Cliff Hanger Stakes

The Cliff Hanger Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Monmouth Park in East Rutherford, New Jersey during late September/early October. Open to horses age three and older, it is now contested on turf over a distance of 1+1⁄8 miles. Currently the purse is $100,000.

Known as the Cliff Hanger Handicap until 2008, it was raced on dirt from 1978 through 1981 and again in 1985 and 1987. Prior to 1982, it was restricted to horses bred in the State of New Jersey.

Records[]

Speed record:

• 8.5 Furlongs – 1:39 2/5 – Wanderkin (1988), Dixie Bayou (1997)
• 9 Furlongs – 1:46.16 – Winning Cause (2014)

Most wins:

• 2 – (1982, 1983)
• 2 – (1984, 1985)’

Most wins by an owner:

• 2 – Greentree Stable (1984, 1985)
• 2 – (1994, 2006)

Most wins by a jockey:

• 3 – Jorge Velásquez (1980, 1982, 1983)

Most wins by a trainer:

• 2 – Joseph H. Pierce Jr. (1980, 1987)
• 2 – (1982, 1983)
• 2 – Jonathan Sheppard (1987, 1989)
• 2 – Christophe Clement (2013, 2015)

Winners since 1999[]

Earlier winners[]

References[]

• History and winners details of the Cliff Hanger Handicap as at 2007 at a Meadowlands website^{[permanent dead link]}
• Cliff Hanger Stakes at Pedigree Query