The Test Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race first run on July 25, 1896 at Brighton Beach Race Course in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York where it continued annually through 1909. A race for horses age three and older, it was run on dirt over a distance of one mile.[1]

Test Handicap
Discontinued stakes race
LocationBrighton Beach Race Course
Brighton Beach, New York, United States
Inaugurated1896–1910
Race typeThoroughbredFlat racing
Race information
Distance1 mile (8 furlongs)
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationThree-years-old and up

On June 11, 1908, the Republican controlled New York Legislature under Governor Charles Evans Hughes passed the Hart–Agnew anti-wagering bill. The owners of Brighton Beach Race Course and other racing facilities in New York State struggled to stay in business without wagering revenue. Racetrack owners had no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which saw important stakes worth as little as twenty-five percent of what they were just two years earlier.[2] Although the Test Handicap had been scheduled for July 23, 1908, all stakes races were canceled at Brighton Beach Race Course and put on hiatus.[3]

There was no Test Handicap in 1908 and 1909 but the following year Empire City Race Track took over the race dates belonging to the Bright Beach Race Course and in 1910 hosted the Test Handicap. The race was won by Everett, a three-year-old colt owned by James Francis Johnson's Quincy Stable.[4] However, further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which resulted in the deepening of 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 Brighton Beach facility and it never reopened.[5]

Records

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Speed record: (at 1 mile)

  • 1:38.00 – Voter (1900) (New World Record).[6]
  • 1:38.00 – Hermis (1904)

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

Winners

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Year
Winner
Age
Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Dist.
(Miles) (Furlongs)
Time
Win
US$
1910 Everett 3 Joe McCahey George Cornnell Quincy Stable 1 M 1:39.20 $1,420
1909 – 1908 Race not held
1907 Dreamer 5 G. W. Brussel John Huggins Herman B. Duryea 1 M 1:38.20 $3,830
1906 Coy Maid 4 Ted Koerner John I. Smith Kenilworth Stable (Frederick C. McLewee) 1 M 1:39.60 $3,445
1905 Wild Mint 3 Lucien Lyne James G. Rowe Sr. James R. Keene 1 M 1:39.20 $3,350
1904 Hermis 5 Arthur Redfern William Shields Edward R. Thomas 1 M 1:38.00 $4,275
1903 Hurstbourne 3 George M. Odom Thomas Welsh Julius Fleischmann 6 F 1:13.40 $2,770
1902 Cameron 3 Winfield O'Connor Harry A. Mason John G. Follansbee 6 F 1:12.60 $1,940
1901 The Musketeer 3 Willie Shaw Thomas Welsh Frank J. Farrell 6 F 1:14.20 $2,030
1900 Voter 6 Henry Spencer James G. Rowe Sr. James R. Keene 1 M 1:38.00 $1,510
1899 Firearm 4 Danny Maher Jim Boden Jim Boden 1 M 1:42.00 $980
1898 Miss Tenny 3 Danny Maher William H. Karrick David T. Pulsifer & W. H. Karrick 1 M 1:40.25 $1,230
1897 Lehman 6 Joseph Scherrer Thomas Welsh Fleischmann & Son 1 M 1:41.25 $1,420
1896 Rubicon 5 Tod Sloan Henry Harris J. E. McDonald 1 M 1:41.75 $1,130

References

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  1. ^ "Brighton Beach Form Chart". Daily Racing Form. 1896-07-26. Retrieved 2018-10-14 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  2. ^ "Striking Falling off in Value of Ten Greatest Stakes". Daily Racing Form. 1910-07-16. Retrieved 2018-10-15 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  3. ^ "Brighton Beach Stake Events Canceled". San Francisco Call, Volume 104, Number 24. 1908-06-24. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  4. ^ "Everett Wins the Test: Quincy Stables Three-Year-Old Beats Apache and Restigouche". Daily Racing Form. 1910-07-21. Retrieved 2018-10-13 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  5. ^ "Destruction Wrought by Hughes". Daily Racing Form. 1908-12-15. Retrieved 2018-10-18 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
  6. ^ "Voter Beat All Records; Keene's Fleet Horse Made a New World's Mark for a Mile". The New York Times. July 18, 1900. p. 5. Retrieved 2010-01-16.