The Flight 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 ...

first run in 1887 at

Sheepshead Bay Race Track The Sheepshead Bay Race Track was an American thoroughbred horse race, Thoroughbred horse racing facility built on the site of the Coney Island Jockey Club at Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, New York. Early history The racetrack was built by a grou ...

Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn Sheepshead Bay is a neighborhood in southern Brooklyn, New York City. It is bounded by Ocean Parkway to the west; Avenue T and Kings Highway to the north; Nostrand Avenue and Gerritsen Avenue to the east; and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. A race for horses of either sex and of all ages, it was run on dirt over a distance of seven

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 any of 660 foot (unit), feet, 220 yards, 40 rod (unit), rods, 10 chain (unit), chains, or a ...

s. An annual event, the Flight Stakes was last run in September 1909 and was won by Jack Atkin. After the Republican controlled

New York Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an offici ...

under

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American politician, academic, and jurist who served as the 11th chief justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

passed the Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation on June 11, 1908 with penalties allowing for

fines Fines may refer to: *Fines, Andalusia, Spanish municipality *Fine (penalty) * Fine, a dated term for a Lease#Leases_of_land, premium on a lease of land, a large sum the tenant pays to commute (lessen) the rent throughout the term * Fines, ore or oth ...

and up to a year in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

. The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without betting. Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the

purse money Prize money refers in particular to naval prize money, usually arising in naval warfare, but also in other circumstances. It was a monetary reward paid in accordance with the prize law of a belligerent state to the crew of a ship belonging to t ...

being paid out which by 1909 saw the Flight Stakes offering a purse that was as little as one-fifth of what it had been in earlier years. 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. When a Court ruling saw racing return in 1913 it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay horse racing facility and it never reopened.

Records

Speed record: (at current distance of 1-1/16) *1:40.29 – Heatherten (1984) (new race and track record) Most wins: * 2 –

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

(1890, 1892) * 2 – Clifford (1894, 1896) * 2 – Hamburg Belle (1904, 1905) * 2 – Roseben (1906, 1907) Most wins by a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), 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 ...

: * 2 – Fred Littlefield (1889, 1898) * 2 –

Fred Taral Frederick J. Taral (August 2, 1867 – February 13, 1925) was an American Hall of Fame jockey. Jockey career Taral began his career in racing in the 1880s at small racetracks in Oklahoma. In 1883, he rode his first competitive thoroughbred in a ...

(1892, 1896) * 2 –

Henry Griffin Henry Griffin (1786 – 5 April 1866) was an eminent Irish people, Irish Anglican bishop in the mid 19th century. He was born in 1786 in Wexford and educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was the Incumbent (ecclesiastical), incumbent at List ...

(1894, 1895) * 2 –

Henry Spencer Henry Spencer (born 1955) is a Canadian computer programmer and space enthusiast. He wrote "regex", a widely used software library for regular expressions, and co-wrote C News, a Usenet server program. He also wrote ''The Ten Commandments for C ...

(1899, 1901) * 2 – Lucien Lyne (1904, 1906) Most wins by a trainer: * 3 – A. Jack Joyner (1904, 1905, 1908) Most wins by an owner: * 2 –

Michael F. Dwyer Michael F. Dwyer (1847–1906) was an American businessman and prominent owner of Thoroughbred racehorses and racetracks from Brooklyn, New York. He and older brother Philip made a fortune in the meat packing industry, supplying butcher shop ...

(1890, 1892) * 2 –

H. Eugene Leigh Hiram Eugene Leigh (August 25, 1860 – December 10, 1937) was an American Thoroughbred horse trainer, racehorse trainer/owner and Horse breeding, breeder who had a highly successful career in the United States as well as in Europe. Born in Ta ...

(1894, 1896) * 2 –

William C. Whitney William Collins Whitney (July 5, 1841February 2, 1904) was an American political leader and financier and a prominent member of the Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first administration of President Grover Cleveland from ...

(1902, 1903) * 2 – Sydney Paget for J. B. A. Haggin (1904, 1905)

Winners

* † Hamburg Belle was always the property of James B. A. Haggin but as a convenience raced under the name of her manager, Sydney Paget.

References

{{reflist Open mile category horse races Discontinued horse races in New York City Sheepshead Bay Race Track Horse races established in 1887 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1909