- Brooklyn Handicap
Horseraces infobox
class = Grade II
horse race = Brooklyn Handicap
caption = "The Picket" winning the 1904 Brooklyn Handicap
location =Belmont Park Elmont, New York , USA
inaugurated = 1887
race type =Thoroughbred -Flat racing
website = [http://www.nyra.com/belmont/stakes/Brooklyn.html Brooklyn Handicap - NYRA]
distance = 1 1/2 miles (12 furlongs)
track = Dirt, Left-handed
qualification = Three-year-olds and up
weight = Weight-For-Age
purse = $150,000-added
bonuses = The Brooklyn Handicap is an annual American race forthoroughbred horses first held atGravesend Race Track onConey Island ,New York in 1887. It is currently held atBelmont Park onLong Island . The race is the second part of what is sometimes referred to as theNew York Handicap Triple series of races. It is preceded by theMetropolitan Handicap and followed by theSuburban Handicap .Four horse have won the Handicap Triple:
*Whisk Broom II (1913)
*Tom Fool (1953)
* Kelso (1961)
*Fit to Fight (1984)At one time the Brooklyn Handicap was one of the top attractions on the New York racing cicuit, drawing some of the best Thoroughbreds. It currently is a Grade II event open to three-year-olds and up willing to race the one and one-eighth miles on the dirt. Offering a purse of $200,000, and usually a spring event, it began to race in the fall due to the Grade I
Woodward Stakes being moved toSaratoga Race Course . Because of its fall running, the Brooklyn was raced as aBreeders' Cup race series event during the 2006 and 2007 Belmont fall meet. However, in 2008 it will run the day before theBelmont Stakes and will return to a mile and a half.The Brooklyn Handicap has been raced at:
*Gravesend Race Track : 1887-1910
*Not run 1911-1912 due toNew York State ban onparimutuel betting
*Old Aqueduct Racetrack : 1914-1944, 1946-1955
*Jamaica Racetrack : 1956, 1958-1959
*Aqueduct Racetrack : 1960-1974, 1976
*Belmont Park : 1957, 1975, 1977 to presentSince inception, the race has been contested at a variety of distances:
* 1 mile, 1 furlong : 1915-1939, 1994-2007
* 1³/16 miles : 1956-1959, 1972-1974
* 1¼ miles : 1887-1914, 1940-1955, 1960-1971, 1975-1976
* 1⅜ miles : 1991-1993
* 1½ miles : 1977-1990, 2008 to presentWinners of the Brooklyn Handicap
*
Mi Selecto won the 1990 race but was disqualified and set back to second.
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