The Clark Stakes is an American

Thoroughbred horse race Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

held annually in late November at

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was p ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. Among the oldest races in the United States, it was first run in 1875, the year the racetrack opened for business. Currently a Grade I event, it is open to horses age three and older and is contested on dirt over a distance of miles (9

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hor ...

s). It was known as the Clark Handicap through 2018 before the race conditions were changed to set weights and allowances in 2019. The race is named in honor of Colonel M. Lewis Clark, founder of the Louisville Jockey Club which built Churchill Downs. Through 1901, it was restricted to three-year-old horses. Since inception, the Clark Handicap has been run at various distances: * 2 miles : 1875–1880 * miles : 1881–1895 * miles : 1896–1901, 1922–1924, 1955–present * miles : 1902–1921, 1925–1954 The race was run in two divisions in 1953.

Records

Speed record: (at current distance of miles) * 1:47.39 – Premium Tap (2006) Most wins * 2 – Hodge (1915, 1916) * 2 – Bold Favorite (1968, 1969) * 2 – Bob's Dusty (1977, 1978) Most wins by a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

* 4 –

Isaac Burns Murphy Isaac Burns Murphy (January 6, 1861 – February 16, 1896) was an American Hall of Fame jockey, who is considered to be one of the greatest riders in American Thoroughbred horse racing history. Murphy won three runnings of the Kentucky Derby and ...

(1879, 1884,1885, 1890) * 4 –

Pat Day Patrick Alan "Pat" Day (born October 13, 1953, in Brush, Colorado) is a retired American jockey. He is a four-time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1991 a ...

(1984, 1985, 1990, 2000) Most wins by a trainer * 3 –

Ben A. Jones Benjamin Allyn Jones (December 31, 1882 – June 13, 1961) was an American thoroughbred horse trainer. Ben Jones was born in Parnell, Missouri, and attended Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri for high school. Jones went into the ...

(1942, 1946, 1951) * 3 –

Smiley Adams William Ernest "Smiley" Adams (October 4, 1935 – June 19, 2003) was an American trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses who trained Master Derby to win the 1975 Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series. In what was the 1 ...

(1977, 1978, 1979) * 3 –

Bob Baffert Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakn ...

(1996, 1998, 2014) Most Wins by an owner * 3 – Robert N. Lehmann (1977, 1978, 1979)

Winners

† In 2003, Evening Attire won the race but was disqualified for interference in the stretch and set back to second.
‡ In 2010, Successful Dan won the race but was disqualified and placed third for interference.

References

''Thoroughbred Times'' article on Premium Tap's record-setting win in the 2005 Clark Handicap

The 2008 Clark Handicap at the NTRA
{dead link, date=August 2017 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Graded stakes races in the United States 1875 establishments in Kentucky Open mile category horse races Recurring sporting events established in 1875 Churchill Downs horse races