Widener Handicap

The Widener Handicap at Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida was a Grade III stakes race for Thoroughbred racehorses 3-years-old and up. It was run over a distance of ​1 1⁄4 miles (10 furlongs) until 1993 when it was modified to ​1 1⁄8 miles. Initially called the Widener Challenge Cup Handicap, the race was named for Hialeah Park owner Joseph E. Widener. It was first run in 1936 as the East Coast counterpart to the Santa Anita Handicap in California.

Widener Handicap
Defunct Stakes race
LocationHialeah Park Race Track
Hialeah, Florida, United States
Inaugurated1936–2001
Race typeThoroughbred – Flat racing
WebsiteN/A
Race information
Distance1 1⁄8 miles (9.0 furlongs)
SurfaceDirt
TrackLeft-handed
QualificationThree-years-old & up
WeightHandicap
Purse$200,000

The magnificence of the Hialeah Park facilities drew the rich and famous to the track and a purse of $50,000 quickly made the Widener Handicap one of the major events of the winter racing season, drawing many of the country's top horses. The March 16, 1942 issue of TIME magazine said: "nearly every glamor horse in the U.S. was entered in Florida's Widener Handicap, richest race of the winter season."[1]

In 1973 the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association began the grading of races[2] and the Widener Handicap was given Grade I status, the highest designation. The Widener Handicap was a Grade 1 race in 1989 when financial difficulties saw racing at Hialeah Park suspended. On resumption in 1992, the race lost its graded stakes status but earned back a Grade III ranking in 1994 and remained at that until its final running in 2001.

In 2000, the Widener Handicap was run at Gulfstream Park then returned to Hialeah Park in 2001. At the end of that year, financial difficulties spelled the demise of Hialeah Park and with it the Widener Handicap.

When Mary Russ won the 1982 Widener Handicap it marked the first time in the history of North American Thoroughbred racing that a female jockey won a Grade I event.[3]

Three horses won the Widener twice and all were owned by Calumet Farm who won this race eight times, more than any other owner.

Record holders

Speed record:

Most wins:

  • 2 – Armed (1946,1947)
  • 2 – Bardstown (1957,1959)
  • 2 – Yorky (1961, 1962)

Most wins by a jockey:

  • 4 – Pat Day (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999)

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

  • 8 – Calumet Farm (1939, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1962)

Winners of the Widener Handicap
Year
 Winner
 Age
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Dist.
Time
2001 Albert the Great 4 Jorge Chavez Nick Zito Tracy Farmer 1-1/8 1:45.52
2000 Blazing Sword † 6 Javier Castellano Kathleen O'Connell Gilbert G. Campbell 1-1/8 1:51.73
1999 Golden Missile 4 Pat Day Patrick B. Byrne Frank Stronach 1-1/8 1:47.73
1998 Frisk Me Now 4 Pat Day Robert J. Durso Carol R. Dender 1-1/8 1:47.44
1997 Tejano Run 5 Pat Day Kenneth G. McPeek Roy K. Monroe 1-1/8 1:48.35
1996 Mecke 4 Pat Day Emanuel Tortora James R. Lewis Jr. 1-1/8 1:52.03
1995 Party Manners 4 Shane Sellers C. R. McGaughey III Ogden Mills Phipps 1-1/8 1:47.33
1994 West By West 5 Jean-Luc Samyn George R. Arnold II John H. Peace 1-1/8 1:49.98
1993 Honest Ensign 5 Pedro Rodriguez Guillaume Soyer Navair Stable (Clarence Hill Jr.) 1-1/8 1:48.80
1992 Race not held
1991 Sports View 4 Chris Antley D. Wayne Lukas Edward A. Cox Jr. et al. 1-1/4 2:02.58
1990 Race not held
1989 Cryptoclearance 5 José A. Santos Flint S. Schulhofer Philip Teinowitz 1-1/4 1:59.40
1988 Personal Flag 5 Randy Romero C. R. McGaughey III Ogden Phipps 1-1/4 2:01.80
1987 Launch a Pegasus 5 Jorge Velásquez Lawrence W. Jennings Pegasus Racing Stable 1-1/4 2:01.60
1986 Turkoman 4 Chris McCarron Gary F. Jones Saron Stable (Corbin Robertson) 1-1/4 1:58.60
1985 Pine Circle 4 Don MacBeth C. R. McGaughey III Loblolly Stable 1-1/4 2:00.40
1984 Mat-Boy 5 Jorge Valdivieso Carlos Mancero Noroma Stable (Argentine partnership) 1-1/4 1:59.80
1983 Swing Till Dawn 4 Craig Perret Chuck Marikian Paniolo Ranch et al. (Sherwood Chillingworth) et al. 1-1/4 2:01.20
1982 Lord Darnley 4 Mary L. Russ Roger Laurin George F. Getty II 1-1/4 2:02.40
1981 Land of Eire 6 Earlie Fires Joseph S. Nash C. V. Collins 1-1/4 2:01.00
1980 Private Account 4 Jeffrey Fell Angel Penna Sr. Ogden Phipps 1-1/4 2:03.20
1979 Jumping Hill 7 Jeffrey Fell Horatio Luro El Peco Ranch (George A. Pope Jr.) 1-1/4 2:03.00
1978 Silver Series 4 Ángel Cordero Jr. Oscar Dishman Jr. Dr. Archie R. Donaldson 1-1/4 2:02.20
1977 Yamanin 5 Garth Patterson George T. Poole Hajime Doi 1-1/4 2:01.20
1976 Hatchet Man 5 Heliodoro Gustines John M. Gaver Sr. Greentree Stable 1-1/4 2:02.00
1975 Forego 5 Heliodoro Gustines Sherrill W. Ward Lazy F Ranch 1-1/4 2:01.80
1974 Forego 4 Heliodoro Gustines Sherrill W. Ward Lazy F Ranch 1-1/4 2:01.20
1973 Vertee 4 John Ruane H. Allen Jerkens Hobeau Farm 1-1/4 2:00.80
1972 Good Counsel 4 Ángel Cordero Jr. Lou Rondinello Darby Dan Farm 1-1/4 2:02.60
1971 True North 5 Robert Woodhouse George T. Poole C. V. Whitney 1-1/4 2:03.80
1970 Never Bow 4 Eddie Belmonte H. Allen Jerkens Hobeau Farm 1-1/4 2:01.00
1969 Yumbel 8 Fernando Toro Julian Serna Jr. Walnut Hill Farm 1-1/4 2:03.20
1968 Sette Bello 6 Earlie Fires James P. Conway Robert Lehman 1-1/4 2:01.60
1967 Ring Twice 4 William Boland Bert Mulholland George D. Widener Jr. 1-1/4 2:00.60
1966 Pia Star 5 Johnny Sellers Clyde Troutt Ada L. Rice 1-1/4 2:01.60
1965 Primordial 8 Sandino Hernandez Santiago L. Ledwith Santiago L. Ledwith 1-1/4 2:03.60
1964 Mongo 5 Wayne Chambers Frank A. Bonsal Marion duPont Scott 1-1/4 2:01.20
1963 Beau Purple 6 William Boland H. Allen Jerkens Hobeau Farm 1-1/4 2:01.80
1962 Yorky 5 Steve Brooks Horace A. Jones Calumet Farm 1-1/4 2:02.00
1961 Yorky 4 Johnny Sellers Horace A. Jones Calumet Farm 1-1/4 2:01.00
1960 Bald Eagle 5 Manuel Ycaza Cain Hoy Stable Woody Stephens 1-1/4 1:59.60
1959 Bardstown 7 Steve Brooks Horace A. Jones Calumet Farm 1-1/4 2:01.20
1958 Oligarchy 4 Sam Boulemetis J. Elliott Burch Brookmeade Stable 1-1/4 2:01.40
1957 Bardstown 5 Bill Hartack Horace A. Jones Calumet Farm 1-1/4 2:03.00
1956 Nashua 4 Eddie Arcaro James E. Fitzsimmons Belair Stud 1-1/4 2:02.00
1955 Hasty Road 4 John Adams Harry Trotsek Hasty House Farm 1-1/4 2:02.40
1954 Landlocked 4 John Heckmann Robert L. Dotter James Cox Brady Jr. 1-1/4 2:03.20
1953 Oil Capitol 6 Conn McCreary Harry Trotsek Hasty House Farm & Cora Trotsek 1-1/4 2:02.40
1952 Spartan Valor 4 James Stout Frank Catrone William G. Helis Jr. 1-1/4 2:03.20
1951 Sunglow 4 Douglas Dodson Preston M. Burch Brookmeade Stable 1-1/4 2:02.20
1950 Royal Governor 6 Chris Rogers James E. Ryan Esther du Pont Weir 1-1/4 2:06.00
1949 Coaltown 4 Ted Atkinson Horace A. Jones Calumet Farm 1-1/4 2:02.00
1948 El Mono 4 Porter Roberts Roscoe Troxler Daniel Lamont 1-1/4 2:01.00
1947 Armed 6 Douglas Dodson Ben A. Jones Calumet Farm 1-1/4 2:01.60
1946 Armed 5 Douglas Dodson Ben A. Jones Calumet Farm 1-1/4 2:02.40
1945 Race not held
1944 Four Freedoms 4 Eddie Arcaro John M. Gaver Sr. Greentree Stable 1-1/4 2:04.60
1943 Race not held
1942 The Rhymer 4 Eddie Arcaro John M. Gaver Sr. Greentree Stable 1-1/4 2:05.20
1941 Big Pebble 5 George Seabo William B. Finnegan Circle M. Ranch 1-1/4 2:02.80
1940 Many Stings 5 Ruperto Donoso Mose Shapoff Le Mar Stock Farm 1-1/4 2:03.00
1939 Bull Lea 4 Irving Anderson Frank J. Kearns Calumet Farm 1-1/4 2:02.40
1938 War Admiral 4 Charles Kurtsinger George Conway Glen Riddle Farm 1-1/4 2:03.80
1937 Columbiana 4 Hubert LeBlanc William J. Hirsch William J. Hirsch 1-1/4 2:02.00
1936 Mantagna 4 Eddie Litzenberger George E. Phillips William H. Furst 1-1/4 2:01.80
  • † In 2000 Lemon Drop Kid finished 1st but was disqualified to 4th for interference.

References
  1. http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,801393,00.html
  2. http://www.toba.org/graded-stakes/
  3. New York Times, February 28, 1982
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