The Astoria Stakes is a long-lived race for two-year-old Thoroughbred fillies run at Belmont Park in early June during the Belmont Stakes carnival. Originally set at a distance of five furlongs , beginning in the year 1940, the event was increased to five and a half furlongs on the dirt. The race currently offers a $ 150,000 purse.
9-559: This race began at Gravesend Race Track in 1902 where it stayed until 1910. It then moved to Aqueduct Racetrack to be contested from 1914 to 1955, and again from 1960 to 1974. It was at Jamaica Race Course 1956, 1958, and 1959. From 1985 through 1994 the Astoria Stakes held Grade III status. Named after a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens , it would have been in its 103rd running in 2009, but due to
18-675: The American Classic Races , the Preakness Stakes . In 1908, the administration of Governor Charles Evans Hughes signed into law the Hart–Agnew bill that effectively banned all racetrack betting in New York State. A 1910 amendment to the legislation added further restrictions that meant by 1911 all racetracks in the state ceased operations. Although the law was repealed in time to resume racing in 1913,
27-599: The Financial crisis of 2007–2008 , the Astoria was canceled by the NYRA as they adjusted races to meet the new Grade I standard purse of $ 300,000. The race was run again in 2014 as an overnight stakes. Most wins by a jockey : Most wins by a trainer : Most wins by an owner: NYRA – Belmont Park Astoria Stakes history: Gravesend Race Track Gravesend Race Track was a Thoroughbred horse racing facility in
36-879: The Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn , New York, that opened in 1886 and closed in 1910. The track was built by the Brooklyn Jockey Club with the backing of Philip and Michael Dwyer , two wealthy racing stable owners known as the Dwyer Brothers . Philip , the controlling shareholder of the Brooklyn Jockey Club, served as its president. Gravesend Race Track hosted the Preakness Stakes for fifteen years. Opened on August 26, 1886, its first executive board consisted of: The facility covered an area which extended from McDonald Avenue (then Gravesend Avenue) to Ocean Parkway , and from Kings Highway to Avenue U . This land had previously been occupied by
45-604: The Gravesend Race Track never reopened and the land was eventually sold to real-estate developers in 1920. Today, the annual Gravesend Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack honors the former racing facility. 40°36′04″N 73°58′10″W / 40.60111°N 73.96944°W / 40.60111; -73.96944 Gravesend Handicap The Gravesend Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York late in
54-582: The Prospect Park Fair Grounds, a slightly smaller and far more modest race course which had been used for harness racing . The facility was enclosed by a twelve-foot wooden fence and boasted an ornate two-story "double decker" grand stand of yellow Georgia pine with a bar and restaurant built into its brick base. A spur was created that allowed trains running along the Prospect Park & Coney Island railroad line to stop within
63-447: The facility and discharge passengers at a small station that led directly to the grand stand via a covered walkway. At the southern end of the facility stood the offices of the Brooklyn Jockey Club, as well as the dressing rooms for the jockeys. The northern end was occupied by the betting pavilion and carriage sheds. The eastern side, which ran along the tree-lined boulevard of Ocean Parkway (where impromptu training races often took place),
72-529: The year. In its 61st running in December 2017, the Gravesend was downgraded from a Grade III event to ungraded status. This race is for three-year-olds and up and set at a distance of six furlongs . It offers a purse of $ 100,000 added. The Gravesend is named in honor of the early American racetrack once sited near Coney Island, Brooklyn . The Gravesend Race Track was closed in 1910. Prior to 1961,
81-571: Was occupied by the clubhouse. During its time, the racetrack executive included superintendent Ben Brush in whose honor the future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame horse Ben Brush was named. Among the major graded stakes races launched at the track were the Astoria Stakes , Brooklyn Handicap , Brooklyn Derby , Tremont Stakes , and the Gazelle Handicap . For the fifteen years from 1894 through 1908, Gravesend Race Track hosted one of
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