The Seminole Handicap is a discontinued 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 as the Inaugural Handicap on the January 14, 1932 opening day of the newly constructed

Hialeah Park Race Track The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East ...

Hialeah, Florida Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in Miami-Da ...

. Shut down in 1926 as a result of its destruction by the Great Miami Hurricane, the racetrack property was bought and rebuilt by Joseph E. Widener. Originally named the Inaugural Handicap and run at a distance of six

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, the race was created to be a featured event on the track's annual opening day of racing. The first winner was Flying Heels, a son of the 1925 Kentucky Derby winner

Flying Ebony Flying Ebony (1922–1943) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1925 Kentucky Derby. Background Flying Ebony was a dark bay or brown horse bred by John E. Madden, who had already bred four Kentucky Derby winner ...

. A guest of Joseph Widener on that opening day in 1932 was the Irish trainer

Cecil Boyd-Rochfort Sir Cecil Charles Boyd-Rochfort KCVO (188718 March 1983) was an Irish thoroughbred racehorse trainer who was British flat racing Champion Trainer five times. Background Cecil was the son of Rochfort Hamilton Boyd-Rochfort and the grandson ...

whose career would include at least one win in each of the five

British Classic Races The British Classics are five long-standing Group 1 horse races run during the traditional flat racing season. They are restricted to three-year-old horses and traditionally represent the pinnacle of achievement for racehorses against their ow ...

as well as earning five British National training championships. Of the new Hialeah track facility, Boyd-Rochfort called it "the last word in race tracks and beauty." Among the most notable winners of the Seminole were

Citation A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose o ...

in 1948, Kelso in 1963, and

Forego Forego (April 30, 1970 – August 27, 1997) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that won eight Eclipse Awards including Horse of the Year, Champion Handicap Horse and Champion Sprinter. Background Foaled at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky ...

in 1975. All three would become U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductees. Hialeah Park closed at the end of 2001 meaning that year's April 15 running of the Seminole Handicap was its last.

References

Graded stakes races in the United States Discontinued horse races in the United States Open mile category horse races Horse racing in Florida Hialeah Park Widener family Recurring sporting events established in 1932 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2001 {{Horseracing-race-stub