The Clark Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky . Among the oldest races in the United States, it was first run in 1875, the year the racetrack opened for business. Currently a Grade II event, it is open to horses age three and older and is contested on dirt over a distance of 1 + 1 ⁄ 8 miles (9 furlongs ). It was known as the Clark Handicap through 2018 before the race conditions were changed to set weights and allowances in 2019.
7-540: The race is named in honor of Colonel M. Lewis Clark , founder of the Louisville Jockey Club which built Churchill Downs. Through 1901, it was restricted to three-year-old horses. Since inception, the Clark Handicap has been run at various distances: The race was run in two divisions in 1953. Speed record: (at current distance of 1 + 1 ⁄ 8 miles) Most wins Most wins by
14-533: A jockey Most wins by a trainer Most Wins by an owner Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. (January 27, 1846 – April 22, 1899) was the founder of the Louisville Jockey Club and the builder of Churchill Downs , where the Kentucky Derby is run. He was grandson of explorer and Missouri governor, General William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition . His father
21-405: A gun and shot Clark through a door, hitting him in the chest. Moore turned himself in to the police, but no charges were brought against him. Clark later rescinded his ban from the racetrack. He also threatened others with a gun over perceived insults. The Churchill brothers did not appreciate the negative publicity, and they left the track to their families. Clark received some other land, but by
28-474: The French system of parimutuel betting machines. The Churchill brothers were the entrepreneurs providing the financial backing, and Clark was the acting president and on-site manager. By all accounts, Clark had a mercurial and touchy personality. He is reported to have threatened prominent breeder T. G. Moore with a gun, ordering him off the premises after having knocked him down in a dispute over fees. Moore got
35-529: The original Churchill property, and they donated the land on which Churchill Downs was built. Living with the Churchills, Clark developed a taste for expensive things, including horse racing. He made two trips to Europe and married twice, both of his wives dying young. He came home from abroad in 1873 with ideas about building a racetrack in Louisville. He planned to eliminate bookmaking by introducing
42-568: The time John Churchill died in 1897, Clark was merely a steward at the track he had originated. His contribution to American racing cannot be overstated. In addition to building Churchill Downs and originating the Kentucky Derby, he wrote many racing rules that are still in force today. He worked for a uniform system of weights and pioneered the stakes system, creating the Great American Stallion Stakes, on which
49-553: Was Major Meriwether Lewis Clark , "aide de camp" and in-law to General Stephen Watts Kearny , of Mexican–American War fame (Kearny married Mary Radford, the stepdaughter of Clark). His mother was Abigail Prather Churchill, from one of the first families of Kentucky. The Churchills had moved to Louisville in 1787 and bought 300 acres (1.2 km ) of land in a rural area south of the city. When his mother died, Clark, called "Lutie" by his family, went to live with his aunt and her sons John and Henry Churchill. They had inherited most of
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