The Bougainvillea Handicap was a Thoroughbred horse race run between 1940 and 2001 at Hialeah Park in Hialeah, Florida. A race for horses age three and older, it was run at a distance of 1 1/8 miles on turf. The race was named for the purple bougainvillea flower which is an integral part of the track's floral blueprint.

History

The inaugural running in 1940 was won by William F. Mannagh's Liberty Flight. Sent off by the betting public at odds of more than 10:1, he was the longshot of the seven starters. In a rare occurrence, the second-place finisher High One had the second longest odds and third-place finisher Dunade had the third longest odds. Armor Bearer, the betting favorite, finished last. In 1964, Parka set a new course record of 1:53 4/5 in winning the Bougainvillea Handicap. He returned to Hialeah the following year to win the race again in exactly the same time. In 1970, Secretariat's

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

jockey Ron Turcotte aboard Vent du Nord became the only jockey to ever win the "Hialeah Turf Series", three races consisting of the Palm Beach, Bougainvillea and Hialeah Turf Cup Handicaps. In 1973 the Graded stakes race system was recorded for the first time in the United States. The February 10, 1973 edition of the Bougainvillea Handicap was awarded Grade 2 status. This historical event was won by Gleaming, owned by the renowned

Calumet Farm Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegras ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. The final running of the Bougainville Handicap took place on March 31, 2001 and was won by Make No Mistake, owned by Walter Haefner's

Moyglare Stud Farm Walter Haefner (13 September 1910 – 19 June 2012) was a Swiss businessman and a thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder in Ireland. As a young man Haefner went to work in the auto industry as an employee of the Swiss division of General Mo ...

Records

Speed record: * 1:46.04 @ 1 miles : Signal Tap (1996) * 1:51 4/5 @ 1 miles : Toonerville (1976) Most wins: * 2 – Frere Jacques (1947, 1949) * 2 –

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(1950, 1951) * 2 – Parka (1964, 1965) * 2 – London Company (1974, 1975) * 2 –

Flying Pidgeon Flying may refer to: * Flight, the process of flying * Aviation, the creation and operation of aircraft Music Albums * ''Flying'' (Grammatrain album), 1997 * ''Flying'' (Jonathan Fagerlund album), 2008 * ''Flying'' (UFO album), 1971 * '' ...

(1985, 1986) * 2 – Sharp Appeal (1997, 1998) Most wins by a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

: * 4 –

Ángel Cordero Jr. Ángel Tomás Cordero Jr. (born: November 8, 1942) is one of the leading Thoroughbred horse racing jockeys of the late 20th-century and the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the United States' Racing Hall of Fame. He led all jockeys in win ...

(1971, 1973, 1974, 1978) * 4 –

José A. Santos José Adeón Santos León (born April 26, 1961, in Concepción, Chile) is a retired Chilean thoroughbred jockey who has been honored by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in the United States. Career Jose Santos first raced horses ...

( 1985, 1986, 1997, 2001) Most wins by a trainer: * 3 – LeRoy Jolley (1974, 1975, 1983) (Note: subject to change due to 4 missing names) Most wins by an owner: * 2 – Jacob Sher (1947, 1949) * 2 – Palatine Stable (Frank Rosen) (1950, 1951) * 2 – Hasty House Farm (1956, 1958) * 2 – Pelican Stable (Rachel Carpenter) (1964, 1965) * 2 –

(1966, 1973) * 2 – Chance Hill Farm (1974, 1975) * 2 – Constance Daparma / Armand Marcanthony (1985, 1986) * 2 – Martin L. Cherry (1997, 1998)

Winners

* † 1966 – Kentucky Jug and Lord Date ran a dead heat for first.

External links

B&W Photo collection titled
Collection titled 57 Old Photos of Hialeah Park in All its Architectural Grandeur

References

{{reflist Discontinued horse races in the United States Open mile category horse races Graded stakes races in the United States Turf races in the United States Horse races in Florida Hialeah Park Recurring sporting events established in 1940 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2001 1940 establishments in Florida 2001 disestablishments in Florida