The Grand National Handicap was an American

United States

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

 Thoroughbred race horse first run in 1866 at the newly built Jerome Park Racetrack

Jerome Park Racetrack

Jerome Park Racetrack was an American thoroughbred horse racing facility.-History:It opened in 1866 in the northwest part of Fordham, Westchester County , New York....

 in Fordham

Fordham, Bronx

Fordham is a neighborhood of New York City, United States, located in the West Bronx. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 5. It is bordered by Fordham Road to the north, Webster Avenue to the east, East 183rd Street to the south, and Jerome Avenue to the west...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. Open to horses age three and older, the race was contested on dirt at a distance of 2¼ miles from inception through 1884. In the late 1880s, there was a growing shortage of handicap horses and track officials shortened the race in an attempt to draw more entrants. In 1885 it was run at 1¾ miles, and for its final four years from 1886 through 1889 at 1½ miles.

Because Jerome Park Racetrack had a number of viability problems and did not reopen in 1890, the last time the Grand National Handicap was run was in 1889. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9B00EEDC143AE533A25754C2A9619C94609ED7CF

In winning the final two editions of the Grand National Handicap in 1888 and 1889, Raceland

Raceland (horse)

Raceland was an American Champion Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. Out of the mare Calomel, his British sire, Billet, was imported to stand at stud in the United States where in 1883 he was the Leading sire in North America. Grandsire Voltigeur won England's Epsom Derby and St. Leger Stakes in...

 defeated the future U.S. Racing 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...

 filly, Firenze

Firenze (horse)

Firenze , also recorded as "Firenzi,", was an American Thoroughbred Champion and Hall of Fame filly racehorse. The New York Times called Firenze: "...one of the greatest distaffers of the 19th Century."...

. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D0DEEDC1E38E533A25757C1A9669D94699FD7CF http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A02EFDB1130E633A25750C1A9669D94689FD7CF

Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Distance	Time
1889	Raceland Raceland (horse) Raceland was an American Champion Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. Out of the mare Calomel, his British sire, Billet, was imported to stand at stud in the United States where in 1883 he was the Leading sire in North America. Grandsire Voltigeur won England's Epsom Derby and St. Leger Stakes in...	4	1½ miles	2:39.25
1888	Raceland Raceland (horse) Raceland was an American Champion Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. Out of the mare Calomel, his British sire, Billet, was imported to stand at stud in the United States where in 1883 he was the Leading sire in North America. Grandsire Voltigeur won England's Epsom Derby and St. Leger Stakes in...	3	1½ miles	2:39.75
1887	Linden	4	1½ miles	2:42.75
1886	Wickham	4	1½ miles	2:40.00
1885	Bob Miles	4	1¾ miles	3:12.00
1884	Drake Carter	4	2¼ miles	4:11.50
1883	George Kinney	3	2¼ miles	4:11.00
1882	Girofle	5	2¼ miles	4:11.00
1881	Monitor	5	2¼ miles	4:07.75
1880	Uncas	4	2¼ miles	4:05.25
1879	General Philips	5	2¼ miles	4:07.50
1878	Lou Lanier	3	2¼ miles	4:06.75
1877	Tom Ochiltree Tom Ochiltree Tom Ochiltree , was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, one of the last by the great foundation stallion, blind Lexington, still standing at what by then was A. J. Alexander's Woodburn Stud in Kentucky. Tom Ochiltree was an enormous colt, eventually reaching 16 hands 2½ inches high with a girth of...	5	2¼ miles	4:18.50
1876	Vigil Vigil (horse) Vigil was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. -References:*...	3	2¼ miles	4:11.00
1875	Aaron Pennington	4	2¼ miles	4:15.75
1874	Mate	5	2¼ miles	4:13.75
1873	Preakness Preakness (horse) Preakness was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Preakness was from Milton Holbrook Sanford's Preakness Stables in Preakness, Wayne Township, New Jersey.-Racing Career:...	6	2¼ miles	4:08.75
1872	Tubman	4	2¼ miles	4:10.75
1871	Monarchist	3	2¼ miles	4:09.00
1870	Niagara	4	2¼ miles	4:09.25
1869	La Polka	4	2¼ miles	4:18.25
1868	De Courcey	4	2¼ miles	4:11.50
1867	Local	4	2¾ miles	5:09.00
1866	Kentucky Kentucky (horse) Kentucky , was a successful American Thoroughbred racehorse who won 21 of his 23 starts, including 20 consecutive wins....	5	2¾ miles	5:04.00