The Bill Hartack Memorial Handicap is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 horse race run at Hawthorne Race Course

Hawthorne Race Course

Hawthorne Race Course is a race track 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 system for 65 Thoroughbred racetracks in North America...

 in Stickney

Stickney, Illinois

Stickney is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,148 at the 2000 census. It was well known in the 1920s and early 1930s as the home for several bordellos linked to mobster Al Capone's empire....

/Cicero

Cicero, Illinois

Cicero is an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 83,891 at the 2010 census. Cicero is named for the town of Cicero, New York, which in turn was named for Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman statesman and orator....

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 in the early spring of the year. The ungraded stakes race

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 is for horses three-year-olds and older, and is set at a distance of one and one-eighth of a mile. The race offers a purse of $200,000.

In 2009, the race will be downgraded from a Grade III

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 event to ungraded status..

Formerly known as the National Jockey Club Handicap, the race was inaugurated as the Bill Hartack Memorial Handicap in 2008 to honor the Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

 Bill Hartack

Bill Hartack

William John Hartack Jr. was a Hall of Fame jockey. He was born in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.Referred to by the media as both "Bill" and "Willie" during his racing career, Hartack grew up on his widowed father's farm in the Blacklick...

 who died in November 2007. Hartack won the Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

 fives times: 1957 on Iron Liege

Iron Liege

Iron Liege was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1957 Kentucky Derby. A son of Calumet Farm's leading sire Bull Lea, and out of the mare Iron Maiden, his damsire was the 1937 U.S...

, 1960 on Venetian Way, 1962 on Decidedly, 1964 on Northern Dancer

Northern Dancer

Northern Dancer was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and the most successful sire of the 20th Century. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association calls him "one of the most influential sires in Thoroughbred history"....

, and 1969 on Majestic Prince

Majestic Prince

Majestic Prince was a Thoroughbred racehorse purchased by Calgary, Alberta oilman Frank McMahon at the Keeneland yearling sale in September 1967 for a then record price of $250,000...

.

(In 2000, 2001 and 2002, the race was held at Sportsman's Park Racetrack in Cicero, Illinois

Cicero, Illinois

Cicero is an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 83,891 at the 2010 census. Cicero is named for the town of Cicero, New York, which in turn was named for Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman statesman and orator....

.)

Winners as the National Jockey Club Handicap (partial list)

• 2007 - Master Command (John R. Velazquez)
• 2006 - Three Hour Nap (Francisco Torres)
• 2005 - Pollard's Vision (John Velazquez)
• 2004 - Ten Most Wanted (David Flores)
• 2003 - Fight for Ally
• 2002 - Hail the Chief (Jorge Chavez
  Jorge F. Chavez
  Jorge F. Chavez is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.Chavez began his career in horse racing in 1982 in his native Peru and by 1987 was his country's leading rider. In April 1988 he emigrated to the United States where he raced with a great deal of success at Florida race tracks...
  
  )
• 2001 - Chicago Six
• 2000 - Take Note of Me
• 1999 - Baytown
• 1947 - Take Wing
  Take Wing
  Take Wing was an American Thoroughbred gelding racehorse claimed for $3,000 and who would then earn more than $160,000 for new owner Clyde Troutt and set a new North American record for a mile and three-sixteenths on turf....