The Saratoga Cup was an American Thoroughbred horse race open to horses of either sex age three and older although geldings were not eligible from 1865 through 1918. Between 1865 and 1955 it was hosted by Saratoga Race Course, in Saratoga Springs, New York with the exception of 1943 through 1945 when wartime restrictions were in place and the race was held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
The race was not run from 1887 to 1890, from 1892 to 1900, in 1908, 1911, 1912, from 1956 to 1962, and from 1964 to 1993. The 75 editions of the race were contested at four different distances: 1865–1886 : miles 1891 : 2 miles 1901: 1 miles 1902–1955 : miles
"The seventy-sixth running Saratoga Cup" In 1963, track owner/operator New York Racing Association held a one-time only commemorative event they called "The seventy-sixth running Saratoga Cup 'The Centennial Season Running.'" It was run at a distance of 1 5/8 miles and was won by Fitz Eugene Dixon, Jr.'s three-year-old gelding, Will I Rule.
Historical notes During his Hall of Fame career James E. "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons won numerous top races more than five times each including the Belmont Stakes. With ten wins, the Saratoga Cup was most and the race was also among his most memorable as the 1914 edition marked his first important major race win as a trainer.
Exterminator, the 1918 Kentucky Derby winner and a U. S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, won this race four years in row from 1919 to 1922. In his 1920 win, Exterminator set a world record of 2:56 4/5 for miles on dirt. Exterminator's owner Willis Sharpe Kilmer was a notoriously difficult employer and for each of the four wins, Exterminator had a different jockey and a different trainer.
In 1875 a very rare event in horse racing occurred when Preakness and Springbok together set a new American record for the 2 1/4 mile distance in winning the Saratoga Cup in a dead heat.
There were three walkovers in the 75-year history of the Saratoga Cup. Long-distance races were declining in popularity and by the 1920s the number of entrants was regularly only four or five horses. As such, the first walkover came in 1921 when Exterminator's dominance in racing scared away the competition. The second occurred in 1940 and was unique in that it involved two horses, Isolater and Fenelon. Both horses were owned by the powerful Belair Sud Stable who declared Isolater to win. The third time there was a walkover happened in 1946 with Ethel Jacob's Stymie. The future U. S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee had won the 1945 edition of the Saratoga Cup with ease in a year when it was held at Belmont Park. Stymie's continued dominance in racing saw his competition avoiding him in the race's return to Saratoga in 1946.
The 1911–1912 statewide shutdown of horse racing On June 11, 1908, the Republican controlled New York Legislature under Governor Charles Evans Hughes passed the Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation. The owners of Saratoga Race Course, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without income from betting. In spite of strong opposition by prominent owners such as August Belmont Jr. and Harry Payne Whitney, reform legislators were not happy when they learned that betting was still going on at racetracks between individuals and they had further restrictive legislation passed by the New York Legislature in 1910. The Agnew–Perkins Law, a series of four bills and recorded as the Executive Liability Act, made it possible for racetrack owners and members of its board of directors to be fined and imprisoned if anyone was found betting, even privately, anywhere on their premises. After a 1911 amendment to the law that would limit the liability of owners and directors was defeated in the Legislature, every racetrack in New York State shut down. As a result, the Saratoga Cup was not run in 1911 and 1912.
A February 21, 1913 ruling by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division saw horse racing return in 1913. However, it was too late for some racing facilities and financial difficulties meant that Brighton Beach Race Course, Gravesend Race Track and Sheepshead Bay Race Track never reopened.
Records Speed record: 1 miles – 2:55 flat : Reigh Count (1928) 2 miles – 3:56 : Preakness & Springbok (1875) Dead heat
Most wins: Exterminator (1919, 1920, 1921, 1922)
Most wins by a jockey: 3 – James Butwell (1909, 1915, 1917) 3 – James Stout (1936, 1939, 1940)
Most wins by a trainer: 10 – James E. Fitzsimmons (1914, 1929, 1930, 1934, 1936, 1939, 1940, 1951, 1952, 1954)
Most wins by an owner: 4 – David McDaniel (1872, 1873, 1874, 1875) 4 – Willis Sharpe Kilmer (1919, 1920, 1921, 1922)
Winners Year Winner Age Jockey Trainer Owner Dist. (Miles) Time Win$1955Chevation4Eric GuerinRichard E. HandlenFoxcatcher Farm13:02.60$10,5251954Great Captain5Eddie ArcaroJames E. FitzsimmonsOgden Phipps13:02.60$11,0751953Alerted5Conn McCrearyRay De StefanoHampton Stable (Frank Stout)13:01.40$10,8751952Busanda5Ted AtkinsonJames E. FitzsimmonsOgden Phipps12:59.80$11,3251951Busanda4Eric GuerinJames E. FitzsimmonsOgden Phipps12:59.00$10,9501950Cochise4Eddie ArcaroVirgil W. RainesBrandywine Stable (Donald P. Ross12:57.60$11,9001949Doubtless5Ted AtkinsonJohn M. Gaver Sr.Greentree Stable12:57.40$11,6501948Snow Goose4Job Dean JessopOscar WhiteWalter M. Jeffords Sr.12:57.80$11,0001947Talon5John AdamsHoratio LuroRichard N. Ryan12:58.40$12,3001946Stymie5Basil JamesHirsch JacobsEthel D. Jacobs13:07.40$5,9751945Stymie4Johnny LongdenHirsch JacobsEthel D. Jacobs12:58.00$18,7001944Bolingbroke7Robert PermaneWalter BurrowsTownsend B. Martin12:57.60$18,0001943Princequillo3Steve BrooksHoratio LuroBoone Hall Stable12:56.60$18,2001942Bolingbroke 5Herb LindbergWalter BurrowsTownsend B. Martin12:58.20$9,5501941Dorimar4Conn McCrearyJames W. HealyWoodvale Farm (Royce G. Martin)12:58.40$9,8501940Isolater7James StoutJames E. FitzsimmonsBelair Stud Stable13:02.00$4,8251939Isolater6James StoutJames E. FitzsimmonsBelair Stud Stable12:56.20$6,4001938War Admiral4Maurice PetersGeorge H. ConwayGlen Riddle Farm12:55.80$6,6001937Count Arthur5Lester BalaskiLon JohnsonFannie Hertz13:02.20$6,4251936Granville3James StoutJames E. FitzsimmonsWilliam Woodward Sr.13:00.80$6,5201935Count Arthur3Wayne WrightFrank S. HackettFannie Hertz12:58.40$7,1451934Dark Secret5Charles KurtsingerJames E. FitzsimmonsWheatley Stable12:59.20$5,5251933Equipoise5Raymond WorkmanT. J. HealeyCornelius Vanderbilt Whitney13:00.00$6,0501932War Hero3John GilbertGeorge H. ConwayGlen Riddle Farm12:59.20$7,8251931Twenty Grand3Linus McAteeJames G. Rowe Jr.Greentree Stable13:01.20$8,2501930Gallant Fox3Earl SandeJames E. FitzsimmonsBelair Stud Stable12:56.00$9,2751929Diavolo4John MaibenJames E. FitzsimmonsWheatley Stable12:58.00$7,3501928Reigh Count3Chick LangBert S. MichellFannie Hertz12:55.00$6,5001927Chance Play4John MaibenJohn I. SmithLog Cabin Stable13:03.60$6,8501926Espino3Laverne FatorWilliam J. SpeirsWilliam Ziegler Jr.13:00.40$7,6501925Mad Play4Laverne FatorSam HildrethRancocas Stable12:59.40$7,1501924Mr. Mutt3Harold ThurberAlex GordonBud Fisher13:00.80$8,3001923My Own3Earl SandeWilliam H. BrooksSalubria Stable (Cary T. Grayson)12:57.20$6,8501922Exterminator7Albert JohnsonEugene WaylandWillis Sharpe Kilmer13:00.40$6,5501921Exterminator6Willie KelsayWillie KnappWillis Sharpe Kilmer13:04.60$4,5001920Exterminator5Charles FairbrotherJ. Simon HealyWillis Sharpe Kilmer12:56.80$4,9501919Exterminator4Andy SchuttingerHenry McDanielWillis Sharpe Kilmer12:58.00$5,3501918Johren3Frank RobinsonAlbert SimonsHarry Payne Whitney13:02.20$5,2501917Omar Khayyam3James ButwellRichard F. Carman Sr.Wilfrid Viau13:07.60$5,0501916Friar Rock3John McTaggart Sam HildrethAugust Belmont Jr.13:03.00$3,3751915Roamer4James ButwellA. J. GoldsboroughAndrew Miller13:01.80$2,2251914Star Gaze4Joe McCaheyJames E. FitzsimmonsHerbert L. Pratt13:10.00$1,9251913Sam Jackson5Johnny LoftusJack L. McGinnisV. M. McGinnis13:08.40$1,650 1912 No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. 19111910Countless3Vincent PowersJohn W. MayJohn G. Greener12:58.60$3,8501909Olambala3James ButwellT. J. HealeyMontpelier Stable 12:58.00$2,1751908 Race not held1907Running Water4Walter MillerThomas Welsh Newcastle Stable13:06.20$6,0501906Go Between5Willie Shaw William ShieldsEdward R. Thomas13:05.40$6,0501905Caughnawaga6Arthur RedfernHubert H. HynerJohn Sanford13:00.80$5,8001904Beldame3Frank O'Neill Fred BurlewNewton Bennington (Lessee)13:03.80$8,1001903Africander3Grover FullerRichard O. MillerHampton Stable (Simon Deimel & Charles F. Dwyer)12:58.00$3,3501902Advance Guard5Patrick A. McCueAlexander ShieldsJames Carruthers & Alexander Shields13:01.80$3,3501901Blues3Willie ShawThomas WelshFrank J. Farrell12:52.40$3,3501892 - 1900 Race not held1891Los Angeles6Isaac E. LewisAlbert CooperSanta Anita Stable23:43.50$2,9001887 - 1990 Race not held1886Volante4Isaac Burns MurphyAlbert CooperSanta Anita Stable24:25.00$1,7001885Bob Miles4William J. FitzpatrickAbraham PerryJames T. Williams24:02.00$2,1501884General Monroe6Harry BlaylockWalter C. RollinsEdward J. McElmeel24:05.00$1,6501883 General Monroe5William J. FitzpatrickWalter C. RollinsEdward J. McElmeel24:21.50$1,9501882Thora4BrophyCharles Reed24:05.50$1,8501881Checkmate6Isaac Burns MurphyJames T. Williams24:09.75$1,8001880Long Taw5G. WolfeGreen B. MorrisGreen B. Morris24:08.00$1,3001879Bramble4Jim McLaughlinJames G. Rowe Sr.Dwyer Brothers Stable24:11.75$1,5001878Parole5William BarrettWilliam BrownPierre Lorillard24:08.50$1,7001877Parole4William BarrettWilliam BrownPierre Lorillard24:04.50$2,1501876Tom Ochiltree4George BarbeeR. Wyndham WaldenGeorge L. Lorillard24:06.50$1,8501875 (DH)PreaknessSpringbok65William Hayward Sr.W. ClarkCharles Littlefield Sr.David McDaniel Milton H. SanfordDavid McDaniel223:56.253:56.25 $1,125$1,1251874Springbok4George BarbeeDavid McDanielDavid McDaniel24:11.75$2,4501873Joe Daniels 4Frank McCabeDavid McDanielDavid McDaniel24:10.75$1,7001872Harry Bassett 4James G. Rowe Sr.David McDanielDavid McDaniel23:59.00$1,5501871Longfellow4Robert SwimJohn HarperJohn Harper24:02.75$1,5501870Helmbold4RobinsonW. R. Babcock24:03.75$1,8501869Bayonet4MillerT. G. Moore24:10.00$2,2501868Lancaster5William Hayward Sr.Milton H. Sanford24:14.00$1,9501867Muggins4ClarkDouglas & Co.24:03.00$1,8501866Kentucky5Charles Littlefield Sr.A. Jackson MinorAnnieswood Stable (Belmont/Hunter/Jerome/Cameron/Travers)24:04.00$2,2501865Kentucky4Gilbert W. PatrickA. Jackson MinorJohn Hunter, William R. Travers, George Osgood24:01.50$1,850
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