The San Francisco Mile 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 age three and older over a distance of one mile (8

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to any of 660 foot (unit), feet, 220 yards, 40 rod (unit), rods, 10 chain (unit), chains, or a ...

s) on the

turf Sod is the upper layer of turf that is harvested for transplanting. Turf consists of a variable thickness of a soil medium that supports a community of turfgrasses. In British and Australian English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', ...

held annually in April at

Golden Gate Fields Golden Gate Fields was an American horse racing race track, track straddling both Albany, California and Berkeley, California along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the Eastshore Freeway in the San Francisco Bay Area. With the closi ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

History

The race was inaugurated on 2 October 1948 as the Golden Gate Mile and held on the dirt track. The event was won by Prevaricator who was entered as an entry with the 1948

American Champion Older Dirt Male Horse The title of American Champion Older Dirt Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a stallion or gelding, four years old and up, for performances on dirt and main track racing surfaces. In 1971, it became part of ...

Shannon II in equal world record time of 1:34 equaling Equipoise record from 1932. Two years later in 1950, Triple Crown champion

Citation A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose o ...

confirmed his greatness with a world record performance in winning the event by of a length over Bolero in 1:33 breaking stablemate

Coaltown Coaltown (1945–1965) was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse of whom ''The New York Times'' said "was probably the most underrated Thoroughbred of the 20th Century." Coaltown was nicknamed "The Goose" by the stable empl ...

's world record from the previous year. The 1955 event was won by the 1954 Kentucky Derby winner

Determine Determine (April 7, 1951 – September 27, 1972) was an American Thoroughbred race horse. In a racing career which lasted from 1953 through 1955, the California-trained colt ran forty-four times and won eighteen races. His best season was 1954 w ...

, who won by a neck defeating

Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up and was once considered the most important race for old ...

winners Rejected and Irish bred Poona II who finished second in a dead heat. The brilliant Californian horse Native Diver raced in the event four times winning it twice in 1963 and 1967 as an eight-year-old. In 1956, the event was renamed to the San Francisco Mile Handicap The event was run on the turf in 1953 but was not regularly scheduled again until 1972. The event was classified as a Grade III in 1987 and a Grade II between 1994–2010. The only mare to win this event was the French-bred mare Tuzla in 1999. Between 2001 and 2005 the event was held at

Bay Meadows Racetrack Bay Meadows was a horse racing track in San Mateo, California from 1934 until 2008, in the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States. History Built on the site of an old airfield, Bay Meadows Racecourse was the longest continually operating ...

. Since the 2006 the event has been run as San Francisco Mile Stakes. Between 1999 and 2006 the event had additional

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was ...

incentives. The event has been split into divisions four times - 1964, 1966, 1972, 1984.

Records

Speed record: * 1 mile (turf) – 1:33.40 Don Alberto (1980) * 1 mile (dirt) – 1:33.60

(1950) ;Margin: * 6 lengths Gamin (ARG) (1966) ;Most wins * 2 – Battle Ground (1957, 1958) * 2 – Native Diver (1963, 1967) * 2 – Alert Bay (2016, 2017) Most wins by a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), 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 ...

: * 3 – Ralph Neves (1952, 1956, 1964) * 3 –

Bill Shoemaker William Lee Shoemaker (August 19, 1931 – October 12, 2003) was an American jockey, considered one of the greatest. For 29 years he held the world record for the most professional jockey victories. Early life Referred to as "Bill", "Willie," ...

(1953, 1960, 1963) Most wins by a trainer: * 5 – Julio C. Canani (1989, 1990, 1999, 2000, 2006)

Winners

''Legend:''

''Notes:''
§ Ran as part of an entry
† Filly or Mare
‡ Fleet Bird was disqualified and placed 3rd for interference. Goose Khan was promoted to first place.

References

{{reflist, 2 Horse races in California Golden Gate Fields Graded stakes races in the United States Open mile category horse races Turf races in the United States Grade 3 stakes races in the United States Recurring sporting events established in 1948 1948 establishments in California

History

Records

Winners

See also

References