The Hanshin Stakes is a Listed American

Thoroughbred horse race Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

held annually in July at

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was ...

. The event open to horses three years of age and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of 8

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hors ...

s and currently offers a purse of $100,000.

History

The race was inaugurated in 1941 at

Arlington Park Arlington International Racecourse (formerly Arlington Park, the name was Arlington Park Jockey Club from as soon as 1948 up to 1955) was a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago regi ...

as the Equipoise Mile in honor of the great colt

Equipoise Equipoise may refer to: * Clinical equipoise, or the principle of equipoise, a medical research term * Equilibrioception, the state of being balanced or in equilibrium * Boldenone undecylenate, an anabolic steroid, by the trade name ''Equipoise'' * ...

. It was raced under that name from 1941 through 1963 and in 1966 and 1967. In 1964 and 1965 it was raced as the Equipoise Handicap then from 1968 through 1997. The race was hosted by the

Washington Park Race Track Washington Park Race Track was a popular horse racing track, racing venue in the Chicago metropolitan area from 1884 until 1977. It had two locations during its existence. It was first situated in what is the current location of the Washingto ...

from 1943 through 1945. It was run in two divisions in 1945. The race was not run from 1970 through 1978 and in 1988. It was on hiatus again in 1998 and 1999 but returned as the Hanshin Cup Handicap in 2000. U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee

Swoon's Son Swoon's Son (February 13, 1953 – 1977) is an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred and raced by E. Gay Drake, owner of Mineola Stock Farm in Lexington, Kentucky and a charter member of the Thoroughbred Club of America. Rid ...

won back-to-back runnings of this race in 1957–58. In 1967, the race saw the last racecourse appearance of the 1965 United States Horse of the Year

Moccasin A moccasin is a shoe, made of deerskin or other soft leather, consisting of a sole (made with leather that has not been "worked") and sides made of one piece of leather, stitched together at the top, and sometimes with a vamp (additional panel o ...

. Due to the unpredictability of the race, it has been said many times on Hanshin Cup Day, “Anything can happen in the Hanshin”.

Past winners

* 2022 -

Cody's Wish Cody's Wish (born 3 May 2018) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred in Kentucky by owner Godolphin (racing), Godolphin Racing. In 2022 he was a winner in four of his five starts–all stakes races–including two Grade I victories i ...

* 2021 - Guest Suite (Emmanuel Esquivel) * 2020 - Not Held * 2019 - Lanier ( Declan Cannon) * 2018 - Matrooh ( Santo Sanjur) * 2017 - Crewman ( Carlos Marquez, Jr.) * 2016 - Trace Creek ( Julio E. Felix) * 2015 - Midnight Cello (

Florent Geroux Florent Geroux (born July 16, 1986) is a jockey who has earned over 1,700 wins in American thoroughbred horse racing, including the 2017 Breeders' Cup Classic on Gun Runner, two Breeders' Cup Distaff wins with Monomoy Girl, and the 2021 Kentucky ...

) * 2014 - Nikki's Sandcastle ( Leandro R. Goncalves) * 2013 - Hogy ( Christopher A. Emigh) * 2012 - Havelock (

) * 2011 - Workin for Hops ( James Graham) * 2010 - Country Flavor ( Inez Karlsson) * 2009 - Vacation (

John Velazquez John R. Velazquez (born November 24, 1971) is a Puerto Rican jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. He began his career in Puerto Rico and moved to New York in 1990. In 2004 and 2005 he was the United States Champion Jockey by earnings and both yea ...

) * 2008 - Coragil Cat (

Diego Sanchez Diego Sanchez (born December 31, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He competes in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2002, Sanchez is most known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (U ...

) * 2007 - Spotsgone (

Earlie Fires Earlie Stancel Fires (born March 19, 1947, in Rivervale, Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the sout ...

) * 2006 - Gouldings Green (

Corey Lanerie Corey James Lanerie (born November 13, 1974) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. Based in Kentucky, he has been the leading rider at Churchill Downs, having won the most races during a race meet, 10 times. He has also been named th ...

) * 2005 - Lord of the Game ( Eusebio Razo, Jr.) * 2004 - Crafty Shaw (

Craig Perret Craig Perret (born February 2, 1951, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding horses at age five and by seven was riding quarter horses in match races. At age fifteen he began his career in thorou ...

) * 2003 - Apt to Be ( Eusebio Razo, Jr.) * 2002 - Bonapaw (

Gerard Melancon Gerard Melancon (born May 10, 1967 in Rayne, Louisiana) is an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. On June 9, 2016 he won the 4,500th race of his career at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, Louisiana :''Opelousas is also a common name of th ...

) * 2001 - Bright Valour (

Robby Albarado Robby J. Albarado (born September 11, 1973, in Lafayette, Louisiana) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding at the age of 10 and progressed to riding at bush tracks in his native Louisiana by the age of 12. After turning ...

) * 2000 - Bright Valour ( Jesse Campbell) * 1999 - No Race * 1998 - No race * * 1997 - Announce * 1996 - Golden Gear * 1995 - Tarzan's Blase * 1994 - Slerp * 1993 - Split Run * 1992 - Katahaula County * 1967 - Renewed Vigor ( Martinez Heath)

References

The Hanshin Cup Handicap at the NTRA
{Dead link, date=January 2020 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Horse races in Kentucky Open mile category horse races Recurring sporting events established in 1941 Arlington Park 1941 establishments in Illinois Churchill Downs horse races