The William Penn Stakes was an 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 between 1942 and 1956 at

Garden State Park Racetrack Garden State Park was a harness and thoroughbred race track in Cherry Hill, Camden County, New Jersey. It is now the site of a high-end, mixed-use "town center" development of stores, restaurants, apartments, townhouses, and condominiums. Garden ...

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

. A race for two-year-old colts and geldings on dirt, it was contested at a distance of six

furlongs A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hors ...

from inception thru 1947 after which it was shortened to five furlongs. Garden State Park opened in 1942. The city of Camden is situated across the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

from

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, a city with more than twenty times the population of Camden which provided an extremely important source from which to draw patrons for the racetrack. The William Penn Stakes honors the founder of the

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to W ...

. Successful from almost the beginning as a result of participation by some big-name stables, going into 1948 the William Penn Stakes had become one of the track's most popular races. When

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...

got his third Camden track record in winning the 1948 race it would add further lustre to the event and for the 1949 edition the 35,110 patrons who showed up would be the largest crowd of the season. Once again speed would be front at center when, in his May 13, 1950 career debut, Lord Putnam broke Garden State Park's track record for five furlongs. In winning the May 27 William Penn Stakes, Lord Putnam set a new stakes record and then in his next outing remarkably broke a different track's record time, this one at

Monmouth Park Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with ...

Oceanport, New Jersey Oceanport is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 5,832,Maine Chance Farm Maine Chance Farm was an American Thoroughbred horse racing stable in Lexington, Kentucky owned by cosmetics tycoon Elizabeth Arden. Elizabeth Arden raced under the '' nom de course'' "Mr. Nightingale" until 1943 when she adopted the name Maine ...

, owned by cosmetics magnate

Elizabeth Arden Elizabeth Arden (born Florence Nightingale Graham; December 31, 1881 – October 18, 1966) was a Canadian-American businesswoman who founded what is now Elizabeth Arden, Inc., and built a cosmetics empire in the United States. By 1929, s ...

, the

Wheatley Stable Wheatley Stable was the '' nom de course '' for the thoroughbred horse racing partnership formed by Gladys Mills Phipps and her brother, Ogden Livingston Mills. The horses were raised at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky. History Over the ye ...

Gladys Mills Phipps Gladys Mills Phipps (June 19, 1883 - October 19, 1970) was a United States socialite, sportsperson, and a thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder who began the Phipps family dynasty in American horse racing. She was known as the "first lady of ...

and her brother,

Ogden Livingston Mills Ogden Livingston Mills (August 23, 1884October 11, 1937) was an American lawyer, businessman and politician. He served as United States Secretary of the Treasury in President Herbert Hoover's cabinet, during which time Mills pushed for tax increa ...

, as well as the

Brookmeade Stable Brookmeade Stable was a successful thoroughbred horse racing stable owned by Dodge automobile heiress and socialite Isabel Dodge Sloane. Sloane first won using the name Brookmeade Stable at the Manly Memorial Steeplechase at Pimlico in 1924. I ...

belonging to automobile heiress

Isabel Dodge Sloane Isabel Cleves Dodge Sloane (February 1896 – March 16, 1962) was an American heiress and socialite who owned a major Thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm. Isabel Dodge was the second of three children of Canadian-born Ivy Hawki ...

. Unfortunately for them, all were beaten in the 1953 edition by Duc De Fer, a local horse bred and raced by J. Warfield Rodgers. Duc De Fer would race successfully for five years and retire with earnings of $225,791 (about $2.34 million in 2021). Increased purses at the New York tracks saw a significant drop off in their participation in the 1954 running. The effect would see the William Penn Stakes placed on hiatus in 1955 and while it was brought back on May 9, 1956, that would be its final running. In 1957, the track's owners dropped the William Penn Stakes to help them supplement the purse for the

Garden State Stakes The Garden State Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in mid November at the now defunct Garden State Park Racetrack in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. A futurity event for two-year-olds, it is sometimes referred to as the Garden S ...

, also a race for two-year old colts and geldings. The purse would be the largest offered anywhere in the world.

Records

Speed record: * 0:58.80 @ 5 furlongs: Lord Putnam (1950) * 1:11.40 @ 6 furlongs: Jobstown (1946) 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 ...

: * 2 -

Nick Wall Nicholas J. Wall (December 18, 1906 – March 17, 1983) was a Newfoundland Colony born jockey who competed successfully in Canada and was the 1938 National Champion rider in the United States. Born in Lower Gully, Kelligrews, Conception Bay, N ...

(1943, 1950) * 2 - John Gilbert (1945, 1949) * 2 - Sam Boulmetis (1952, 1956) Most wins by a trainer: * No trainer won this race more than once. Most wins by an owner: * No owner won this race more than once.

Winners

References

{{reflist Discontinued horse races in the United States Flat horse races for two-year-olds Garden State Park Racetrack Horse races in New Jersey Recurring sporting events established in 1942 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1957