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 Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was ...

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 agricultu ...

, 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 A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four y ...

aged four and older. Run in May during on

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

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 track, 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 Washingto ...

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 Modesty, sometimes known as demureness, is a mode of dress and deportment which intends to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others. The word "modesty" comes from the Latin word ''wikt:modestus, modestus'' which means "keeping within ...

, 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 rac ...

at Washington Park Race Track under

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

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

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 regi ...

Arlington Heights, Illinois Arlington Heights is a municipality in Cook County with a small portion in Lake County in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of the city's downtown. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 77,676. Per the ...

.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 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 ...

(1948, 1952, 1959) 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 ...

: * 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 feminine ...

(2002, 2003, 2008) * 3 –

Earlie Fires Earlie Stancel Fires (born March 19, 1947, in Rivervale, Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the sout ...

(1982, 1986, 1993) Most wins by a trainer: * 3 –

Harry Trotsek Harry E. Trotsek (April 18, 1912 – February 5, 1997) was an American Hall of Fame trainer and owner of Thoroughbred racehorses. He trained 96 stakes race winners including Champions Hasty Road, Moccasin, Oil Capitol, and Stan, and led all No ...

(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 National ...

(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