Mermaid Stakes

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Mermaid Stakes
Discontinued stakes race
LocationSheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York
Inaugurated1880–1910
Race typeThoroughbred – Flat racing
Race information
Distance1 mile (8 furlongs)
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationThree-year-old fillies

The Mermaid Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. An important event for three-year-old fillies, the race was run on dirt over a distance of one mile and one furlong until 1910 when it was set at one mile.[1]

First run in 1880, there was no race from 1895 through 1901. During the twenty-four years the race was held, it was won by eight Champions of which four would be elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. The final running in 1910 was won by Amelia Jenks in a major upset over , the undefeated 1909 American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.[2]

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 betting.[4] Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which by 1909 saw the Mermaid Stakes offering a purse that was as little as one-third of what it had been in earlier years.[5] Further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which deepened 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 horse racing facility and it never reopened.

Champions who won the Mermaid Stakes:

  1. Miss Woodford (HoF)
  2. Firenze (HoF)
  5. Beldame (HoF)
  7. Stamina
  8. Maskette (HoF)

Records[]

Speed record:

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

Winners[]

Year
 Winner
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Dist.
(Miles) 		Time
 Win$
1910 Amelia Jenks Matt McGee 1 M 1:39.40 $1,450
1909 Maskette Richard Scoville James G. Rowe Sr. James R. Keene 11⁄8 M 1:52.00 $3,990
1908 Stamina Eddie Dugan A. Jack Joyner Harry Payne Whitney 11⁄8 M 1:53.00 $4,875
1907 Yankee Girl George P. Brazier Charles R. Ellison 11⁄8 M 1:54.80 $4,870
1906 Harry Payne Whitney 11⁄8 M 1:54.00 $3,600
1905 Tradition A. Jack Joyner Sydney Paget 11⁄8 M 1:58.60 $4,360
1904 Beldame Frank O'Neill Fred Burlew Newton Bennington 11⁄8 M 1:54.40 $5,570
1903 Daisy Green John Bullman John N. Follansbee 11⁄8 M 1:59.60 $4,480
1902 Gunfire Tommy Burns William C. Whitney 11⁄8 M 1:54.80 $3,315
1895 – 1901 Race not held
1894 Willie Simms Preakness Stables 11⁄8 M 1:56.00 $5,160
1893 Afternoon Samuel Doggett Samuel S. Brown 11⁄8 M 1:56.80 $3,510
1892 Isaac Burns Murphy Frank A. Ehret 11⁄8 M 2:00.60 $3,810
1891 Equity John Huggins 11⁄8 M 1:56.20 $4,400
1890 Her Highness James G. Rowe Sr. August Belmont Sr. 11⁄8 M 1:57.00 $5,080
1889 She Edward Garrison James G. Rowe Sr. August Belmont Sr. 11⁄8 M 1:56.00 $4,730
1888 Bella B Jim McLaughlin Frank McCabe Dwyer Brothers Stable 11⁄8 M 1:57.25 $5,280
1887 Firenze Jim McLaughlin James Ben Ali Haggin 11⁄8 M 1:56.00 $4,340
1886 Bandala Charles Boyle Richmond Stable 11⁄8 M 2:02.00 $3,870
1885 Wanda Rancocas Stable 11⁄8 M 1:59.50 $3,470
1884 Duchess William Donohue Evert V. Snedecker E. V. Snedeker & Co. 11⁄8 M 1:59.00 $3,150
1883 Miss Woodford Jim McLaughlin James G. Rowe Sr. Dwyer Brothers Stable 11⁄8 M 1:58.25 $3,600
1882 Hiawasse Pierre Lorillard IV 11⁄8 M 1:57.25 $2,700
1881 Thora William Donohue 11⁄8 M 1:57.00 $2,150
1880 Glidelia William Donohue George Rice William M. Conner 11⁄8 M 1:59.50 $1950

References[]

  1. ^ "The Mermaid Stakes Today". Daily Racing Form. 1909-07-07. Retrieved 2018-11-07 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  2. ^ "Ocean Bound Beaten By A Carless Ride". New York Times. 1910-07-01. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  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. ^ "Striking Falling off in Value of Ten Greatest Stakes". Daily Racing Form. 1910-07-16. Retrieved 2018-10-15 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
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