The Garden State Stakes was 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 mid November at the now defunct

Garden State Park Racetrack Garden State Park was a harness and thoroughbred race track in Cherry Hill, Camden County, New Jersey. It is now the site of a high-end, mixed-use "town center" development of stores, restaurants, apartments, townhouses, and condominiums. Garden ...

Cherry Hill, New Jersey Cherry Hill is a township within Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a population of 74,553, which reflected an increase of 3,508 (+4.94%) from the 71,045 counted in the 2010 census.< ...

. A futurity event for two-year-olds, it is sometimes referred to as the Garden State Futurity. By 1956, the total purse offered was more than $300,000 (including all nomination and starting fees), making it the richest horse race in the world. The race was contested on dirt until 1994 when it was changed to a race on

turf Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...

. It was raced at various distances: * On dirt: * Inception – 1952: 6

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 on dirt * 1953–1972, 1993: miles on dirt * 1985–1992: miles on dirt * 1998 : 1 mile on dirt (1998 race switched from turf due to heavy rains) * On turf: * 1994–1995 : miles on turf * 1996–1997, 1999 : 1 mile on turf In 1955, the racetrack created a counterpart for

fillies A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

called the Gardenia Stakes. The Garden State Stakes was placed on hiatus in 1973 and after a fire destroyed the racetrack on April 14, 1977 it would not be run again until a new track was built by International Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. through its wholly owned subsidiary, Garden State Race Track, Inc. headed by

Robert E. Brennan Robert Emmet Brennan (born 1944) is an American businessman and former accountant who built the infamous penny stock brokerage firm, First Jersey Securities. The firm specialized in promoting "Pump and dump" penny stocks to unsuspecting investors ...

that opened on April 1, 1985. The March 18, 2000 issue of the ''

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Penns ...

'' reported that the Garden State Stakes had been cancelled for financial reasons.Philadelphia Inquirer, March 18, 2000
/ref>

Winners

References

{{reflist
The Garden State Futurity at Pedigree Query
Horse races in New Jersey Discontinued horse races Garden State Park Racetrack Recurring sporting events established in 1944 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1999 1944 establishments in New Jersey 1999 disestablishments in New Jersey