The Modesty 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 ...

run annually at Churchill Downs in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. A Grade III race contested over a distance of miles on

turf Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...

, it is open to

fillies A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

and mares aged four and older. Run in May during on

Kentucky Oaks The Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers at Churchill Downs; the horses carry . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday ...

day, the event currently offers a purse of $250,000. Inaugurated in 1942 at the old

Washington Park Race Track Washington Park Race Track was a popular horse 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 Washington Park Subdiv ...

as a race for three-year-old fillies, the following year it was made open to both fillies and older mares. Until 1951, it was run as the Modesty Stakes. It was raced on dirt from 1942 through 1955, 1958 through 1965, and again in 1996. It has been run at various distances: * 1 mile : 1942, 1944–1946, 1952, 1966 * 3/4 mile (6 furlongs) : 1947–1951, 1953–1954, 1958–1962 * 7/8 mile (7 furlongs) : 1943, 1963–1965 * miles (8.5 furlongs) : 1955–1957, 1967–1968,1986 * miles (9 furlongs) : 1987 * miles (9.5 furlongs) : 1980–1985, 1989–present The race was hosted by

from 1942 through 1945 and from 1968 through 1961.

Hawthorne Race Course Hawthorne Race Course is a racetrack for horse racing in Stickney/Cicero, Illinois, near Chicago. The oldest continually run family-owned racetrack in North America, in 2009 the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating syst ...

hosted it in 1985. The race was named in honor of Modesty, a filly owned by Edward Corrigan who beat her

male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

counterparts to win the 1884 inaugural running of the

American Derby The American Derby is a Thoroughbred horse race in the United States run annually at Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The inaugural American Derby was held at Chicago's old Washington Park Race Track on the city's South Side and ra ...

at Washington Park Race Track under

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey,

Isaac Burns Murphy Isaac Burns Murphy (January 6, 1861 – February 16, 1896) was an American Hall of Fame jockey, who is considered to be one of the greatest riders in American Thoroughbred horse racing history. Murphy won three runnings of the Kentucky Derby and ...

. In 1966, the Modesty Handicap was run in two divisions. There was no race from 1969 through 1979 inclusive, nor in 1988, 1995, 1998 and 1999. In 2022, the event was moved to Churchill Downs after the closure of

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 reg ...

in Arlington Heights, Illinois.https://www.churchilldowns.com/uploads/horsemen-files/stakes-schedules/Spring%20Stakes%20Schedule.pdf

Records

Speed record: (at current distance of miles) * 1:53.80 – Fantasia (GB) (2011) Most wins: * 2 – Sickle's Image (1951, 1954) * 2 –

Indian Maid Indian Maid (foaled 1956 in Florida) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won three consecutive editions of the Falls City Handicap at Churchill Downs. Background Indian Maid was a bay mare bred in Florida by Elmer Heubeck Jr. During her ...

(1960, 1961) * 2 – Gaily Gaily (1989, 1990) Most wins by an owner: * 3 – Calumet Farm (1948, 1952, 1959) Most wins by a jockey: * 3 –

René Douglas René (''born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name ( Renée being the feminin ...

(2002, 2003, 2008) * 3 – Earlie Fires (1982, 1986, 1993) Most wins by a trainer: * 3 – Harry Trotsek (1953, 1956, 1958) * 3 –

William I. Mott William I. "Bill" Mott (born July 29, 1953, in Mobridge, South Dakota) is an American horse trainer, most notable for his work with Cigar. Mott earned the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer in 1995 and 1996. He was inducted into the Nationa ...

(1989, 1990, 2005)

Winners

References

{{reflist
The Modesty Handicap at Pedigree Query
Graded stakes races in the United States 1942 establishments in Illinois Turf races in the United States Middle distance horse races for fillies and mares Arlington Park Recurring sporting events established in 1942 Horse races in Illinois Churchill Downs horse races Grade 3 stakes races in the United States