Eclipse Stakes (Morris Park)

The Eclipse Stakes was an American Thorougbred race for two-year-old horses of either sex. Inaugurated August 24, 1889 at New York's Morris Park Racecourse with a then substantial purse of $28,000, from inception through 1894 the race was known as the Great Eclipse Stakes. Initially run at a distance of 6 furlongs, in 1897 the race was reduced to 5 1/2 furlongs. The Morris Park facility did not reopen after its 1904 racing season and in 1905 the event was taken up by the owners of the new Belmont Park racing facility in Elmont, New York where it would be run annually through 1907.

Eclipse Stakes
Discontinued stakes race
LocationMorris Park Racecourse
(1889-1904)
Westchester County, New York

Belmont Park
(1905-1910, 1914)
Elmont, New York

Inaugurated1889
Race typeThoroughbred - Flat racing
Race information
Distance5 1/2 furlongs
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationTwo-year-olds
Purse$5,000 added [1]

Historical race notes

The end of the Eclipse Stakes came as a result of the 1908 passage of the Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation by the New York Legislature under Republican Governor Charles Evans Hughes.[2] Without income from wagering, racetracks throughout New York began cutting costs to survive and the Eclipse was one of its casualties.[3]

The first edition of the Eclipse in 1889 was won by El Rio Rey, a colt bred in California by Theodore Winters for whom the city of Winters, California was named.[4] [5]

Tammany's win in the 1891 Great Eclipse Stakes was a surprise to not only the fans but to trainer Matthew Byrnes who regarded the colt as the least likely to win of the three horses he had in the race.[6] The following year, three-year-old Tammany would continue his winning ways and earn 1892 American Horse of the Year recognition.[7]

Blue Girl, winner of the May 24, 1901 Eclipse Stakes for owner/trainer John Madden, would finish the year as a Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Filly with Endurance by Right. The next year Blue Girl would earn the same honor but this time by herself as the 1902 three-year-old champion.[8] [7]

The final running of the Eclipse Stakes in 1907 was won by the great Hall of Fame inductee Colin.[1]

In 1920, the Empire City Race Track revived usage of the name Eclipse for a short-lived race for older horses at a much longer distance.

Records

Speed record:

  • 1:04.50 @ 5 1/2 furlongs: Frohman (1897)
  • 1:12.50 @ 6 furlongs: Tammany (1891)

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

Winners
Year
 Winner
 Age
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Dist.
(Furlongs)		 Time
 Win$
1907 Colin 2 George Mountain James G. Rowe Sr. James R. Keene 5.5 f 1:06.60 $8,235
1906 Water Pearl 2 Joe Jones A. Jack Joyner Sydney Paget 5.5 f 1:06.60
1905 Vendor 2 Lucien Lyne William H. Brooks Francis R. Hitchcock 5.5 f 1:06.80
1904 Glorifier 2 Willie Gannon James H. McCormick Louis V. Bell 5.5 f 1:05.50
1903 Leonidas 2 George M. Odom John W. Rogers William Collins Whitney 5.5 f 1:07.60 $7,200
1902 Mizzen 2 John Bullman John J. Hyland August Belmont Jr. 5.5 f 1:05.00 $10,100
1901 Blue Girl 2 Tommy Burns John E. Madden John E. Madden 5.5 f 1:04.75 $7,980
1900 Irritable 2 Danny Maher Thomas Welsh C. Fleischmann Sons 5.5 f 1:06.50
1899 His Royal Highness 2 Danny Maher Sam Hildreth John Daly 5.5 f 1:06.75 $9,845
1898 Jean Bereaud 2 Tod Sloan Sam Hildreth John Daly 5.5 f 1:05.00 $7,700
1897 Frohman 2 Tod Sloan David Gideon David Gideon 5.5 f 1:04.50 $7,700
1896 Don de Oro 2 Henry F. Griffin John J. Hyland Blemton Stable 6 f 1:13.50 $4,025
1895 Race not held
1894 Connoisseur 2 Edward Garrison Charles Littlefield Jr. Charles Littlefield Jr. 6 f 1:15.00 $16,750
1893 Domino 2 Fred Taral William Lakeland James R. & Foxhall P. Keene 6 f 1:12.75 $16,750
1892 Sir Walter 2 Fred Taral Walter C. Rollins Oneck Stable 6 f 1:15.50 $16,740
1891 Tammany 2 Charles Miller Matthew Byrnes Marcus Daly 6 f 1:12.50 $24,335
1890 Sallie McClelland 2 George Anderson Byron McClelland Byron McClelland 6 f 1:14.00 $24,135
1889 El Rio Rey 2 Casey Winchell Alfred H. Estell Theodore Winters 6 f 1:14.00 $23,760

References
  1. "Colin Wins Eclipse Stakes". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1907-06-06. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  2. "Penalties in the New York Bills". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1908-01-18. Retrieved 2018-10-26.
  3. "Keep Up Betting Ban". New York Times. 1908-09-01. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  4. "Wonderful El Rio Rey; He Runs Away With The Great Eclipse Stakes". New York Times, page 3. 1889-08-25. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  5. "Winters History - Theodore Winters, Race horses". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 2021-03-18. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  6. "A Withers For Tammany". New York Times, page 2. 1892-06-05. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
  7. The Bloodhorse.com Champion's history charts Archived September 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Commando's Great Race - Blue Girl Captured Eclipse Stakes". New York Times, page 7. 1901-05-24. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
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