Bay Ridge Handicap

{{Infobox horseraces

| class = Discontinued stakes

| horse race = Bay Ridge Handicap

| website =

| image =

| caption =

| location = Sheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, United States

| inaugurated = 1887–1910

| race type = Thoroughbred – Flat racing

| distance = 1 1/16 miles: 1910
1 1/4 miles: 1901–1909

| surface = Dirt

| track = left-handed

| qualification = Three years old & up

| weight =

| purse =

}}

The Bay Ridge Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run from 1901 through 1910 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. A race for horses age three and older of either sex, it was run on dirt over a distance of a mile and a quarter until 1910 when it was reduced to a mile and a sixteenth.

The end of a race and of a racetrack

The Bay Ridge Handicap was last run on June 18, 1910 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1908/09/01/archives/keep-up-betting-ban-strict-enforcement-of-the-law-at-sheepshead-bay.html |title=Keep Up Betting Ban |work=New York Times |date=1908-09-01 |accessdate=2018-11-06}} Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which resulted in the Bay Ridge Handicap offering a purse in 1910 that was one-fifth 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.{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1908081101/drf1908081101_1_6 |title=Coney Island Clubs Sturdy Stand |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date=1908-08-11 |accessdate=2019-02-03}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1908121501/drf1908121501_1_7|title=Destruction Wrought by Hughes |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date=1908-12-15|accessdate=2018-11-30}}{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1914111701/drf1914111701_1_2 |title=Famous Old Track is Sold |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date=1914-11-17|accessdate=2018-11-30}}

Records

Speed record:

1 ¼ miles: 2:04.40 – Effendi (1909)

Most wins by a jockey:

2 – Willie Shaw (1901, 1906)

Most wins by a trainer:

no trainer won this race more than once

Most wins by an owner:

2 – no owner won this race more than once

Winners

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%"
style="width:30px" \| Year ! style="width:110px" \| Winner ! style="width:20px" \| Age ! style="width:110px" \| Jockey ! style="width:120px" \| Trainer ! Owner ! style="width:25px" \| Dist. (Miles) ! style="width:25px" \| Time ! style="width:25px" \| Win$
align=center\|1910 \|Hampton Court \|align=center\|3 \|Carroll H. Shilling \|Sam Hildreth \|Sam Hildreth \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|16}} M \|align=center\|1:54.40 \|align=center\|$580
align=center\|1909 \|Effendi \|align=center\|3 \|William F. Doyle \|Frank C. Frisbie \|W. T. Ryan \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:04.40 \|align=center\|$485
align=center\|1908 \|Old Honesty \|align=center\|4 \|Joe Notter \|Andrew J. Gorey \|Andrew J. Gorey \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:06.20 \|align=center\|$510
align=center\|1907 \|Gallavant \|align=center\|4 \|Guy Garner \|T. J. Healey \|Richard T. Wilson Jr. \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:07.00 \|align=center\|$3,025
align=center\|1906 \|Ram's Horn \|align=center\|4 \|Willie Shaw \|W. S. (Wink) Williams \|W. S. (Wink) Williams \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:05.60 \|align=center\|$3,225
align=center\|1905 \|Cairngorm \|align=center\|3 \|Willie Davis \|A. Jack Joyner \|Sydney Paget \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:08.20 \|align=center\|$3,150
align=center\|1904 \|Proper \|align=center\|4 \|Gene Hildebrand \|Walter B. Jennings \|Walter B. Jennings \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:06.20 \|align=center\|$3,250
align=center\|1903 \|Blues \|align=center\|5 \|John J. Hoar \|Frank D. Weir \|Frank J. Farrell \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:10.20 \|align=center\|$1,630
align=center\|1902 \|Advance Guard \|align=center\|5 \|Otto Wonderly \|Alexander Shields \|James Carruthers & Alexander Shields \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:07.20 \|align=center\|$1,080
align=center\|1901 \|Kamara \|align=center\|4 \|Willie Shaw \|Charles F. Hill \|Clarence H. Mackay \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:06.40 \|align=center\|$1,085

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%"

style="width:30px" | Year

! style="width:110px" | Winner

! style="width:20px" | Age

! style="width:110px" | Jockey

! style="width:120px" | Trainer

! Owner

! style="width:25px" | Dist.
(Miles)

! style="width:25px" | Time

! style="width:25px" | Win$

align=center|1910

|Hampton Court