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 ...
run for 109 years between 1874 and 1984. First run on June 13, 1874, it was an important part of Jerome Park's "Spring Meeting." The race was designed to show which were the top two-year-olds at that point in the calendar.
Historical notes
The Juvenile Stakes was run at four different tracks:
Jerome Park Racetrack
Jerome Park Racetrack was an American thoroughbred horse racing facility from 1866 until 1894. It was located in a part of Westchester County, New York that was annexed into the Bronx in 1874. Jerome Park Racetrack was the home of the Belmont Sta ...
(1874–1888)
Morris Park Racecourse
Morris Park Racecourse was an American Thoroughbred horse race, thoroughbred horse racing facility from 1889 to 1904. It was located in a part of Westchester County, New York that was annexed into the Bronx in 1895 and later developed as the neighb ...
(1889–1904)
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905.
It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...
(1905–1959, 1968–1973, 1975, 1977–1984)
Aqueduct Racetrack
Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone Park and Jamaica, Queens, Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack locate ...
(1960–1967, 1974, 1976)
A field of fifteen competed in the inaugural edition won by Meco, a colt owned and trained by
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
native Thomas Puryear.
In 1888, French Park and Fides finished in a
dead heat
A dead heat is a rare situation in various racing sports in which the performances of competitors are judged to be so close that no difference between them can be resolved. The result is declared a Tie (draw), tie and the competitors are awarde ...
for first. It would remain as the only such occurrence in the 109 runnings of the event.
With the implementation of the Graded Stakes system in 1973, for that first year and again in 1974 the Juvenile Stakes was given Grade 3 status.
Selected notable winners
The 1886 running of the Juvenile Stakes was won by Tremont who would finish the year, and career, the undefeated winner of all his thirteen starts.
Broomstick
A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...
won the 1903 edition of the Juvenile and continued with a stellar career in racing. At stud, he was the
Leading sire in North America The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the year. It is restricted to stallions which are based in N ...
Max Hirsch
Maximilian Justice "Max" Hirsch (July 12, 1880 - April 3, 1969) was an American National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse horse trainer, trainer.
Born in Fredericksburg, Texas, and raised Roman ...
. The third-place finisher was Upset, the only horse to ever defeat the legendary
Man o' War
Man o' War (March 29, 1917 – November 1, 1947) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is widely regarded as the greatest racehorse of all time. Several sports publications, including ''The Blood-Horse'', ''Sports Illustrated'', ESPN, and ...
.
Following a win in his career debut at Florida's
Hialeah Park
The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida, Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenu ...
, on May 4, 1963
Raise a Native
Raise a Native (April 18, 1961 – July 28, 1988) was an undefeated Thoroughbred Horse racing, racehorse that was named 1963 champion two-year-old colt in the Turf and Sport Digest poll and was the highest rated juvenile in the Experimental Free ...
made his second start at New York's Aqueduct Racetrack. The colt, owned by
Louis Wolfson
Louis Elwood Wolfson (January 28, 1912 – December 30, 2007) was an American financier, a convicted felon, and one of the first modern corporate raiders, labeled by ''Time'' as such in a 1956 article.Burley Parke, was ridden by future
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
Bobby Ussery
Robert Nelson "Bobby" Ussery (born September 3, 1935 in Vian, Oklahoma) is a retired American Thoroughbred horse racing hall of fame jockey. His first race as a professional jockey came at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans on November 22, ...
in an Allowance race for two-year-olds. In what the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' described as a breathtaking performance, Raise a Native won by eight lengths while setting a new Aqueduct track record of 57 4/5 for five furlongs on dirt. On May 31, Raise a Native equaled his own track record in winning Aqueduct's Juvenile Stakes. The colt would go on to be named that year's
American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse The American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971.
The award originated in 1936 when the ''Daily Racing Fo ...
.
Four winners of the Juvenile Stakes went on to earn
American Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to sanction the various awards, "Hor ...
honors as well as a place in the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame:
Blue Larkspur
Blue Larkspur (1926–1947) was a bay Kentucky-bred thoroughbred race horse. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957, and ranks Number 100 in The Blood-Horse's top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20t ...
(1928)
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''
* ...
(1930)
Nashua Nashua may refer to:
* Nashaway people, Native American tribe living in 17th-century New England
Places
In Australia:
* Nashua, New South Wales
In the United States:
* Nashua, California
* Nashua, Iowa
* Nashua, Minnesota
* Nashua, Kansas City ...
(1954)
Bold Ruler
Bold Ruler (April 6, 1954 – July 11, 1971) was an American Thoroughbred National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame racehorse who was the 1957 American Horse of the Year, Horse of the Year. This following a three-year-old campaign t ...
Bally Ache
Bally Ache (February 3, 1957 – October 28, 1960) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Preakness Stakes in 1960 but died later that year. In her book ''American Classic Pedigrees (1914–2002)'', author Avalyn Hunter wrote that Ba ...
(1959)
* 1:03.40 @ 5.5 furlongs – Tilt Up (1977)
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 ...
:
* 7 –
Eddie Arcaro
George Edward Arcaro (February 19, 1916 – November 14, 1997), was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who won more American classic races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Tripl ...
(1939, 1946, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958)
Most wins by a trainer:
* 6 –
James G. Rowe Sr.
James Gordon Rowe Sr. (1857 – August 2, 1929) was an American jockey and horse trainer elected to the Hall of Fame for Thoroughbred Horse racing. He won the Belmont Stakes twice as a jockey and 8 times as a trainer. He had 34 champion hors ...
(1881, 1885, 1888, 1900, 1920, 1924)
Most wins by an owner:
* 4 –
George L. Lorillard
George Lyndes Lorillard (March 26, 1843 – February 3, 1886) was an American tobacco manufacturer, yachtsman, and a prominent Thoroughbred racehorse owner.
Early life
He was born in Westchester, New York, the son of Pierre Lorillard III (1796-1 ...
(1879, 1880, 1883, 1884)
* 4 –
Dwyer Brothers Stable
Dwyer Brothers Stable was an American thoroughbred horse racing
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 ...
(1881, 1885, 1886, 1887)
* 4 –
Greentree Stable
Greentree Stable, in Red Bank, New Jersey, was a major American thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm established in 1914 by Payne Whitney of the Whitney family of New York City. Payne Whitney operated a horse farm and stable at Sar ...
(1933, 1934, 1962, 1974)
* 4 –
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 ...