 F 1:17.00 $6,920
1887 Raceland 2 Anthony Hamilton Joseph F. Ullman 6 F 1:15.75 $7,508
1886 King Fox 2 John Spellman James Murphy James B. A. Haggin 6 F 1:15.00 $7,298
1885 Dew Drop 2 Harris Olney Matthew Byrnes Rancocas Stable (Pierre Lorillard) 6 F 1:16.75 $7,592
1884 Ten Stone 2 J. Caldwell Green B. Morris Morris & Patton 6 F 1:16.50 $7,710
1883 Dutch Roller 2 Edward Garrison James R. Keene 6 F 1:17.00 $6,137

References
  1. "Condensed History Of The Great Eastern Handicap". Daily Racing Form. 1908-09-11. Retrieved 2019-07-27 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  2. "Keep Up Betting Ban". New York Times. 1908-09-01. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  3. "Coney Island Clubs Sturdy Stand". Daily Racing Form. 1908-08-11. Retrieved 2019-02-03 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  4. "Destruction Wrought by Hughes". Daily Racing Form. 1908-12-15. Retrieved 2018-11-30 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  5. "Famous Old Track is Sold". Daily Racing Form. 1914-11-17. Retrieved 2018-11-30 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  6. "Rider's Mother Is Penniless". Pittsburgh Press. 1906-11-12. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
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