The Robert F. Carey Memorial Handicap is an American 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 during the first week of October 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,...

. 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 since 1998, it is open to horses age three and older and 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 one mile (8 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).

Inaugurated on October 9, 1983, the race is named in honor of Robert Francis Carey, founder of the American Brick Company and the Managing Director of Hawthorne from 1947 to his death in 1980.

Since inception it has been contested at various distances:

• 1983 : 1 ¹/16 miles
• 1984-1987 : 1¼ miles
• 1988-1989 : 1⅛ miles
• 1990-1993, 1995–present : 1 mile
• 1994 : 1 mile, 70 yards

In 1985, 1994 and again in 2009, soft course conditions from heavy rains resulted in the race being transferred to the main dirt track.

Records

Speed record: (at current distance of 1 mile)

• 1:33.40 - Soviet Line (1998)

Most wins:

• 2 - Homing Pigeon (1995, 1996)

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 - Harvey L. Vanier
  Harvey L. Vanier
  Harvey L. Vanier is a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. With his wife Nancy Aiken-Vanier, they own and breed racehorses on their Fairberry Farm in Waterloo, Illinois.-References:* *...
  
   (1989, 1995, 1996)

Most wins by an owner:

• 3 - Nancy A. Vanier
  Harvey L. Vanier
  Harvey L. Vanier is a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. With his wife Nancy Aiken-Vanier, they own and breed racehorses on their Fairberry Farm in Waterloo, Illinois.-References:* *...
  
   (1989, 1995, 1996)

Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
2009	Public Speaker	4	Junior Alvarado	Dale Bennett	Peter J. Karahalios	1:42.16
2008	Wise River	5	Francisco Torres	Clark Hanna	Don L. Benge	1:35.04
2007	Classic Campaign	5	Richard Migliore	William I. Mott	Kinsman Stable Kinsman Stable Kinsman Stable is the nom de course for the American Thoroughbred racing stable of George Steinbrenner, best known as the owner of the New York Yankees Major League Baseball team...	1:33.95
2006	No Tolerance	5	Jesse M. Campbell	Michael B. Campbell	Easy Money 2006 LLC, et al.	1:35.54
2005	Spruce Run	7	Rex A. Stokes III	Linda L. Rice	Golden Dome Stable	1:39.97
2004	Scooter Roach	5	Jesse M. Campbell	David Kassen	Butterfly Stable, et al.	1:34.51
2003	Mystery Giver	5	Carlos H. Marquez	Chris M. Block	Team Block	1:34.70
2002	Kimberlite Pipe	6	Christophe A. Emigh	Michael Wright, Jr.	John D. Gunther	1:35.94
2001	Galic Boy	6	Ray Sibille Ray Sibille Raymond Frederick Sibille is a retired American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. In a career that spanned thirty-five years, Sibille rode his first winner on June 29, 1969 at Evangeline Downs in Carencro, Louisiana...	Mickey A. Goldfine	Arthur I. Appleton	1:35.10
2000	Where's Taylor	4	Corey Lanerie	Michael Stidham	Barry & Mark Golden	1:36.31
1999	Ray's Approval	6	Earlie Fires Earlie Fires Earlie Stancel Fires is a retired United States' Racing Hall of Fame jockey.Fires began riding professionally in 1964 and led all American apprentices in wins that year with 224. He retired on September 21, 2008 having won 6,470 races at racetracks across North America...	Robert L. Irwin	James Orr Jr.	1:37.01
1998	Soviet Line	8	Shane Sellers Shane Sellers Shane Jude Sellers is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. At age eleven, he began working around horses and in 1983 rode his first winner at Evangeline Downs....	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...	Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum , also referred to as Sheikh Maktoum was the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and the emir of Dubai.-Biography:...	1:33.40
1997	Trail City	6	Jerry D. Bailey	William I. Mott	W. I. Mott & Robert Verchota	1:36.04
1996	Homing Pigeon	6	Robby Albarado Robby Albarado Robby J. Albarado is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding at the age of 12 at bush tracks in his native Louisiana and after turning professional, earned his first win at Evangeline Downs in 1990...	Harvey L. Vanier Harvey L. Vanier Harvey L. Vanier is a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. With his wife Nancy Aiken-Vanier, they own and breed racehorses on their Fairberry Farm in Waterloo, Illinois.-References:* *...	Nancy A. Vanier Harvey L. Vanier Harvey L. Vanier is a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. With his wife Nancy Aiken-Vanier, they own and breed racehorses on their Fairberry Farm in Waterloo, Illinois.-References:* *...	1:36.58
1995	Homing Pigeon	5	Robby Albarado Robby Albarado Robby J. Albarado is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding at the age of 12 at bush tracks in his native Louisiana and after turning professional, earned his first win at Evangeline Downs in 1990...	Harvey L. Vanier Harvey L. Vanier Harvey L. Vanier is a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. With his wife Nancy Aiken-Vanier, they own and breed racehorses on their Fairberry Farm in Waterloo, Illinois.-References:* *...	Nancy A. Vanier Harvey L. Vanier Harvey L. Vanier is a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. With his wife Nancy Aiken-Vanier, they own and breed racehorses on their Fairberry Farm in Waterloo, Illinois.-References:* *...	1:38.09
1994	Recoup The Cash	4	Juvenal Diaz	Jere Smith, Sr.	Richard Trebat	1:40.91
1993	High Habitation	5	Gabe Retana	Michael L. Reavis	C.C. Tan	1:35.33
1992	Double Booked	7	Jose Ferrer Jose C. Ferrer Jose C. Ferrer is an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding in the United States in 1983 at Calder Race Course in Florida then at Monmouth Park and the Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey. On November 24, 1983 Ferrer became the first jockey to win five races on a single card...	Linda L. Rice	Robert Gorham	1:39.82
1991	Slew the Slewor	4	Garrett Gomez Garrett K. Gomez Garrett Keith Gomez is an American thoroughbred jockey.-Early career:Gomez learned to ride by watching his father, Louie, who was a jockey at many tracks in the Southwest United States...	P. Noel Hickey	P. Noel Hickey	1:38.72
1990	Allijeba	4	Kerwin Clark	Larry Robideaux	Robert Allensworth	1:39.20
1989	Iron Courage	5	Dave Penna Dave Penna David "Dave" Penna was an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing who competed in the United States but had his gretest successes in Canada. Born in Auburn, New York, he began his career as a professional rider in 1978 and three years later went to compete at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto...	Harvey L. Vanier Harvey L. Vanier Harvey L. Vanier is a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. With his wife Nancy Aiken-Vanier, they own and breed racehorses on their Fairberry Farm in Waterloo, Illinois.-References:* *...	Nancy A. Vanier Harvey L. Vanier Harvey L. Vanier is a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. With his wife Nancy Aiken-Vanier, they own and breed racehorses on their Fairberry Farm in Waterloo, Illinois.-References:* *...  & Ray Roncari	1:47.00
1988	New Colony	5	Rene Douglas	Charlie Stutts	Louise & Anthony DiAntonio	1:47.60
1987	The Sassman	4	Kerwin Clark	Rickey Harris	Herbster, Brubaker, Harris	2:05.40
1986	Pass the Line	5	Juvenal Diaz	Frank Solimena	Stanley M. Ersoff	2:01.00
1985	River Lord	6	not found	Sol Durschslag	Jim Nolan & Sol Durschslag	2:06.20
1984	Ronbra	4	Carlos H. Marquez	J. R. "Bob" Garrard	Doris & Russell Boss	2:03.80
1983	Sir Pele	4	not found	Laz Barrera Laz Barrera Lazaro Sosa Barrera was a Cuban-born American Hall of Fame thoroughbred racehorse trainer.Born in Havana, "Laz" Barrera was one of nine brothers who went on to become involved in thoroughbred horse racing in the United States...	Aaron & Marie Jones	1:55.00