Brighton Handicap

{{Infobox horseraces

| class = Discontinued

| horse race = Brighton Handicap

| image =1907 Brighton Handicap.jpg

| caption =Peter Pan (2nd from left) making his stretch run to win the 1907 Brighton Handicap

| location = Brighton Beach Race Course, Brighton Beach, New York, USA (1896–1907)
- and -
Empire City Race Track,
Yonkers, New York, USA (1910)

| inaugurated = 1896–1910

| race type = Thoroughbred – Flat racing

| website =

| distance = {{frac|1|1|4}} miles (10 furlongs)

| surface = Dirt

| track = left-handed

| qualification = Three-years-old & up

| weight = Assigned

| purse = $25,000

| bonuses =

}}

The Brighton Handicap was an American thoroughbred horse race run annually from 1896 through 1907 at the Brighton Beach Race Course in Brighton Beach, Coney Island, New York and in 1910 at Empire City Race Track. Open to horses age three and older, it was contested on dirt over a distance of a mile and a quarter (ten furlongs).

A premier event, in the late 19th and early part of the 20th century the Brighton Handicap, along with the Suburban Handicap at Sheepshead Bay Race Track and the Metropolitan Handicap at Morris Park Racecourse, were the big three events of the Northeastern United States racing season.[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/02/01/101932468.pdf New York Times - February 1, 1902]

Race notes

On three occasions, 1902, 1903 and 1904, a new world record was set by the race winner. In a review of Peter Pan's win in the 1907 race in front of 40,000 fans, the New York Morning Telegraph was quoted as saying the horse "accomplished a task that completely overshadowed any previous 3-year-old performance in turf history."

[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tBEqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZX8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4289,1508974&dq=brighton-handicap+peter+pan&hl=en Montreal Gazette – July 15, 1907]

Following passage of the Hart–Agnew anti-betting law by the Legislature of New York, Brighton Beach Race Course closed is doors permanently by the end of 1908.[https://www.nytimes.com/1908/07/02/archives/brighton-stakes-off-sixteen-big-events-canceled-programme-for-five.html New York Times – July 2, 1908] The Brighton Beach track had maintained the purse level for the Brighton Handicap by reducing purse money for other minor races or by eliminating them entirely. However, to survive, racetrack operators saw no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which by 1910 saw an Empire City Race Track edition of the Brighton Handicap offer a purse which was one-quarter of what it had been.{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1910071601/drf1910071601_1_7 |title=Striking Falling off in Value of Ten Greatest Stakes |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date= 1910-07-16 |accessdate=2018-10-15}}

Records

Speed record:

2:02.80 – Broomstick (1904)

Most wins:

No horse won this race more than once.

Most wins by a jockey:

2 – Willie Simms (1897, 1898)
2 – George Odom (1902, 1903)

Most wins by a trainer:

2 – James G. Rowe Sr. (1901, 1907)

Most wins by an owner:

2 – James R. Keene (1901, 1907)

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:125px" \| Trainer ! Owner ! style="width:25px" \| Dist. (Miles) ! style="width:25px" \| Time ! style="width:25px" \| Win US$
align=center\|1910 \|Olambala \|align=center\|4 \|George Archibald \|Thomas J. Healey \|Richard T. Wilson, Jr. \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:06.60 \|align=center\|$4,800
bgcolor="#eeeeee" \|align=center\|1908 \| – 1909 \|align=center colspan=9\| Race not held
align=center\|1907 \|Peter Pan \|align=center\|3 \|Joe Notter \|James G. Rowe Sr. \|James R. Keene \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:03.40 \|align=center\|$19,750
align=center\|1906 \|Ram's Horn \|align=center\|4 \|LaVerne Sewell \|Wink S. Williams \|Wink S. Williams \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:03.60 \|align=center\|$19,750
align=center\|1905 \|Artful \|align=center\|3 \|Gene Hildebrand \|John W. Rogers \|Harry Payne Whitney \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:04.80 \|align=center\|$21,750
align=center\|1904 \|Broomstick \|align=center\|3 \|Tommy Burns \|Robert Tucker \|Samuel S. Brown \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:02.80 \|align=center\|$21,750
align=center\|1903 \|Waterboy \|align=center\|4 \|George Odom \|A. Jack Joyner \|James B. A. Haggin \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:03.20 \|align=center\|$15,995
align=center\|1902 \|Gold Heels \|align=center\|4 \|George Odom \|Matthew M. Allen \|Frederick C. McLewee & Jim Brady \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:03.80 \|align=center\|$8,045
align=center\|1901 \|Toddy \|align=center\|4 \|Lewis Smith \|James G. Rowe Sr. \|James R. Keene \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:07.20 \|align=center\|$8,640
align=center\|1900 \|Jack Point \|align=center\|4 \|Milton Henry \|Jim McLaughlin \|Anthony L. Aste \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:04.60 \|align=center\|$9,945
align=center\|1899 \|Imp \|align=center\|5 \|Frank O'Leary \|Charles E. Brossman \|Daniel R. Harness \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:05.40 \|align=center\|$8,420
align=center\|1898 \|Ornament \|align=center\|4 \|Willie Simms \|Charles T. Patterson \|Charles T. Patterson \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:07.75 \|align=center\|$2,490
align=center\|1897 \|Ben Brush \|align=center\|4 \|Willie Simms \|Hardy Campbell Jr. \|Michael F. Dwyer \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:09.00 \|align=center\|$1,850
align=center\|1896 \|Nanki Pooh \|align=center\|4 \|Samuel Doggett \|William Donohue \|Erie Stable (F. D. & J. A. Beard) \|align=center\|1{{Frac\|1\|4}} M \|align=center\|2:12.75 \|align=center\|$1,850

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:125px" | Trainer

! Owner

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

! style="width:25px" | Time

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

align=center|1910

|Olambala