Havre de Grace Handicap

The Havre de Grace Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race first run on the August 26, 1912 opening day of the new Havre de Grace Racetrack in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Although most of its runnings would take place in early fall, its final edition was run there on April 30, 1949. Due to Federal government wartime regulations, the 1943 edition was held at Laurel Park and in 1945 at Pimlico Race Course. A race for horses age three old or older, it was run on dirt over a distance of 1 1/8 miles with the exception of 1918 when it was set at 1 mile and 70 yards. From inception through 1939, the race was known as the Havre de Grace Cup Handicap.[1] [2] [3]

Havre de Grace Handicap
Discontinued stakes race
LocationHavre de Grace Racetrack
Harford County, Maryland,
United States
Inaugurated1912-1949
Race typeThoroughbred - Flat racing
Race information
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationThree-year-olds and up

Historical notes

The 38 runnings of the Havre de Grace Handicap produced a number of wins by racing's top horses. The 1915 edition saw Life magazine co-founder Andrew Miller win with his future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Roamer. The 1916 winner, The Finn, had won the 1915 Belmont Stakes and earned American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse honors. The next year saw the 1917 Kentucky Derby winner Omar Khayyam capture the Havre de Grace Handicap, then two years later Cudgel won. Owned by Commander J. K. L. Ross, in a very strong field Cudgel defeated two future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductees. The runner-up was Exterminator who was the 1918 Kentucky Derby winner, and in third place was Sir Barton, the 1919 U.S. Triple Crown champion.[4] The 1926 race was won by another future Hall of Famer, Crusader. He beat top horses such as Display, Sarazen and Princess Doreen.[5] Again in 1929 it was another future Hall of Famer Sun Beau who won.

The only time a mare ever won the event occurred in 1931 when Valenciennes defeated a field of eight males for owner Fannie Hertz who also owned Reigh Count, the 1928 Kentucky Derby winner and American Horse of the Year. Reigh Count would sire the great Count Fleet who would win the 1948 U.S. Triple Crown for Mrs. Hertz.[6]

Equipoise, who too would be elected to the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame, won with his usual come-from-behind charge down the homestretch to take the 1932 race going away.[7]

The 1938 running saw future Hall of Famer Seabiscuit put on a performance in the Havre de Grace Handicap that the New York Times described as "one of his most sensational victories." Bumped so hard at the first turn by another horse that jockey George Woolf thought he was going down, Seabiscuit regained his stride, caught up with the field, then took the lead away from the outstanding runner Menow and from there was hand-ridden to victory in a time of 1:50 flat that was just 1/5 of a second off the track record.[8]

In 1940, Challedon would become the only horse to win the Havre de Grace Handicap twice. Ridden by George Woolf, it marked the third straight win of this race for the future Hall of Fame jockey.[9]

Sarah F. Jeffords very fast colt Natchez added a third track record to his racing resumé with his 1948 victory in which he ran the mile and one-eighth in a clocking at 1:49 2/5.[10]

Records

Speed record:

  • 1:49 2/5 @ 11⁄8 miles on dirt - Natchez (1948)

Most wins:

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

Winners
Year
 Winner
 Age
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Dist.
(Miles)		 Time
1949 Lord Grillo 6 Mike Basile Charles M. Feltner Gustave Ring 11⁄8 1:50.20
1948 Natchez 5 Donnie Padgett Oscar White Sarah F. Jeffords 11⁄8 1:49.40
1947 Turbine 5 Mike Basile P. Da Lee Watts Estate of Mrs. H. Leibowitz 11⁄8 1:49.60
1946 Biscailuz 5 Ruperto Donoso J. H. Logan J. H. Logan 11⁄8 1:50.00
1945 Gay Bit 4 Donnie Padgett Albert Dunne Bobanet Stable (R. Bruce Livie) 11⁄8 1:52.20
1944 Some Chance 5 John Gilbert B. Frank Christmas Abram S. Hewitt 11⁄8 1:54.40
1943 Thumbs Up 4 Otto Grohs Carl A. Roles Louis B. Mayer 11⁄8 1:52.60
1942 Tola Rose 5 Warren Mehrtens Max Hirsch Arthur J. Sackett 11⁄8 1:50.00
1941 Pictor 4 Maurice Peters Louis J. Schaefer William L. Brann 11⁄8 1:51.20
1940 Challedon 4 George Woolf Don Cameron Branncastle Farm (William L. Brann) 11⁄8 1:50.40
1939 Challedon 3 George Woolf Louis J. Schaefer Branncastle Farm (William L. Brann) 11⁄8 1:52.60
1938 Seabiscuit 5 George Woolf Tom Smith Charles S. Howard 11⁄8 1:50.00
1937 Eagle Pass 3 Basil James John J. Flanigan Valdina Farm Stable 11⁄8 1:52.00
1936 Roman Soldier 4 Eddie Arcaro Phil Reuter Elwood Sachsenmaier & Phil Reuter 11⁄8 1:51.00
1935 Good Goods 4 Eddie Arcaro Robert A. Smth Brookmeade Stable 11⁄8 1:51.40
1934 Faireno 5 Thomas Malley James E. Fitzsimmons Belair Stud 11⁄8 1:50.20
1933 Osculator 4 Don Meade Joseph H. Stotler William R. Coe 11⁄8 1:49.80
1932 Equipoise 4 Raymond Workman Fred Hopkins Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney 11⁄8 1:50.20
1931 Valenciennes 4 Earl Steffen William J. Knapp Fannie Hertz 11⁄8 1:50.80
1930 Spinach 3 Alfred Robertson Clyde Phillips William Ziegler Jr. 11⁄8 1:51.00
1929 Sun Beau 4 Frank Coltiletti William Irvine Willis Sharpe Kilmer 11⁄8 1:55.60
1928 Osmand 4 Chick Lang Pete Coyne Joseph E. Widener 11⁄8 1:53.80
1927 Chance Play 4 Louis Morris John I. Smith Arden Farm 11⁄8 1:52.00
1926 Crusader 3 Earl Sande George H. Conway Glen Riddle Farm 11⁄8 1:50.00
1925 Senalado 3 Edgar Barnes Thomas J. Healey Richard T. Wilson Jr. 11⁄8 1:52.80
1924 Valador 4 Bennie Breuning Tom Moran William Martin 11⁄8 1:51.00
1923 Enchantment 3 Linus McAtee James G. Rowe Sr. Harry Payne Whitney 11⁄8 1:50.80
1922 Bunting 3 Frank Keogh James G. Rowe Sr. Harry Payne Whitney 11⁄8 1:53.60
1921 Captain Alcock 4 Linus McAtee James E. Fitzsimmons Quincy Stable (James Francis Johnson) 11⁄8 1:52.40
1920 The Porter 5 Harry Lunsford William H. Brooks Edward B. McLean 11⁄8 1:54.00
1919 Cudgel 5 Johnny Loftus H. Guy Bedwell J. K. L. Ross 11⁄8 1:50.00
1918 Slippery Elm 5 L. Stalker Robert A. Smith Woodland Stock Farm 1m, 70 yds. 1:44.00
1917 Omar Khayyam 3 Everett Haynes Richard F. Carmen Wilfrid Viau 11⁄8 1:53.00
1916 The Finn 4 Andy Schuttinger Edward W. Heffner Harry C. Hallenbeck 11⁄8 1:52.20
1915 Roamer 4 James Butwell A. J. Goldsborough Andrew Miller 11⁄8 1:51.20
1914 Robert Bradley 4 Eddie Ambrose John Naylor William R. Mizell 11⁄8 1:52.00
1913 Nightstick 3 Eddie Ambrose Albert Simons Harry P. Whitney 11⁄8 1:53.00
1912 Adams Express 4 Carroll Shilling Frank M. Taylor Harry C. Hallenbeck 11⁄8 1:54.00

References
  1. "Stakes To Hallenbeck Stable.: Adams Express Carries Top Weight to Victory". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1912-08-27. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  2. "Lord Grillo Registers Havre Upset". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1949-05-02. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  3. "How Havre de Grace's racetrack was once a gem". cecildaily.com. 2016-08-27. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  4. "Havre De Grace Form Chart". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1919-09-28. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  5. "Crusader is Victor as 25,000 Look On". New York Times. 1926-09-26. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  6. "Valenciennes, filly, wins $20,000 Havre de Grace Cup". The Cincinnati Enquirer, page 35. 1931-10-04. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  7. "Equipoise and Repaid Move Into the Center of the Racing Stage". Brooklyn Daily Eagle, page 20. 1932-10-03. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  8. "$10,000 Added Test Goes to Seabiscuit". New York Times, page 34. 1938-09-29. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  9. "Havre de Grace Handicap Goes To Challedon for second Time". New York Times, Section Sports, page 80. 1940-09-29. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  10. "Natchez Sets New Track Record In Taking Havre de Grace Event". New York Times, Section Sports, page 4. 1948-07-18. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
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