The Round Table 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 ...

run on dirt and on turf forty-four times between 1961 and 2007. First run at

Washington Park Race Track Washington Park Race Track was a popular horse racing venue in the Chicago metropolitan area from 1884 until 1977. It had two locations during its existence. It was first situated in what is the current location of the Washington Park Subdiv ...

Homewood, Illinois Homewood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,463 at the 2020 census. The village sits just a few miles south of Chicago proper. It is bordered by Chicago Heights and Flossmoor to the south, Hazel Crest ...

as the Round Table Handicap, in 1963 it was moved to

Arlington Park Arlington International Racecourse (formerly Arlington Park, the name was Arlington Park Jockey Club from as soon as 1948 up to 1955) was a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago reg ...

racetrack in Arlington Heights. In 1985 a fire destroyed the track's grandstand and clubhouse and its races were hosted that year by Chicago's

Hawthorne Race Course Hawthorne Race Course is a racetrack for horse racing in Stickney/Cicero, Illinois, near Chicago. The oldest continually run family-owned racetrack in North America, in 2009 the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating s ...

. A stakes race open to three-year-old horses, it was last contested on Polytrack synthetic dirt over a distance of one and one-eighth miles. From inception through 1968, it was a handicap race for horses age three and older. The race was named for

Round Table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying tha ...

, the 1958

American Horse of the Year The American Award for Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to sanction the various awards, "Hor ...

and U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. Round Table retired with earnings of $1,749,869, the most for any horse in world Thoroughbred racing history. Kerr Stable's win with Rambler II in the 1964 edition of the Round Table Handicap was particularly special for stable owner Travis Kerr who was the owner of Round Table. The Round Table was run in two divisions in 1974, 1975 and 1983. It was not run in 1988, 1998 and 1999. Notable past winners include John Henry who won his first graded stakes in impressive style with a twelve-length margin of victory in the September 16, 1978 Round Table Handicap. In its last running in 2007, the colt Pavarotti set a track record in winning the 2007 edition of the Round Table Stakes. The race was slated to be run in 2008 but was placed on hiatus and dropped from the 2009 schedule.

Track

Surface

* Turf (31) : 1961–1972, 1974–1987, 1989–1993 (31) * Dirt (13) : 1973, 1994–1997, 2000–2006 (12) *

Polytrack The track surface of a horse racing track refers to the material of which the track is made. There are three types of track surfaces used in modern horse racing. These are: * Turf, the most common track surface in Europe *Dirt, the most common tra ...

(1) : 2007 (1)

Distances

* 1 mile (2) : 1973, 1974 * 1 1/16 miles (14) : 1961–1962, 1964–1966, 1968–1972, 1975–1978 * 1 1/8 miles (24) : 1963, 1967, 1979–1984, 1986–1987, 1992–1997, 2000–2007 * 1 3/16 miles (4) : 1985, 1989–1991

Records

Speed record: * 1:42 flat @ 1 1/16 miles on turf: Rambler II (1964) * 1:47.40 @ 1 1/8 miles on turf: World Class Splash (1992) * 1:47.73 @1 1/8 miles on dirt: Devilment 1:47.73 (2005) Most wins by a jockey: * 2 – Herberto Hinojosa (1963, 1964) * 2 – Earlie Fires (1966, 1984) * 2 –

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 199 ...

(1980, 1982) * 2 – Don Brumfield (1983, 1985) * 2 – Don Pettinger (1996, 2004) Most wins by a trainer: * 2 – Harry Trotsek (1962, 1974) * 2 –

MacKenzie Miller MacKenzie "Mack" Todd Miller (October 16, 1921 – December 10, 2010) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer and owner/breeder. During his forty-six-year career, he conditioned seventy-two stakes winners, including four Eclipse Award ch ...

(1967, 1969) * 2 – Robin Frank (1981, 1983) * 2 – Steven Penrod (1982, 1990) * 2 –

Richard J. Lundy Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

(1989, 1991) * 2 – Donnie K. Von Hemel (1996, 2004) Most wins by an owner: * 2 – Hasty House Farm (1962, 1974) * 2 – Cragwood Stables (1967, 1969) * 2 –

Ogden Phipps Ogden Phipps (November 26, 1908 – April 21, 2002) was an American stockbroker, court tennis champion and Hall of Fame member, thoroughbred horse racing executive and owner/breeder, and an art collector and philanthropist. In 2001, he was induct ...

(1970, 1976) * 2 – Pin Oak Stable (2004, 2005)

Winners

References

{{reflist Flat horse races for three-year-olds Ungraded stakes races in the United States Discontinued horse races Arlington Park Recurring sporting events established in 1961 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2007