The Junior Champion Stakes was a race for two-year-old

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

horses at

Gravesend Race Track Gravesend Race Track at Gravesend in Brooklyn, New York was a Thoroughbred horse racing facility 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 raci ...

in Gravesend, on Coney Island,

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

. The September 18, 1909 edition of the ''

Daily Racing Form The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of raceh ...

'' stated that for a number of years it had been one of the East Coast's most important and valuable stakes for two-year-olds. Among the race winners,

Mesmerist Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, was a protoscientific theory developed by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century in relation to what he claimed to be an invisible natural force (''Lebensmagnetismus'') possessed by all livi ...

was chosen the 1899 American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse as was

Commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

(1900),

Highball A highball is a mixed alcoholic drink composed of an alcoholic base spirit and a larger proportion of a non-alcoholic mixer, often a carbonated beverage. Examples include the Seven and Seven, Scotch and soda, gin and tonic, screwdriver (a.k.a ...

(1903), Sysonby (1904) and Salvidere in 1906.

Demise

In 1908, the administration of

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signed into law the Hart–Agnew bill that effectively banned all racetrack

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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, the Gravesend Race Track never reopened. In 1923, a new Junior Champion Stakes, later renamed the

Cowdin Stakes The Cowdin Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually from 1923 through 2005 at Aqueduct Racetrack and at Belmont Park which at one time was a Grade 1 event. Background The Cowdin was first run in 1923 as the Junior Champion St ...

, was inaugurated at Aqueduct Racetrack in

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neighborhood in

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, New York City.

Records

Speed record: * 1:09.00 at 6 F ± – Suffragette (1908) * 1:13.80 at 6 F –

(1900) Most wins by a jockey: * 2 – Walter Miller (1906–1907) Most wins by a trainer: * 4 – James G. Rowe Sr. (1900, 1904, 1907, 1908) Most wins by an owner: * 3 – James R. Keene (1900, 1904, 1907)

Winners

'' DRF'' history of the Junior Champion Stakes, 1898–1908 ''Daily Racing Form'' September 18, 1909, history of the Junior Champion Stakes
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References

{{reflist Gravesend Race Track Open sprint category horse races Recurring sporting events established in 1898 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1908 Discontinued horse races in New York City 1898 establishments in New York City 1908 disestablishments in New York (state)