Champlain Handicap
{{Infobox horseraces
| class = Discontinued stakes
| horse race = Champlain Handicap
| website =
| image =
| caption =
| location = Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, New York,
Belmont Park,
Elmont, New York
Jamaica Racetrack,
Jamaica, New York
United States
| inaugurated = 1901
| race type = Thoroughbred - Flat racing
| distance = 6 furlongs (3/4 mile)
| surface = Dirt
| track = left-handed
| qualification = Three-year-olds and up
| weight =
| purse =
| bonuses =
}}
The Champlain Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older first run in 1901 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Placed on hiatus in 1945, it was revived in 1954 at Jamaica Racetrack as a sprint race restricted to fillies and mares. The race was discontinued after the 1957 running.
Historic notes
The first running of the Champlain Handicap took place on August 27, 1901.{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1917081201/drf1917081201_1_2 |title= Saratoga's Grand Racing (history of the Champlain Handicap) |publisher=Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives |date=1917-08-12 |accessdate=2021-06-22}}
On August 29, 1907 Dandelion won the Champlain Handicap for the second straight year. He would be the only horse to ever win the race more than once.{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1907083001/drf1907083001_1_2 |title=Dandelions Champlain: Hitchcock Horse Wins This Handicap for the Second Time |publisher=Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives |date=1907-08-30 |accessdate=2021-07-04}}
In winning the 1919 edition of the Champlain Handicap, Willis Sharpe Kilmer's top runner Sun Briar broke Saratoga's track record for the mile and one-eighth distance on dirt with a time of 1:50 flat. In so doing, he defeated his stablemate and future Hall of Fame
inductee, Exterminator.{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1919081001/drf1919081001_1_4 |title= Sun Briar First in the Champlain Handicap in New Track Record Time |publisher=Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives |date=1919-08-10 |accessdate=2020-11-04}} The following year Exterminator returned to compete in the 1920 running of the Champlain only to finish second again, this time to Gnome.{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1920s/drf1920081501/drf1920081501_1_3 |title=Saratoga Form Chart |publisher=Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives |date=1920-08-15 |accessdate=2021-08-12}}
The 1938 Champlain Handicap was the fifth race on the card. It was preceded by the Rockton Handicap, a race named in honor of the 1901 inaugural winner of the Champlain.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/08/17/archives/threelength-victory-gained-by-esposa-in-champlain-handicap-at.html |title=Three-Length Victory Gained by Esposa in Champlain Handicap at Saratoga |publisher= New York Times, page 16 |date=1938-08-17 |accessdate=2021-07-26}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1901/08/28/archives/racing-at-saratoga-rockton-made-all-the-running-and-won-the-stakes.html |title=Racing At Saratoga; Rockton Made All the Running and Won the Stakes.|publisher= New York Times, page 5 |date=1901-08-28 |accessdate=2021-08-07}}
Due to World War II, in May, 1942 the United States government's Office of Price Administration implemented gasoline rationing on seventeen East Coast states which included New York.{{cite web |url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/ |title=Protests Mount As Listing Begins In 'Gas' Rationing |publisher=New York Times, page 1 |date=1942-05-13 |accessdate=2021-08-09 |archive-date=2020-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506002706/https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/ |url-status=dead }} Saratoga Springs Race Course relied upon a good attendance rate from New York city racing fans willing to make the 360 mile return trip but rationing would impact that for users of motor vehicles as well as passenger trains. As a result, the important Saratoga stakes races would be shifted to Belmont Park on densely populated Long Island in 1943 and 1944 where it was run as an event for three-year-old horses. The Champlain Handicap would never return to Saratoga.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/08/21/archives/famous-victory-captures-belmont-feature-with-favored-first-fiddle.html |title=Famous Victory Captures Belmont Feature |publisher=New York Times, Section Sports, page 8 |date=1943-08-21 |accessdate=2021-08-09}}{{cite web|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1944/08/18/archives/stronghold-5-to-1-scores-at-belmont-wheatley-racer-halflength.html |title=Stronghold, 5 to 1, Scores At Belmont |publisher= New York Times, Section Sports, page 18 |date=1944-08-18|accessdate=2021-08-09}}
Records
Speed record: (Jamaica Racetrack)
- 1:11.00 @ 6 furlongs: Oil Painting (1955) & Gandharva (1956)
Speed record: (Saratoga Race Course)
- 1:50.00 @ 1-1/8 miles: Sun Briar (1919)
Most wins:
- 2 - Dandelion (1906, 1907)
Most wins by a jockey:
- 2 - George M. Odom (1902, 1904)
- 2 - Frank Keogh (1920, 1921)
- 2 - Laverne Fator (1928, 1932)
- 2 - Don Meade (1933, 1934)
Most wins by a trainer:
- 3 - Henry E. McDaniel (1919, 1931, 1933)
- 3 - Thomas J. Healey (1905, 1910, 1927)
- 3 - John E. Madden (1906, 1907, 1908)
Most wins by an owner:
- 4 - Harry P. Whitney (1914, 1923, 1924, 1928)
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:35px" | {{abbr|Dist.|Distance}} ! style="width:25px" | Time ! style="width:25px" | Win $ |
---|
align=left colspan=9| Jamaica Racetrack |
align=center|1957
|Happy Princess |align=center|5 |Gerald E. Lewis |Mabel D. Lewis |align=center|6 f |align=center|1:11.40 |$16,350 |
align=center|1956
|Gandharva † |align=center|4 |align=center|6 f |align=center|1:11.00 |$16,550 |
align=center|1955
|Oil Painting |align=center|4 |Mrs. Joseph A. Goodwin |align=center|6 f |align=center|1:11.00 |$11,500 |
align=center|1954
|Gay Grecque |align=center|5 |Willie Roland |Mrs. S. George Zauderer |align=center|6 f |align=center|1:12.00 |$12,375 |
bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|1952 | - 1953 |align=center colspan=7| Race not held |
align=center|1951
|Northern Star |align=center|3 |align=center|6 F |align=center|1:11.40 |$2,635 |
align=left colspan=9| Belmont Park |
bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|1945 | - 1950 |align=center colspan=7| Race not held |
align=center|1944
|Stronghold |align=center|3 |align=center|1-1/16 m |align=center|1:44.60 | |
align=center|1943
|Famous Victory |align=center|3 |align=center|1 m |align=center|1:36.00 |
align=left colspan=9| Saratoga Race Course |
bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|align=center|1942 |align=center colspan=8| Race not held |
align=center|1941
|Napper Tandy |align=center|6 |Charles Dickey |Phil Schwartz |Phil Schwartz |align=center|1 m |align=center|1:39.60 | |
align=center|1940
|Masked General |align=center|6 |William Mulholland |Brandywine Stable (Donald P. Ross) |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:53.00 |$1,975 |
align=center|1939
|Sickle T |align=center|4 |Jack Howard |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:51.00 |$2,500 |
align=center|1938
|align=center|6 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:50.60 |$2,350 |
align=center|1937
|Thorson |align=center|5 |Thomas H. McCreery |Buckley M. Byers |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:50.40 |$2,500 |
align=center|1936
|align=center|4 |Lon Johnson |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:52.20 |$2,725 |
align=center|1935
|Good Goods |align=center|4 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:51.60 |$2,600 |
align=center|1934
|Mr. Khayyam |align=center|4 |Catawba Stable (Madelaine Austin) |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:52.00 |$2,900 |
align=center|1933
|Sun Archer |align=center|3 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:54.00 |$2,870 |
align=center|1932
|Reveille Boy |align=center|5 |John A. Best |John A. Best |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:54.60 |$3,200 |
align=center|1931
|Curate |align=center|5 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:52.60 |$3,825 |
align=center|1930
|Caesarion |align=center|5 |Donald Lyons |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:53.00 |$3,400 |
align=center|1929
|Distraction |align=center|4 |James H. Burke |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:55.60 |$3,775 |
align=center|1928
|align=center|3 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:51.00 |$3,775 |
align=center|1927
|align=center|4 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:52.20 |$3,450 |
align=center|1926
|align=center|4 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:54.00 |$4,200 |
align=center|1925
|Big Blaze |align=center|4 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:54.00 |$3,975 |
align=center|1924
|Klondyke |align=center|3 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:52.40 |$4,150 |
align=center|1923
|Bunting |align=center|4 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:51.00 | |
align=center|1922
|align=center|6 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:51.20 |$4,150 |
align=center|1921
|Sennings Park |align=center|5 |Frank Keogh |Westmont Stable (Lawrence Waterbury II & J. Leonard Replogie) |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:54.00 |$4,175 |
align=center|1920
|Gnome |align=center|4 |Frank Keogh |William H. Brooks |Samuel Ross & Cary T. Grayson |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:53.20 |$3,400 |
align=center|1919
|align=center|4 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:50.00 |$2,675 |
align=center|1918
|Westy Hogan |align=center|4 |Sandy McNaughton |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:53.60 |$2,675 |
align=center|1917
|Clematis |align=center|4 |Thomas M. Murphy |Oscar Lewisohn |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:54.80 |$2,325 |
align=center|1916
|align=center|4 |Edward W. Heffner |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:52.80 |$1,925 |
align=center|1915
|Star Jasmine |align=center|6 |Eddie Martin |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:55.60 |$1,925 |
align=center|1914
|Pandean |align=center|4 |Joe Kederis |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:54.60 |$1,925 |
align=center|1913
|Cock o' the Walk |align=center|3 |Buddy Glass |Frederick Johnson |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:51.80 |$1,925 |
style="background:#eee;"
|align=center|1912 | rowspan="2" colspan="8" style="text-align:center;"| No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. |
style="background:#eee;"
|align=center|1911 |
align=center|1910
|align=center|4 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:55.00 |$2,315 |
align=center|1909
|Wise Mason |align=center|3 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:53.80 |$1,925 |
align=center|1908
|Angelus |align=center|3 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:54.80 |$535 |
align=center|1907
|align=center|5 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:52.20 |$2,300 |
align=center|1906
|align=center|4 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:54.00 |$2,300 |
align=center|1905
|align=center|4 |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:53.00 |$2,300 |
align=center|1904
|Molly Brant |align=center|4 |Hubert H. Hyner |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:56.40 |$2,300 |
align=center|1903
|align=center|3 |Hampton Stable (Charles F. Dwyer & Simon Deimel) |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:56.00 |$2,295 |
align=center|1902
|Advance Guard |align=center|5 |James Carruthers & Alexander Shields |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:51.40 |$2,300 |
align=center|1901
|Rockton |align=center|4 |William Hayward Jr. |align=center|1-1/8 m |align=center|1:54.40 |$2,300 |
- † Blue Sparkler finished first but was disqualified for interfering with runner-up Gandharva.