The Double Event Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in two parts from 1889 through 1910 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. A race on dirt for two-year-old colts and fillies, the first part was run on the track's opening day in June and at a distance of 5½ furlongs throughout its term. The second part was run in mid July at a distance of 5 3/4 furlongs until 1901 when it was set at six furlongs. Each race originally carried a guaranteed purse of $10,000 and a bonus of $1,000 to the owners of any horse who won both parts.

Dual winners The Double Event was run for twenty-two years. In its first eight editions from 1889 through 1896, five horses won both parts but in the last fourteen from 1897 through 1910 there were none. Jockey Tod Sloan won both parts in 1898 on two different horses.

Year Part 1 winners Part 2 winners1910HousemaidFootprints1909DalmatianLovetie1908FayetteSir Martin Ŧ1907FirestoneStamina1906BallotWater Pearl1905George C. BennettIronsides1904Song and WineVeto1903AristocracyConjurer1902MexicanWhitechapel1901 Nasturtium ŦFly Wheel1900Tower of CandlesElkhorn1899Prince of MelbourneMesmerist Ŧ1898KingdonJean Bereaud Ŧ1897Bowling BrookHamburg Ŧ1896OrnamentOrnament1895HandspringHandspring1894KeenanCesarion1893HornpipeHornpipe1892AjaxCorduroy1891His Highness ŦVictory1890RussellRussell1889TorsoTorso

Ŧ Denotes those who would be named an American Champion Two-Year-Old of the year.

Demise of the Double Event Stakes After years of uncertainty, on June 11, 1908 the Republican controlled New York Legislature under Governor Charles Evans Hughes passed the Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation with penalties allowing for fines and up to a year in prison. The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without income from betting. Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which resulted in the Double Event offering a purse in 1909 that was one-sixth of what it had been in earlier years. These small purses made horse racing highly unprofitable and impossible for even the most successful horse owners to continue in business. As such, for the 1910 racing season management of the Sheepshead Bay facility dropped some of its minor stakes races and used the purse money to bolster its most important events. The effect was to restore the purse offered for the Double Event to about half of what it had been. Further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which deepened the financial crisis for track operators and led to a complete shut down of racing across the state during 1911 and 1912. After a 1911 amendment to the law to limit the liability of owners and directors was defeated, every racetrack in New York State shut down. Owners, whose horses of racing age had nowhere to go, began sending them, their trainers and their jockeys to race in England and France. Many horses ended their racing careers there, and a number remained to become an important part of the European horse breeding industry. Thoroughbred Times reported that more than 1,500 American horses were sent overseas between 1908 and 1913 and of them at least 24 were either past, present, or future Champions. When a February 21, 1913 ruling by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division saw horse racing return in 1913 it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay horse racing facility and it never reopened.

Records John Madden was the dominant figure in both parts of the Double Event, winning the most races as both a trainer and as an owner.

Part 1 Speed record: 5.5 furlongs: 1:04.20 – Nasturtium (1901)

Most wins by a jockey: 2 – Marty Bergen (1891, 1892)

Most wins by a trainer: 4 – John E. Madden (1899, 1902, 1903, 1908)

Most wins by an owner: 3 – John E. Madden (1899, 1903, 1908)

Part 2 Speed record: 5.75 furlongs: 1:09.60 – Victory (1891) 6 furlongs: 1:11.00 – Conjurer (1903) & Footprint (1910)

Most wins by a jockey: 3 – Fred Taral (1891, 1892, 1899)

Most wins by a trainer: 3 – John E. Madden (1897, 1901, 1908)

Most wins by an owner: 3 – James R. Keene (1893, 1902, 1904) 3 – John E. Madden (1897, 1901, 1908)

Part 1 winners Year Winner Age Jockey Trainer Owner Dist. (Furlongs) Time Win$1910Housemaid2A. ThomasRaleigh Colston Jr.Charles L. Harrison5.5 F1:08.60$3,2651909Dalmatian2Vincent PowersSam HildrethSam Hildreth5.5 F1:08.00$1,2301908Fayette2Walter MillerJohn E. MaddenJohn E. Madden5.5 F1:07.00$7,7001907Firestone2Tommy SandyHenry E. RowellThomas H. Williams5.5 F1:07.00$7,7001906Ballot2Herman RadtkeJames G. Rowe Sr.James R. Keene5.5 F1:06.00$7,7001905George C. Bennett2Dave NicolWilliam E. PhillipsFrederick Cook5.5 F1:07.00$7,7001904Song and Wine2Frank O'NeillFred BurlewNewton Bennington5.5 F1:07.60$7,7001903Aristocracy2Charles ConnellJohn E. MaddenJohn E. Madden5.5 F1:07.80$5,1101902Mexican2Tommy BurnsJohn E. MaddenClarence Mackay5.5 F1:06.20$3,8001901Nasturtium2Winfield O'Connor James J. McLaughlinAnthony L. Aste5.5 F1:04.20$3,8001900Tower of Candles2Carl MitchellWilliam M. RogersJ. M. Murphy5.5 F1:07.60$3,8251899Prince of Melbourne2Frank O'LearyJohn E. MaddenJohn E. Madden5.5 F1:08.40$4,0621898Kingdon2Tod SloanHardy Campbell Jr.Michael F. Dwyer5.5 F1:09.00$3,8001897Bowling Brook2Fred LittlefieldR. Wyndham WaldenJohn A. & Alfred H. Morris5.5 F1:09.20$3,8001896Ornament2Alonzo ClaytonCharles T. PattersonCharles T. Patterson5.5 F1:05.40$3,9501895Handspring2Samuel DoggettFrank McCabePhilip J. Dwyer5.5 F1:06.40$3,9501894Keenan2Henry GriffinJohn J. HylandDavid Gideon5.5 F1:08.80$3,7501893Hornpipe2Fred TaralWilliam LakelandJames R. & Foxhall P. Keene5.5 F1:07.00$3,9001892Ajax2Marty BergenCharles LeightonJacob Ruppert5.5 F1:07.40$3,9001891His Highness2Marty BergenJohn J. HylandDavid Gideon5.5 F1:08.00$3,8001890Russell2Edward GarrisonR. Wyndham WaldenJohn A. Morris & Sons5.5 F1:10.00$3,9001889Torso2George (Spyder) AndersonCharles LeightonWilliam L. Scott5.5 F1:09.00$1,900

Part 2 winners Year Winner Age Jockey Trainer Owner Dist. (Furlongs) Time Win$1910Footprint2George ArchibaldJohn WhalenAugust Belmont Jr.6 F1:11.00$3,7651909Lovetie2Eddie DuganMatthew FeakesLily A. Livingston6 F1:14.00$1,2851908Sir Martin2James LeeJohn E. MaddenJohn E. Madden6 F1:13.00 $7,7001907Stamina2George MountainJohn W. RogersHarry Payne Whitney6 F1:13.40 $7,7001906Water Pearl2Lucien LyneA. Jack JoynerSydney Paget & Edward R. Thomas6 F1:13.80 $7,7001905Ironsides2Jack MartinJohn HugginsHerman B. Duryea6 F1:14.00$7,7001904Veto2Arthur RedfernJames G. Rowe Sr.James R. Keene6 F1:14.00 $7,7001903Conjurer2George M. OdomPeter WimmerSamuel S. Brown6 F1:11.00$5,1101902Whitechapel2Willie ShawJames G. Rowe Sr.James R. Keene6 F1:14.60$3,8001901Fly Wheel2Willie ShawJohn E. MaddenJohn E. Madden6 F1:12.20 $3,8001900Elkhorn2Nash TurnerSam HildrethWilliam C. Whitney5.75 F1:12.00$3,8251899Mesmerist2Fred TaralJulius J. BauerBromley & Co. (Joseph E. Bromley & Arthur Featherstone)5.75 F1:12.40$4,0621898Jean Bereaud2Tod SloanSam HildrethSydney Paget5.75 F1:12.20 $3,8001897Hamburg2Walter WilhiteJohn E. MaddenJohn E. Madden5.75 F1:11.20$3,8001896Ornament2Edward GarrisonCharles T. PattersonCharles T. Patterson5.75 F1:12.00$5,2001895Handspring2Samuel DoggettFrank McCabePhilip J. Dwyer5.75 F1:13.20$4,9001894Cesarion2Samuel DoggettByron McClellandByron McClelland5.75 F1:12.00 $3,7501893Hornpipe2Edward GarrisonWilliam LakelandJames R. & Foxhall P. Keene5.75 F1:12.20$4,9001892Corduroy2Fred TaralA. Jack JoynerAugust Belmont Jr.5.75 F1:13.40$3,8001891Victory2Fred TaralWilliam LakelandWilliam Lakeland5.75 F1:09.60$3,9001890Russell2Fred LittlefieldR. Wyndham WaldenJohn A. & Alfred H. Morris5.75 F1:11.20$5,0001889Torso2Jim McLaughlinCharles LeightonWilliam L. Scott5.75 F1:16.40$7,445

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