The Modesty Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race run annually 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 ...

in Louisville, Kentucky. A Grade III race contested over a distance of miles on turf, it is open to fillies and

mares A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four y ...

aged four and older. Run in May during on Kentucky Oaks day, the event currently offers a purse of $250,000. Inaugurated in 1942 at the old Washington Park Race Track as a race for three-year-old fillies, the following year it was made open to both fillies and older mares. Until 1951, it was run as the Modesty Stakes. It was raced on dirt from 1942 through 1955, 1958 through 1965, and again in 1996. It has been run at various distances: * 1 mile : 1942, 1944–1946, 1952, 1966 * 3/4 mile (6 furlongs) : 1947–1951, 1953–1954, 1958–1962 * 7/8 mile (7 furlongs) : 1943, 1963–1965 * miles (8.5 furlongs) : 1955–1957, 1967–1968,1986 * miles (9 furlongs) : 1987 * miles (9.5 furlongs) : 1980–1985, 1989–present The race was hosted by Washington Park Race Track from 1942 through 1945 and from 1968 through 1961. Hawthorne Race Course hosted it in 1985. The race was named in honor of

Modesty Modesty, sometimes known as demureness, is a mode of dress and deportment which intends to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others. The word "modesty" comes from the Latin word ''wikt:modestus, modestus'' which means "keeping within ...

, a filly owned by Edward Corrigan who beat her male counterparts to win the 1884 inaugural running of the American Derby at Washington Park Race Track under African-American U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey, Isaac Burns Murphy. In 1966, the Modesty Handicap was run in two divisions. There was no race from 1969 through 1979 inclusive, nor in 1988, 1995, 1998 and 1999. In 2022, the event was moved to

after the closure of Arlington Park in

Arlington Heights, Illinois Arlington Heights is a municipality in Cook County with a small portion in Lake County in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of the city's downtown. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 77,676. Per the ...

.https://www.churchilldowns.com/uploads/horsemen-files/stakes-schedules/Spring%20Stakes%20Schedule.pdf

Records

Speed record: (at current distance of miles) * 1:53.80 – Fantasia (GB) (2011) Most wins: * 2 – Sickle's Image (1951, 1954) * 2 – Indian Maid (1960, 1961) * 2 – Gaily Gaily (1989, 1990) Most wins by an owner: * 3 –

Calumet Farm Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegras ...

(1948, 1952, 1959) 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 ...

: * 3 – René Douglas (2002, 2003, 2008) * 3 –

Earlie Fires Earlie Stancel Fires (born March 19, 1947, in Rivervale, Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the sout ...

(1982, 1986, 1993) Most wins by a trainer: * 3 – Harry Trotsek (1953, 1956, 1958) * 3 – William I. Mott (1989, 1990, 2005)

Winners

References

{{reflist
The Modesty Handicap at Pedigree Query
Graded stakes races in the United States 1942 establishments in Illinois Turf races in the United States Middle distance horse races for fillies and mares Arlington Park Recurring sporting events established in 1942 Horse races in Illinois Churchill Downs horse races Grade 3 stakes races in the United States