Municipal Handicap

Eastin & Larabie won this race three straight years from 1897 through 1899 with their outstanding distance runner Ben Holladay who won his first Municipal Handicap under jockey Alonzo Clayton in which he set a new world record time of {{frac|2:59|1|4}} for a mile and three-quarters. Ben Holladay's owner was a racing and breeding partnership created in 1886 between Montana banker and financier Samuel E. Larabie and Augustus Eastin, a wealthy Kentucky businessman.[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SG9FAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eLwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=900,3629968&dq=willow-run-stock-farm+larabie&hl=en Three Forks News – August 8, 1922] Following his 1899 season, the Wellington New Zealand Mail newspaper, reporting on racing in the United States, wrote that "Ben Holladay has proved himself this year to be by far the best long-distance horse in America" and quoting a front-page story in New York City's Spirit of the Times said that he is described as "the greatest Cup horse of the decade."{{cite web |url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/ |title=Turf Topics |publisher=The New Zealand Mail, page 20 |date=1899-01-12 |accessdate=2019-02-11 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Henry of Navarre, Fair Play and Roamer were winners of the Municipal Handicap who would have careers that resulted in their induction into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame.{{cite web|url=https://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/henry-navarre |title=Henry of Navarre |publisher=Racingmuseum.org |date=1985-01-01 |accessdate=2019-05-13}}{{cite web|url=https://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/fair-play |title=Fair Play |publisher=Racingmuseum.org |date=1956-01-01 |accessdate=2019-05-13}}{{cite web|url=https://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/roamer |title=Roamer |publisher=Racingmuseum.org |date=1981-01-01 |accessdate=2019-05-13}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1908011801/drf1908011801_1_7 |title=Penalties in the New York Bills |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date=1908-01-18|accessdate=2018-10-26}}

In spite of strong opposition by prominent owners such as August Belmont, Jr. and Harry Payne Whitney, reform legislators were not happy when they learned that betting was still going on at racetracks between individuals and they had further restrictive legislation passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 {{cite web|url=https://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/the-first-american-triple-crown-series/|title=The First American Triple Crown Series|first=Bennett|last=Liebman|date=May 24, 2009|website=The Rail|access-date=September 2, 2017}} that made it possible for racetrack owners and members of its board of directors to be fined and imprisoned if anyone was found betting, even privately, anywhere on their premises. After a 1911 amendment to the law to limit the liability of owners and directors was defeated,{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1911/07/14/archives/race-track-bill-defeated-in-senate-measure-modifying-directors.html|title=Race Track Bill Defeated In Senate; Measure Modifying Directors' Liability for Gambling Fails of Passage|work=The New York Times|date=July 14, 1911|publisher=|access-date=September 2, 2017}} every racetrack in New York State shut down. The consequences of this law meant the Municipal Handicap was not run from 1910 through 1913.

Speed record:

• 2:57 0/0 @ {{frac|1|3|4}} miles, Major Daingerfield (1903)
• 2:33 2/5 @ {{frac|1|1|2}} miles, Sunny Slope (1918)
• 2:04 0/0 @ {{frac|1|1|4}} miles, Roamer (1914)

Most wins:

• 3 – Ben Holladay (1897, 1898, 1899)

Most wins by a jockey:

• 3 – George M. Odom (1900, 1902, 1903)
• 3 – Willie Knapp (1905, 1906, 1907)

Most wins by a trainer:

• 3 – Peter Wimmer (1897, 1898, 1899)

Most wins by an owner:

• 3 – Augustus Eastin & Samuel E. Larabie (1897, 1898, 1899)

{{reflist}}

Category:Discontinued horse races in New York City

Category:Morris Park Racecourse

Category:Belmont Park

Category:Open middle distance horse races

Category:Open long distance horse races

Category:Horse races established in 1895

Category:Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1918

Category:1895 establishments in New York City

Category:1918 disestablishments in New York (state)

Category:Sports in the Bronx