The Surf Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually for thirty-one years from 1880 through 1910 on the dirt course at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. A race for two-year-olds of either sex, it was last run at a distance of furlongs but from inception through 1895 it was contested at five furlongs.
Historical notes The 1880 inaugural edition of the Surf Stakes was won by George Lorillard's filly Spinaway that had the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga Race Course named in her honor. Her performances in 1880 led to Spinaway being retrospectively selected by Thoroughbred Heritage as that year's American Champion Two-Year-Old Female.
Tremont, owned by the Dwyer Brothers Stable who notoriously over-raced their horses, came into the June 12, 1886 running having won the Foam Stakes two days earlier. Tremont went on to an undefeated Championship two-year-old campaign in which he won all thirteen of his starts but never raced again.
Owner and trainer Byron McClelland won the 1890 race with Sallie McClelland which he had named for his wife. The filly too would be retrospectively selected by Thoroughbred Heritage as that year's American Champion Two-Year-Old Female.
Hastings was a surprise winner of the 1895 edition, beating the heavily favored Handspring by three lengths. A month later, Hastings would be sold at auction to August Belmont Jr. for a then record price of $37,000.
En route to a career that would see his induction into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame, Peter Pan won the 1906 Surf Stakes.
The end of a race and of a racetrack 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 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 Surf Stakes offering a purse in 1909 that was more than ninety percent less than what it had been the previous year. These small purses made horse racing 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 more most important events such as the Surf Stakes.
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, every racetrack in New York State shut down. As a result, the Surf Stakes was not run in 1911 and 1912.
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 Court saw horse racing return in 1913. However, it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay horse racing facility and it never reopened.
Records Speed record: 1:00.40 @ 5 furlongs – Hastings (1895) 1:06.80 @ 5.5 furlongs – Mombassa (1907)
Most wins by a jockey: 2 – Lloyd Hughes (1880, 1882) 2 – Jim McLaughlin (1885, 1886) 2 – Spyder Anderson (1889, 1890) 2 – Henry Griffin (1894, 1895) 2 – Fred Littlefield (1897, 1900) 2 – Willie Shaw (1901, 1904)
Most wins by a trainer: 5 – James G. Rowe Sr. (1887, 1906, 1908, 1910)
Most wins by an owner: 3 – Michael F. Dwyer / Dwyer Brothers Stable (1885, 1886, 1892) 3 – Philip J. Dwyer / Dwyer Brothers Stable (1885, 1886, 1893)
Winners Year Winner Age Jockey Trainer Owner Dist. (Miles) Time Win$1910Lahore2James ButwellJames G. Rowe Sr.James R. Keene5.5 F1:07.20$2,1701909Dalmatian2Vincent PowersSam HildrethSam Hildreth5.5 F1:08.00$3301908Suffragette2Joe NotterJames G. Rowe Sr.James G. Rowe Sr.5.5 F1:07.00$3,9701907Mombassa2George MountainJohn W. RogersHarry Payne Whitney5.5 F1:06.80$4,8801906Peter Pan2Herman RadtkeJames G. Rowe Sr.James R. Keene5.5 F1:07.00$5,0101905Inquisitor2Jack MartinThomas WelshAndrew Miller5.5 F1:07.40$3,9201904Sparkling Star2Willie ShawT. J. HealeyRichard T. Wilson Jr.5.5 F1:08.00$4,3501903Inflexible2Tommy BurnsJohn W. RogersWilliam Collins Whitney5.5 F1:07.00$5,3851902Monte Carlo2George M. OdomWalter N. HouseJ. Grant Lyman5.5 F1:10.00$4,0151901Smart Set2Willie ShawThomas WelshJulius Fleischmann5.5 F1:07.40$3,0801900Watercolor2Fred LittlefieldCharles Littlefield Jr.Charles Littlefield Jr.5.5 F1:07.20$3,3201899Missionary2Winfield O'ConnorJulius J. BauerBromley & Co. (Joseph E. Bromley & Arthur Featherstone)5.5 F1:08.80$3,3301898Autumn2Tod SloanA. Jack JoynerA. Jack Joyner5.5 F1:07.20$3,1551897Varus2Fred LittlefieldR. Wyndham WaldenAlfred H. & Dave H. Morris5.5 F1:09.40$2,9501896Lithos2Mr. HartLew EllmoreTrowbridge & Co. (Samuel Trowbridge)5 F1:02.40$1,4251895Hastings2Henry GriffinJohn J. HylandDavid Gideon & John Daly5 F1:00.40$4,5251894Keenan2Henry GriffinJohn J. HylandAugust Belmont Jr.5 F1:01.00$3,8251893Declare2Willie SimmsFrank McCabePhilip J. Dwyer & Son5 F1:02.60$4,6251892Hammie2Fred TaralHardy Campbell Jr.Michael F. Dwyer5 F1:02.40$3,7751891Merry Monarch2Marty BergenJohn J. HylandDavid Gideon5 F1:04.00$4,1501890Sallie McClelland2Spyder AndersonByron McClellandByron McClelland5 F1:02.60$3,9501889Torso2Spyder AndersonCharles LeightonWilliam Lawrence Scott5 F1:01.80$4,9751888Reporter2P. GodfreyJohn W. RogersSamuel S. Brown5 F1:02.75$3,6001887Magnetizer2Mr. LinkJames G. Rowe Sr.August Belmont Sr.5 F1:02.00$3,8001886Tremont2Jim McLaughlinFrank McCabeDwyer Brothers Stable5 F1:02.00$2,8751885Portland2Jim McLaughlinFrank McCabeDwyer Brothers Stable5 F1:03.50$2,4751884Wanda2Harris OlneyMatthew ByrnesPierre Lorillard IV5 F1:03.00$3.0751883Thackeray2James BrennanR. Wyndham WaldenGeorge L. Lorillard5 F1:03.00$2,9501882Jacobus2Lloyd HughesRichard DwyerJames E. Kelley5 F1:05.00$2,5251881Marsh Redon2William DonohueBarney RileyDavid D. Withers5 F1:03.25$2,5251880Spinaway2Lloyd HughesR. Wyndham WaldenGeorge L. Lorillard5 F1:04.25$2,025
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