The Precisionist Stakes was an American

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 c ...

horse race Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

run annually at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of th ...

. A Grade III event open to horses, age three and up, it was contested over a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on Cushion Track synthetic dirt. The race was named for the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame horse,

Precisionist Precisionism was a modernist art movement that emerged in the United States after World War I. Influenced by Cubism, Purism, and Futurism, Precisionist artists reduced subjects to their essential geometric shapes, eliminated detail, and often us ...

who won this race in 1985 in which he set a Hollywood Park track record for the then one mile distance. The race was run as the Mervyn Leroy Handicap at

Hollywood Park Racetrack Hollywood Park was a thoroughbred race course located in Inglewood, California, about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to the Forum indoor arena. In 1994, the original Hollywood Park Casino was added to the ...

from inception in 1980 through 2013 when that racetrack closed. The original race was named for the American

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

Mervyn LeRoy Mervyn LeRoy (; October 15, 1900 – September 13, 1987) was an American film director and producer. In his youth he played juvenile roles in vaudeville and silent film comedies. During the 1930s, LeRoy was one of the two great practitioners of ...

who was a racing enthusiast and one of the track's founders. The Mervyn LeRoy Handicap carried a purse of $150,000 and was a prep to the

Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of miles on the dirt held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California in May. The race currently offers a purse of $400,000. ...

. Elevated to a Grade I event in 1988, it was downgraded to Grade II status in 1991 then to Grade III in 2014.

Records

Speed record: * mile - 1:40.20 -

Ruhlmann Ruhlmann (April 22, 1985 – December 24, 2008) was an American millionaire Thoroughbred racehorse who holds the track record of 1:33.4 for one mile on dirt set on March 5, 1989 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Racing career Fi ...

(1989) * 1 mile - 1:32.80 -

(1985) Most wins: * 2 - Surf Cat (2006, 2008) 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 -

Laffit Pincay, Jr. Laffit Alejandro Pincay Jr. (born December 29, 1946, in Panama City, Panama) was once flat racing's winningest all-time jockey, still holding third place many years after his retirement. He competed primarily in the United States. Career Pincay ...

(1986, 1987, 1989, 2002) Most wins by a trainer: * 4 - Robert J. Frankel (1982, 1983, 1991, 1993) Most wins by an owner: * 2 -

Jerry Moss Jerome S. Moss (born May 8, 1935) is an American recording executive, best known for being the co-founder of A&M Records, along with trumpet player and bandleader Herb Alpert. Music career After graduating from Brooklyn College with a degree ...

(1983, 1989) * 2 - Rosendo G. Parra (2003, 2004) * 2 - Aase Headley & Marsha Naify (2006, 2008)

Winners

References

{{Reflist
Precisionist Stakes at Pedigree Query

The 2009 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap at ''Thoroughbred Times''

The Mervyn LeRoy Handicap at Hollywood Park
Graded stakes races in the United States Horse races in California Open mile category horse races Recurring sporting events established in 1980 Hollywood Park Racetrack 1980 establishments in California

Records

Winners

See also

References