Massachusetts Handicap
Ungraded race (discontinued) | |
Location | Suffolk Downs East Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
---|---|
Inaugurated | October 16, 1935 |
Last run | 2008 |
Race type | Thoroughbred – Flat |
Website | Official website |
Race information | |
Distance | 1⅛ miles (9 furlongs) 1½ miles (12 furlongs) (1970–1971) 1¼ miles (10 furlongs) (1948–1969) |
Surface | Dirt Turf (1970–1971) |
Track | Left-handed |
Qualification | 3 years old and up |
Weight | Handicap |
Purse | $500,000 |
Bonuses | $200,000 $100,000 |
The Massachusetts Handicap, frequently referred to as the "MassCap", was a flat thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and up held annually at Suffolk Downs in East Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was an ungraded stakes race run over a distance of 9 furlongs on dirt. The race received Grade III status by the American Graded Stakes Committee for 2009,[1] but the race was never held. The MassCap was stripped of its graded status in 2011 as a result of not being run for two consecutive years.[2]
History[]
The Massachusetts Handicap was won by some of the biggest names in Thoroughbred racing history including Hall of Fame inductees Riva Ridge, Stymie, Seabiscuit, Eight Thirty and Triple Crown winner Whirlaway who broke the track record in his 1942 win.[3]
The MassCap had been a graded stakes race from 1973 through 1989. Notables horses such as Riva Ridge, Dixieland Band, and Private Terms all won during this time frame. In 1987, Waquoit beat Broad Brush in a thrilling race. In the 1955 Massachusetts Handicap, jockey Sam Boulmetis, Sr. rode Helioscope to a track record time of 2:01 for 1¼ miles.
The Suffolk Downs track continued to fight for its economic life since closing for a three-year period beginning in 1989. The MassCap was a frequent casualty of those circumstances.[4] On August 7, 1937, the great Seabiscuit won his seventh consecutive stakes race in track record time for the $70,000 purse of the 1937 MassCap.[5]
Later, in an attempt to bring the MassCap back to its former glory, new ownership offered a purse of $500,000 in 1995 and quickly drew the likes of Cigar and Skip Away to the track. By 1997, the race was, once again, a graded race. Suffolk Downs also provided a bonus of $200,000 if the winner won multiple Grade I or Group 1 stakes races at a mile or longer. An additional $100,000 was to be awarded if the winner had won one Grade I or Group 1 race and at least one other graded stakes race at a mile or longer in 2007.[6]
Part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series, the winner of the 2008 Massachusetts Handicap automatically qualified for the Breeders' Cup Classic.[7]
Records[]
Time record:
- 1⅛ miles: 1:47.27 – Skip Away (1998) (new track record)
Largest margin of victory:
- 14 lengths – Commentator (2008)
Most wins:
- 2 – First Fiddle (1944, 1945), Air Pilot (1959, 1962), (1964, 1965), Cigar (1995, 1996), Skip Away (1997, 1998)
Most wins by a jockey:
- 4 – Jerry D. Bailey (1995, 1996, 1998, 2001)
Most wins by a trainer:
- 3 – Sonny Hine (1986, 1997, 1998) and Clyde Troutt (1959, 1960, 1962)
Winners[]
Year |
Winner |
Age |
Jockey |
Trainer |
Owner |
Time |
Grade | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | Commentator | 7 | John Velazquez | Nick Zito | Tracy Farmer | 1:48.97 | NG | |||
2007 | Brass Hat | 6 | Willie Martinez | Fred F. Bradley | 1:49.72 | NG | ||||
2005 | – 2006 | Race not held | ||||||||
2004 | Offlee Wild | 4 | Edgar Prado | Richard E. Dutrow Jr. | AZ Azalea Stables LLC | 1:49.14 | II | |||
2003 | Race not held | |||||||||
2002 | Macho Uno | 4 | Gary Stevens | Joe Orseno | Stronach Stables | 1:50.52 | II | |||
2001 | Include | 4 | Jerry D. Bailey | Bud Delp | 1:48.60 | II | ||||
2000 | 6 | John Velazquez | Richard J. Cohen | 1:49.45 | II | |||||
1999 | Behrens | 5 | Jorge Chavez | Rudlein Stable | 1:49.00 | II | ||||
1998 | Skip Away | 5 | Jerry D. Bailey | Sonny Hine | Carolyn Hine | 1:47.27 | III | |||
1997 | Skip Away | 4 | Shane Sellers | Sonny Hine | Carolyn Hine | 1:47.80 | III | |||
1996 | Cigar | 6 | Jerry D. Bailey | William I. Mott | Allen E. Paulson | 1:49.60 | NG | |||
1995 | Cigar | 5 | Jerry D. Bailey | William I. Mott | Allen E. Paulson | 1:48.60 | NG | |||
1990 | – 1994 | Race not held | ||||||||
1989 | Private Terms | 4 | Kent Desormeaux | 1:49.40 | II | |||||
1988 | 4 | Craig Perret | Wendover Stable | 1:50.20 | II | |||||
1987 | Waquoit | 4 | Chris McCarron | Joseph Federico | 1:49.00 | II | ||||
1986 | 4 | Jean-Luc Samyn | Sonny Hine | Zelda Cohen | 1:49.80 | II | ||||
1985 | 5 | Woody Sedlacek | Jacques D. Wimpfheimer | 1:47.60 | II | |||||
1984 | Dixieland Band | 4 | Charles Peoples | 1:52.00 | II | |||||
1983 | 4 | William W. Perry | Scorpio Stable | 1:48.80 | II | |||||
1982 | 4 | Michael Berry | 1:48.80 | III | ||||||
1981 | 5 | 1:49.40 | III | |||||||
1980 | 5 | Frank Lovato Jr. | Pancho Martin | Viola Sommer | 1:50.40 | III | ||||
1979 | 4 | John Ruane | David Hofmans | Buckland Farm | 1:48.60 | II | ||||
1978 | 4 | Jacinto Vásquez | Karen L. Taylor | 1:48.40 | II | |||||
1977 | 6 | Ángel Cordero Jr. | Laz Barrera | 1:49.40 | II | |||||
1977 | 4 | John Martin | 1:49.20 | II | ||||||
1976 | 4 | Chris McCarron | Bud Delp | Windfields Farm | 1:49.20 | II | ||||
1975 | 4 | Ron Turcotte | Timberland Stable | 1:48.60 | II | |||||
1974 | 4 | Don MacBeth | John J. Tammaro Jr. | Richard W. Palmer | 1:48.60 | II | ||||
1973 | Riva Ridge | 4 | Ron Turcotte | Lucien Laurin | Meadow Stable | 1:48.20 | II | |||
1972 | Droll Role | 4 | Eddie Maple | Thomas J. Kelly | John M. Schiff | 1:49.20 | ||||
1971 | Chompion | 6 | Jorge Velásquez | Ivor G. Balding | C. V. Whitney | 2:34.40 | ||||
1970 | 5 | Jean Cruguet | Angel Penna Sr. | Sarah Hall | 2:37.20 | |||||
1969 | 4 | Lucien Laurin | Reginald N. Webster | 2:04.60 | ||||||
1968 | 3 | John L. Rotz | Max Hirsch | King Ranch | 2:02.80 | |||||
1967 | Good Knight | 5 | Arnold Scruton Jr. | Arnold Scruton | 2:02.40 | |||||
1966 | 3 | Mike Venezia | Ivor G. Balding | C. V. Whitney | 2:01.20 | |||||
1965 | 6 | Eldon Nelson | Henry S. Clark | Christiana Stables | 2:01.60 | |||||
1964 | 5 | Eldon Nelson | Henry S. Clark | Christiana Stables | 2:03.20 | |||||
1963 | Crimson Satan | 4 | Crimson King Farm | 2:01.20 | ||||||
1962 | 8 | Robert E. Holthus | Horace J. Wise | 2:01.40 | ||||||
1961 | 5 | Eddie Arcaro | Thomas M. Miles | Mrs. Quentin A. S. McKean | 2:01.80 | |||||
1960 | 5 | Ray Broussard | James P. Conway | Ada L. Rice | 2:03.60 | |||||
1959 | 5 | Clyde Troutt | Ada L. Rice | 2:02.40 | ||||||
1958 | 4 | Pete D. Anderson | Hirsch Jacobs | Ethel D. Jacobs | 2:01.80 | |||||
1957 | 4 | Eric Guerin | Sherrill W. Ward | Charles U. Bay | 2:03.20 | |||||
1956 | 4 | William Boland | Mrs. Edward E. Robbins | 2:04.00 | ||||||
1955 | 4 | Sam Boulmetis Sr. | 2:01.00 | |||||||
1954 | 4 | Sam N. Edmundson | 2:01.60 | |||||||
1953 | 5 | Jack Westrope | James E. Ryan | Esther D. du Pont | 2:02.20 | |||||
1952 | 4 | William Boland | Max Hirsch | King Ranch | 2:01.40 | |||||
1951 | One Hitter | 5 | Ted Atkinson | John M. Gaver Sr. | Greentree Stable | 2:02.20 | ||||
1950 | 4 | Eddie Arcaro | Virgil W. Raines | Brandywine Stable | 2:01.80 | |||||
1949 | First Nighter | 4 | William J. Hirsch | Sam A. Mason II | 2:04.60 | |||||
1948 | 5 | Ruperto Donoso | Andes Stable | 2:02.60 | ||||||
1947 | Stymie | 6 | Conn McCreary | Hirsch Jacobs | Ethel D. Jacobs | 1:50.00 | ||||
1946 | Pavot | 4 | Arnold Kirkland | Oscar White | Walter M. Jeffords | 1:49.80 | ||||
1945 | 6 | Johnny Longden | 1:49.40 | |||||||
1944 | 5 | Johnny Longden | 1:49.00 | |||||||
1943 | Market Wise | 5 | George W. Carroll | Louis Tufano | 1:52.00 | |||||
1942 | Whirlaway | 4 | George Woolf | Ben A. Jones | Calumet Farm | 1:48.20 | ||||
1941 | War Relic | 3 | Ted Atkinson | Glen Riddle Farm | 1:48.60 | |||||
1940 | Eight Thirty | 4 | Harry Richards | Bert Mulholland | George D. Widener Jr. | 1:49.00 | ||||
1939 | 4 | James Stout | James Fitzsimmons | Belair Stud | 1:52.00 | |||||
1938 | Menow | 3 | Nick Wall | Hal Price Headley | 1:52.60 | |||||
1937 | Seabiscuit | 4 | Red Pollard | Tom Smith | Charles S. Howard | 1:49.00 | ||||
1936 | Time Supply | 5 | Raymond Workman | Carl A. Roles | Mrs. Frank A. Carreaud | 1:49.80 | ||||
1935 | Top Row | 4 | George Woolf | 1:49.40 |
* Day Court finished first in 1959 but was disqualified and placed second.
* Raced in two divisions in 1977.
References[]
- ^ Seven Additional Graded Stakes in 2009
- ^ Thirteen Fewer Graded Stakes in 2011
- ^ "Champion Smashes Track Mark To Win". New York Times. 1942-07-16. Section Sports, page 24. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
- ^ Suffolk Downs Economics
- ^ Champions – The Lives, Times, and Past Performances of America's Greatest Thoroughbreds (2005)
- ^ MassCap Returns
- ^ 2008 Breeders' Cup Challenge series
External links[]
- History at MassCap.com
- 1935 establishments in Massachusetts
- 2008 disestablishments in Massachusetts
- Open mile category horse races
- Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2008
- Recurring sporting events established in 1935
- Suffolk Downs
- Sports competitions in Boston
- Ungraded stakes races in the United States