The Louisiana Stakes is a Grade III 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 ...

for horses aged four years and older over a distance miles on the dirt track held annually during the third week of January at

Fair Grounds Race Course Fair Grounds Race Course, often known as New Orleans Fair Grounds, is a thoroughbred racetrack and racino in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is operated by Churchill Downs Louisiana Horseracing Company, LLC. As early as 1838 Bernard de Marigny, Ju ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

History

Inaugurated on December 12, 1942, the first running of the Louisiana Handicap was won by Calumet Farm's 1941 U.S. Triple Crown winner

Whirlaway Whirlaway (April 2, 1938 – April 6, 1953) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the fifth winner of the American Triple Crown. He also won the Travers Stakes after his Triple Crown sweep to become the first and only horse to w ...

. It would be the last race of Whirlaway's brilliant career and he was voted his second straight American Horse of the Year title. Since inception, the Louisiana Handicap has been run at two different distances: * miles : 1947, 1952–present * miles : 1942–1943, 1945–1946, 1949–1951 The event was not held in 1944, 1948, 2005 and 2006. The event was renamed to the Louisiana Stakes in 2016. In 2020 the event was upgraded to Grade III.

Records

Speed record: (at current distance of miles) * 1:42.40 - Soy Numero Uno (1977) Most wins: * 3 - Tenacious (1958, 1959, 1960)

Winners

Earlier winners

*1955 - Epic King *1954 - Roedna *1953 - Spur On *1952 - Light Broom *1951 - Thelma Berger *1950 - Roseborough *1949 - Grand Entry *1947 - Dockstader *1946 - Flareback *1945 - South Dakota *1943 - First Fiddle *1942 -

Notes

References