The Cliff Hanger Stakes is an American 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...

 Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide 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 National Hunt racing...

 run annually at Meadowlands Racetrack

Meadowlands Racetrack

The Meadowlands Racetrack is a horse racing track at the MetLife Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States.The track hosts both thoroughbred racing and harness racing...

 in East Rutherford, New Jersey

East Rutherford, New Jersey

East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....

 during late September/early October. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on turf

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

 over a distance of 1 ¹/16 miles.

Known as the Cliff Hanger Handicap until 2008, it was raced on dirt from 1978 through 1981 and again in 1985 and 1987. Prior to 1982, it was restricted to horses bred in the State of New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

.

Records

Speed record:

• 1:39 2/5 - Wanderkin (1988), Dixie Bayou (1997)

Most wins:

• 2 - Erin's Tiger (1982, 1983)
• 2 - Late Act (1984, 1985)’

Most wins by an owner:

• 2 - Greentree Stable
  Greentree Stable
  Greentree Stable, in Red Bank, New Jersey, was a major American thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm established in 1914 by Payne Whitney of the Whitney family of New York City. Payne Whitney operated a horse farm and stable at Saratoga Springs, New York with his brother Harry Payne...
  
   (1984, 1985)
• 2 - Live Oak Racing (1994, 2006)

Most wins by a 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:...

:

• 3 - Jorge Velasquez
  Jorge Velasquez
  Jorge Velásquez is a thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey.Jorge Velasquez career in thoroughbred racing began in his native Panama but as a teenager moved to the United States...
  
   (1980, 1982, 1983)

Most wins by a trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

:

• 2 - Joseph H. Pierce, Jr. (1980, 1987)
• 2 - Richard Nieminski (1982, 1983)
• 2 - Jonathan Sheppard
  Jonathan E. Sheppard
  Jonathan E. Sheppard is a Hall of Fame trainer in American Thoroughbred horse racing....
  
   (1987, 1989)

Winners since 1999

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
2011	Yummy with Butter	8	Paco Lopez	Yvon Belsoeur	Bruno Schickedanz	1:32.75
2010	no race
2009	Brave Tin Soldier	5	Carlos Marquez, Jr.	Kiaran McLaughlin Kiaran McLaughlin Kiaran P. McLaughlin is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He currently has a blog website, at http://kiaranmclaughlin.com where he updates what horses he has racing for that particular day...	Kiaran McLaughlin Kiaran McLaughlin Kiaran P. McLaughlin is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He currently has a blog website, at http://kiaranmclaughlin.com where he updates what horses he has racing for that particular day...	1:45.52
2008	Kiss the Kid	5	Rajiv Maragh Rajiv Maragh Rajiv Maragh is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. An Indo-Jamaican, he is the son of a jockey who rode in Jamaica before relocating to Florida where he began a career as a horse trainer....	Amy Tarrant	Hardacre Farm/Amy Tarrant	1:43.60
2007	Presious Passion Presious Passion Presious Passion is a multiple Grade I winning Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in the United States, he is a gelded son of multiple Grade I winner Royal Anthem and the unraced mare, Princesa's Passion, who comes from an extended family of stakes winning horses. Presious Passion's career has included...	4	Alan Garcia Alan Garcia (jockey) Alan Garcia is a thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He was Peru's leading apprentice jockey in 2003 and in that same year he began racing in the United States at the Meadowlands Racetrack where he was also the leading apprentice. His father and grandfather were both jockeys in Peru...	Mary Hartmann	Patricia A. Generazio	1:41.48
2006	Old Forester Old Forester Old Forester is a brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey produced by the Brown-Forman Corporation. It has been continuously on the market longer than any other brand of bourbon , and it was the first bourbon sold exclusively in sealed bottles...	5	Edgar Prado	William I. Mott	Live Oak Racing	1:42.54
2005	Hotstufanthensome	5	Rajiv Maragh Rajiv Maragh Rajiv Maragh is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. An Indo-Jamaican, he is the son of a jockey who rode in Jamaica before relocating to Florida where he began a career as a horse trainer....	Norman Pointer	Leslie Steinger	1:54.32
2004	Dr. Kashnikow	7	Richard Migliore	John R. S. Fisher	Erdenheim Farm	1:42.41
2003	no race
2002	Saint Verre	4	Jean-Luc Samyn Jean-Luc Samyn Jean-Luc Samyn is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.The son of a pastry chef, Jean-Luc Samyn was one of three children. At age thirteen, he went to work for the stable of trainer John Cunnington at Chantilly, a racecourse about north of Paris city center...	H. Allen Jerkens H. Allen Jerkens Harry Allen Jerkens is an American Thoroughbred race horse Hall of Fame trainer.Jerkens' father owned a riding academy on Long Island that led to his interest in horse racing and in 1950 he trained his first winner. Sometimes called the "Giant Killer", he is best known for his upsets...	H. Joseph Allen H. Joseph Allen H. Joseph Allen is an American businessman and Thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder.A graduate of the University of Michigan, Allen is a partner with his cousin Peter M. Brant in the privately owned newsprint company, Brant-Allen Industries, Inc...	1:42.40
2001	Crash Course	5	Rick Wilson	Warren W. Croll, Jr.	Jesse Mack Robinson	1:43.14
2000	North East Bound	4	Jose Velez, Jr.	William W. Perry	J. Demarco/R. Disano	1:41.78
1999	Virginia Carnival	7	Jean-Luc Samyn Jean-Luc Samyn Jean-Luc Samyn is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.The son of a pastry chef, Jean-Luc Samyn was one of three children. At age thirteen, he went to work for the stable of trainer John Cunnington at Chantilly, a racecourse about north of Paris city center...	Jonathan Sheppard Jonathan E. Sheppard Jonathan E. Sheppard is a Hall of Fame trainer in American Thoroughbred horse racing....	John A. Franks John A. Franks John Franks was an American businessman and a Thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder. A native of Haughton, Louisiana, he earned a degree in geology from Louisiana State University. In 1962, he founded the highly successful Franks Petroleum Inc. and later invested in real estate with Franks...	1:42.44