Islip Handicap
{{Infobox horseraces
| class = Discontinued stakes
| horse race = Islip Handicap
| website =
| image =
| caption =
| location = Brighton Beach Race Course, Brighton Beach, New York
(1899–1909)
Empire City Race Track in Yonkers, New York (1910)
| inaugurated = 1899
| race type = Thoroughbred – Flat racing
| distance = {{frac|1|1|8}} miles (9 furlongs)
| surface = Dirt
| track = Left-handed
| qualification = Three-years-old & up
| weight =
| purse =
| bonuses =
}}
The Islip Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually from 1899 through 1907 at New York's Brighton Beach Race Course and then for a final time in 1910 with a drastically reduced purse at Empire City Race Track in Yonkers, New York. A race for horses age three and older, it was contested on dirt over a distance of one mile for the first two runnings then at a mile and one-eighth for the remainder.
Historical notes
The filly Imp won the 1899 inaugural running of the Islip Handicap. She would go on to earn recognition as that year's American Horse of the Year and induction into the U. S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1965.{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1910071701/drf1910071701_1_5 |title=Condensed History of the Islip Handicap |work=Daily Racing Form |via=University of Kentucky Archives |date=1910-07-17|accessdate=2020-11-02}}
In winning the 1902 edition, Bonnibert broke the Brighton Beach track record for the mile and one-eighth with a time of 1:51 flat.{{cite news |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/richmond-times-jul-31-1902-p-2/ |title=Bonnibert, Islip Handicap, Made a Wonderful Performance |newspaper=Richmond Times|page=2 |date=1902-07-31|accessdate=2020-11-09}}
End of a race and of a racetrack
The Brighton Beach Race Course prospered until 1908 when the New York Legislature passed the Hart–Agnew Law banning gambling in New York State.{{Citation |last=Rhode |first=Paul W. |last2=Strumpf |first2=Koleman |date=October 2008 |title=Historical Political Futures Markets: An International Perspective |publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research |url=http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/w14377.pdf |accessdate=2010-01-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711101616/http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/w14377.pdf |archivedate=2010-07-11 }}{{cite news |title=Brighton to Try Turf Experiment; Purse Programmes Will Test Popularity of Racing Under New Conditions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1908/07/06/archives/brighton-to-try-turf-experiment-purse-programmes-will-test.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 6, 1908 |page=5 |accessdate=2010-01-16}}{{cite news |title=Won't Sell Brighton Track; William Engeman Denies Reports that Negotiations Are Pending |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1908/08/10/archives/wont-sell-brighton-track-william-engeman-denies-reports-that.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 10, 1908 |page=1 |accessdate=2010-01-16}} Motor racing events were held at the facility in an attempt to keep the track from closing permanently but even after horse racing returned to New York it was too late to save the business.
At the time it ceased horse racing operations, the Brighton Beach Race Course was the oldest horse track in steady use in the New York City area.{{cite news |title=Crowd at Harness Races; Brighton Trotting Meeting Opened with Fine Sport |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1901/08/14/archives/crowd-at-harness-races-brighton-trotting-meeting-opened-with-fine.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 14, 1891 |page=5 |accessdate=2010-01-16}}
Records
Speed record:
- 1:51.00 @ {{frac|1|1|8}} miles: Bonnibert (1902) (track record)
Most wins:
- No horse won this race more than once
Most wins by a jockey:
- No jockey won this race more than once
Most wins by a trainer:
- 2 – Thomas Welsh (1901, 1902)
Most wins by an owner:
- 2 – Charles Fleischman's Sons
Winners
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%" |
| style="width:30px" | Year ! style="width:110px" | Winner ! style="width:30px" | Age ! style="width:110px" | Jockey ! style="width:125px" | Trainer ! Owner ! style="width:25px" | Dist. ! style="width:25px" | Time ! style="width:25px" | Win |
|---|
| style="text-align:center" | 1910
|Restigouche | style="text-align:center" | 5 | style="text-align:center" | {{frac|1|1|8}} mi |1:53.20 |$925 |
| style="background-color:#eeeeee"
| style="text-align:center" | 1908 | – 1909 | style="text-align:center" colspan=7 | Race not held due to the ramifications of the Hart–Agnew Law |
| style="text-align:center" | 1907
|Far West | style="text-align:center" | 5 |John Miller | style="text-align:center" | {{frac|1|1|8}} mi |1:53.00 |$2,355 |
| style="text-align:center" | 1906
|Dishabille | style="text-align:center" | 4 |Charles A. Mulholland |George C. Bennett | style="text-align:center" | {{frac|1|1|8}} mi |1:54.00 |$2,800 |
| style="text-align:center" | 1905
| style="text-align:center" | 6 |Alexander Shields |Alexander Shields | style="text-align:center" | {{frac|1|1|8}} mi |1:52.00 |$2,525 |
| style="text-align:center" | 1904
|Dainty | style="text-align:center" | 4 |Walter B. Jennings | style="text-align:center" | {{frac|1|1|8}} mi |1:51.60 |$2,845 |
| style="text-align:center" | 1903
|Golden Maxim | style="text-align:center" | 3 |Harry Cochran |J. P. Kramer | style="text-align:center" | {{frac|1|1|8}} mi |1:53.20 |$2,445 |
| style="text-align:center" | 1902
| style="text-align:center" | 4 |Charles Fleischman's Sons | style="text-align:center" | {{frac|1|1|8}} mi |1:51.00 |$1,740 |
| style="text-align:center" | 1901
|Blues | style="text-align:center" | 3 |Charles Fleischman's Sons | style="text-align:center" | {{frac|1|1|8}} mi |1:52.00 |$2,170 |
| style="text-align:center" | 1900
| style="text-align:center" | 4 | style="text-align:center" | 1 mi |1:40.00 |$2,055 |
| style="text-align:center" | 1899
|Imp | style="text-align:center" | 5 |Peter Clay |Daniel R. Harness | style="text-align:center" | 1 mi |1:40.60 |$1,815 |
References
{{reflist}}
Category:1899 establishments in New York City
Category:Discontinued horse races in New York (state)
Category:Open mile category horse races
Category:Horse races established in 1899
Category:Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1911
Category:Brighton Beach Race Course
Category:Empire City Race Track