Pilgrim Stakes
Encyclopedia
The Pilgrim Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race
run annually since 1979 at Belmont Park
in Elmont, New York
. A Grade III
event raced in late September, it is open to horses two-year-old horses and is contested at a distance of 1⅛ miles (9 furlong
s) on turf
. In 1983, it was run on dirt. From 2001-2007 the race was not graded.
The race was part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series from 2008 to 2010, when the winner automatically qualified for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf
.
The race is named for Joseph E. Widener's
horse, Pilgrim, winner of the 1919 Remsen Stakes
.
The Pilgrim Stakes was hosted by Aqueduct Racetrack
in 2001. It has been contested at two different distances:
It was run in two divisions in 1979 and again in 1983.
Most wins by an owner:
Most wins by a jockey
:
Most wins by a trainer
:
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 since 1979 at Belmont Park
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...
in Elmont, New York
Elmont, New York
Elmont is an unincorporated census-designated place located in the northwest corner of the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City...
. 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 raced in late September, it is open to horses two-year-old horses and is contested at a distance of 1⅛ miles (9 furlong
Furlong
A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to 220 yards, 660 feet, 40 rods, or 10 chains. The exact value of the furlong varies slightly among English-speaking countries....
s) 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 ...
. In 1983, it was run on dirt. From 2001-2007 the race was not graded.
The race was part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series from 2008 to 2010, when the winner automatically qualified for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf is an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old horses, run on a grass course at a distance of one mile. It is part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the de facto year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing...
.
The race is named for Joseph E. Widener's
Joseph E. Widener
Joseph Early Widener was a wealthy American art collector who was a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C...
horse, Pilgrim, winner of the 1919 Remsen Stakes
Remsen Stakes
The Remsen Stakes is an American Grade II race for Thoroughbred horse race run annually near the end of November at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York...
.
The Pilgrim Stakes was hosted by Aqueduct Racetrack
Aqueduct Racetrack
Aqueduct Racetrack is a thoroughbred horse-racing facility and racino in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Its racing meets usually are from late October/early November through April.-History:...
in 2001. It has been contested at two different distances:
- 1 1/16 miles : 1991-1994, 1996
- 1⅛ miles : 1979-1990, 1995, 1997 to present
It was run in two divisions in 1979 and again in 1983.
Records
Speed record: (at current distance of 1⅛ miles)- 1:41.61 - The Leopard (2007)
Most wins by an owner:
- 2 - Live Oak Racing (1981, 2001)
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:...
:
- 5 - John Velazquez (1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2007)
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...
:
- 3 - David G. Donk (1992, 1998, 2004)
Winners
| Year |
Winner |
Jockey |
Trainer |
Owner |
Time |
| 2011 | Shkspeare Shaliyah | Alex Solis Alex Solis Alex O. Solis is a jockey based in the United States. He currently lives in Glendora, California and rides predominantly in Southern California... |
Doodnauth Shivmangal | Shivmangal Racing Stable | 1:51.59 |
| 2010 | Air Support | 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.... |
Shug McGaughey Shug McGaughey Claude R. "Shug" McGaughey, III is an American Hall of Fame thoroughbred horse trainer. He has earned wide respect in the industry as a man of great integrity.... |
Stuart Janney III | 1:47.87 |
| 2009‡ | Eskendereya Eskendereya Eskendereya is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He is sired by Giant's Causeway, a son of North America's one time leading sire Storm Cat. Bred in Kentucky by Sanford Robertson, Eskendereya was a $250,000 Keeneland September purchase. His dam is Aldebaran Light, who is a daughter of champion... |
Javier Castellano Javier Castellano Javier Castellano is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.Castellano began his riding career in his native Venezuela in 1996 and in June 1997 moved to the United States where rode at race tracks in southern Florida until 2001 when he moved to race on the New York State racing circuit.In... |
Todd Pletcher Todd Pletcher Todd Pletcher is a leading American thoroughbred horse trainer. He has won four consecutive Eclipse Awards as outstanding Trainer of the Year, while topping the leader board in purse earnings in 2004, 2005, and 2006. His horse Super Saver won the 2010 Kentucky Derby, the first of his 24 horses... |
Zayata Stables | 1:37.85 |
| 2008 | Elusive Bluff | Michael Baze | Eric Guillot | Southern Equine Stable | 1:47.91 |
| 2007 | The Leopard | John Velazquez | Todd Pletcher | Smith/Magnier John Magnier John Magnier is Ireland's leading thoroughbred stud owner and has extensive business interests outside of the horse breeding industry.... /Tabor Michael Tabor Michael B. Tabor is a businessman and owner of Thoroughbred racehorses.-Thoroughbred racing career:... |
1:41.61 |
| 2006 | Pickapocket | Eibar Coa Eibar Coa Eibar Coa Monteverde is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. A five-time judo champion in his teens, he attended jockey school from 1989 to 1991 then began his professional riding career in 1992... |
Frank A. Alexander Frank A. Alexander Frank A. Alexander is an American Thoroughbred horse racing trainer.Alexander took out his trainer's license in 1963 and in 1974 opened a public stable in Maryland. He returned to his present base in New York in 1987... |
Martin Cherry | 1:52.62 |
| 2005 | Fagan's Legacy | Joe Bravo Joe Bravo (jockey) Joe Bravo is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. The son and grandson of jockeys, he began his professional career in Thoroughbred flat racing at Calder Race Course in Miami Gardens, Florida during the latter end of 1988.According to his NTRA profile, Joe Bravo has dominated the New... |
Kelly Breen | George & Lori Hall | 1:52.11 |
| 2004 | Crown Point | Jose Espinoza Jose L. Espinoza Jose L. Espinoza is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.-Year-end charts:Jose L. Espinoza is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.... |
David G. Donk | Drumlanrig Farm | 1:50.31 |
| 2003 | Timo Timo Timo is a village in Veriora Parish, Põlva County in southeastern Estonia.... |
John Velazquez | William Badgett, Jr. | C. K. Woods Stable | 1:57.46 |
| 2002 | One Colony | Aaron Gryder Aaron Gryder Aaron Tod Gryder is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey.Growing up fifteen minutes away from the Santa Anita racetrack, as a boy Gryder had no contact with horses other than his father and his grandparents' interest in attending the nearby races... |
Mark Hennig | Edward P. Evans | 1:51.00 |
| 2001 | Miesque's Approval | Jerry Bailey | William I. Mott | Live Oak Racing | 1:50.80 |
| 2000 | Volponi Volponi Volponi is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by trainer Philip G. Johnson's family operation, Amherst Stable, he was sired by Florida Derby winner Cryptoclearance... |
John Velazquez | Philip G. Johnson | Amherst & Spruce Pond | 1:48.00 |
| 1999 | Kachemak Bay | John Velazquez | John P. Campo, Jr. | Evelyn M. Pollard | 1:54.60 |
| 1998 | Incurable Optimist | John Velazquez | David G. Donk | T. & J. Behrendt | 1:48.00 |
| 1997‡ | Cryptic Rascal | Mike E. Smith | William Badgett, Jr. | C. Landon Knight | 1:50.80 |
| 1996‡ | Accelerator | Mike E. Smith | C. R. McGaughey III | Ogden Mills Phipps Ogden Mills Phipps Ogden Mills "Dinny" Phipps is a retired American financier and prominent Thoroughbred racehorse industry executive and a Thoroughbred owner/breeder... |
1:41.80 |
| 1995‡ | Play It Again Stan | Herb McCauley Herb McCauley W. Herbert McCauley is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who has been called "one of the most talented and aggressive riders of his generation" by John Piesen, an odds-maker for the New York Post and the Daily Racing Form. While still a small boy, Herb McCauley began riding horses on... |
Frank Generazio, Jr. | Sybil Lauren | 1:50.20 |
| 1994 | Diplomatic Jet | Jerry Bailey | Philip M. Serpe | Fred W. Hooper Fred W. Hooper Fred William Hooper was an American Thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder. He was a member of The Jockey Club, an honorary director of the Breeders' Cup, and one of the founders of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and one of its first presidents.Born in Cleveland, Georgia, ... |
1:46.60 |
| 1993 | Dove Hunt | Jerry Bailey | Neil J. Howard Neil J. Howard Neil J. Howard is an American Thoroughbred horse racing trainer.Howard began working for a racing stable in 1969 and went on to spend seven years as an assistant and stable foreman to future Hall of Fame trainer MacKenzie Miller before going out on his own in 1979.With Summer Squall, in 1990 Neil... |
William S. Farish III | 1:44.60 |
| 1992 | Awad | Julie Krone Julie Krone Julie Krone , is a retired American jockey. In 1993, she became the first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race when she captured the Belmont Stakes aboard Colonial Affair... |
David G. Donk | Ryehill Stable | 1:42.60 |
| 1991 | Smiling And Dancin | Richard Migliore | Stephen L. DiMauro | Robert J. Sullivan | 1:41.20 |
| 1990 | Fourstars Allstar | Mike E. Smith | Leo O'Brien | Richard Bromze | 1:51.60 |
| 1989 | Super Mario | Richard Migliore | D. Wayne Lukas D. Wayne Lukas Darrell Wayne Lukas is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S... |
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... |
1:56.00 |
| 1988 | Tuneful Tip | Carl Gambardella | Ronald Dandy | Frank Generazio | 1:59.00 |
| 1987 | Blew by Em | Chris Antley Chris Antley Christopher Wiley Antley was a champion American jockey.He was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida but grew up in Elloree, South Carolina. He left school at sixteen to ride horses professionally at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. His first win was on a horse named Vaya Con Dinero... |
Michael Daggett | Joseph B. Singer | 1:53.60 |
| 1986 | David's Bird | Jean Luc Samyn | Philip G. Johnson | Sugar Maple Farm | 1:53.00 |
| 1985 | Pillaster | Angel Cordero, Jr. | LeRoy Jolley, Jr. | Peter M. Brant Peter M. Brant Peter M. Brant is an American industrialist, businessman and entrepreneur, worth an estimated $2.4 billion. He is also a major art collector, movie producer, and avid horseman... |
1:54.40 |
| 1984 | Tent Up | Vince Bracciale, Jr. | Howard M. Tesher Howard M. Tesher Howard M. Tesher Howard M. Tesher Howard M. Tesher (born c. 1935 in Miami, Florida is an American Thoroughbred horse racing trainer. A journalism graduate from the University of Florida, he began his career training Thoroughbreds in 1961. Among his numerous important wins, Tesher won the 1986... |
Geoffrey A. Huguely | 1:53.20 |
| 1983 | Pied a Tierre | Larry Saumell | Ronald L. Benshoff | Blanche P. Levy | 1:51.40 |
| 1983 | Vision | Eddie Maple Eddie Maple Edward Retz "Eddie" Maple is a retired American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. One of eight brothers and sisters, he was an older brother to jockey Sam Maple who won more than 2,500 races. He began riding horses at age 12 and won his first race as a professional at 17... |
Woody Stephens Woody Stephens Woody Stephens was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer.Born Woodford Cefis Stephens in Stanton, Kentucky, his younger brother William Ward Stephens also became a successful trainer. Woody Stephens first started in racing as a jockey at age 16 but within a few years switched... |
Claiborne Farm Claiborne Farm Claiborne Farm is a thoroughbred Horse breeding operation in near Paris, Kentucky. It was established in 1910, by Arthur B. Hancock, owner of Ellerslie Farm in Albemarle County, Virginia, and has been operated by members of his family ever since.-Owners:... |
1:50.20 |
| 1982 | Fortnightly | Angel Cordero, Jr. | Edward I. Kelly, Jr. | Bwamazon Farm | 1:57.60 |
| 1981 | Gnome's Gold | Jean Luc Samyn | Patrick J. Kelly | Live Oak Racing | 1:57.20 |
| 1980 | Akureyri | Eddie Maple Eddie Maple Edward Retz "Eddie" Maple is a retired American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. One of eight brothers and sisters, he was an older brother to jockey Sam Maple who won more than 2,500 races. He began riding horses at age 12 and won his first race as a professional at 17... |
Woody Stephens Woody Stephens Woody Stephens was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer.Born Woodford Cefis Stephens in Stanton, Kentucky, his younger brother William Ward Stephens also became a successful trainer. Woody Stephens first started in racing as a jockey at age 16 but within a few years switched... |
Hickory Tree Stable Alice du Pont Mills Alice Francis du Pont Mills was an American aviatrix, thoroughbred race horse breeder and owner, environmentalist, philanthropist and a member of the prominent du Pont family.... |
1:54.80 |
| 1979 | Freeo | Sam Maple Sam Maple Samuel A. Maple was an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.Born in Carrollton, Ohio, Sam Maple was one of eight brothers and sisters. His older brother, Eddie, was also a jockey... |
Joseph B. Cantey | Loblolly Stable Loblolly Stable Loblolly Stable was a Thoroughbred horse breeding and racing stable in Lake Hamilton, Arkansas owned by businessman John Ed Anthony and his former wife Mary Lynn. The stable's first top runner was Cox's Ridge who won important races in 1977 and 1978 and went on to become an excellent sire... |
1:53.00 |
| 1979 | ITake All | Angel Cordero, Jr. | Edward I. Kelly | Brookfield Farm | 1:52.40 |
- ‡ In 2009, the race was run off the turf and lost its graded status as a result.
- ‡ In 1997, the race was run at Aqueduct.
- ‡ In 1996, the race was run off the turf, but retained its GIII status.
- ‡ In 1995, the race was run at Aqueduct.