# Flatbush Stakes

The Flatbush Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. Held in September, it was an important event for two-year-olds of either sex. The race was run on dirt over a distance of seven furlongs and was generally the longest distance to that point for the participants who were in their first year of racing.
The inaugural running in 1884 was won by the filly Wanda who was selected through a present-day review process by Thoroughbred Heritage as the 1884 American Champion Two-Year-Old Female The final running in 1909 was won by the colt Waldo who would earn annual Co-Champion honors as one of the 1887–1935 Champions selected retrospectively by a panel of experts as published by the widely respected The Blood-Horse magazine.

## Champions who won the Flatbush Stakes

* Lady Violet
* Requital
* Ornament
* Nasturtium
* Irish Lad
* Highball
* Colin (HoF)
* Sir Martin
* Waldo

## Demise of the Flatbush Stakes

On June 11, 1908, the Republican controlled New York Legislature under Governor Charles Evans Hughes passed the Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation with penalties allowing for fines and up to a year in prison. The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without betting. Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which by 1909 saw the Flatbush Stakes offering a purse that was nearly a tenth of what it had been in earlier years. Further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which deepened the financial crisis for track operators and led to a complete shut down of racing across the state during 1911 and 1912. When a Court ruling saw racing return in 1913 it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay horse racing facility and it never reopened.

## Records

Speed record:
* 1:24.80 – Colin (1907)
Most wins by a jockey:
* 2 – Tod Sloan (1897, 1900)
* 2 – Anthony Hamilton (1889, 1890)
* 2 – Samuel Doggett (1893, 1894)
* 2 – Nash Turner (1901, 1902)
Most wins by a trainer:
* 3 – Matthew Byrnes (1884, 1888, 1893)
* 3 – A. Jack Joyner (1892, 1898, 1904)
* 3 – Bud May (1903, 1905, 1906)
Most wins by an owner:
* 3 – William C. Whitney (1900, 1901, 1902)

## Winners

| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Dist. (F) | Time | Win US$ |
| 1909 | Waldo | 2 | Charles Grand | Raleigh Colston Jr. | Charles L. Harrison | 7 F | 1:26.20 | $1,425 |
| 1908 | Sir Martin | 2 | Cal Shilling | John E. Madden | John E. Madden | 7 F | 1:25.40 | $11,100 |
| 1907 | Colin | 2 | Walter Miller | James G. Rowe Sr. | James R. Keene | 7 F | 1:24.80 | $8,350 |
| 1906 | De Mund | 2 | Herman Radtke | John W. May | Paul J. Rainey | 7 F | 1:26.20 | $8,350 |
| 1905 | Yankee Consul | 2 | Jack Martin | John W. May | Tippah Farms Stable | 7 F | 1:26.00 | $8,350 |
| 1904 | Tradition | 2 | Lucien Lyne | A. Jack Joyner | Sydney Paget | 7 F | 1:25.20 | $8,350 |
| 1903 | Highball | 2 | Grover Fuller | John W. May | Walter M. Shiftel | 7 F | 1:25.60 | $8,350 |
| 1902 | Irish Lad | 2 | Nash Turner | John W. Rogers | W. C. Whitney & H. B. Duryea | 7 F | 1:26.00 | $3,850 |
| 1901 | Nasturtium | 2 | Nash Turner | John W. Rogers | William C. Whitney | 7 F | 1:25.60 | $3,850 |
| 1900 | Ballyhoo Bey | 2 | Tod Sloan | John E. Madden | William C. Whitney | 7 F | 1:26.00 | $3,850 |
| 1899 | Lieut. Gibson | 2 | Frank O'Leary | Charles H. Hughes | Charles Head Smith | 7 F | 1:30.00 | $3,475 |
| 1898 | Autumn † | 2 | Danny Maher | A. Jack Joyner | A. Jack Joyner | 7 F | 1:28.00 | $2,400 |
| 1897 | Previous | 2 | Tod Sloan | Hardy Campbell Jr. | Michael F. Dwyer | 7 F | 1:28.40 | $2,350 |
| 1896 | Ornament | 2 | Alonzo Clayton | Charles T. Patterson | Charles T. Patterson | 7 F | 1:27.20 | $2,350 |
| 1895 | Requital | 2 | Henry Griffin | John Hyland | David Gideon | 7 F | 1:26.00 | $2,400 |
| 1894 | Lissak | 2 | Samuel Doggett | Raleigh Colston Jr. | Jack P. Chinn | 7 F | 1:29.00 | $3,500 |
| 1893 | Senator Grady | 2 | Samuel Doggett | Matthew Byrnes | Marcus Daly | 7 F | 1:29.20 | $3,350 |
| 1892 | Lady Violet | 2 | Willie Simms | A. Jack Joyner | Blemton Stable | 7 F | 1:28.60 | $3,800 |
| 1891 | Merry Monarch | 2 | Marty Bergen | John Hyland | David Gideon | 7 F | 1:29.40 | $4,450 |
| 1890 | Potomac | 2 | Anthony Hamilton | James G. Rowe Sr. | August Belmont Sr. | 7 F | 1:29.80 | $4,550 |
| 1889 | Torso | 2 | Anthony Hamilton | Charles Leighton | William L. Scott | 7 F | 1:34.00 | $6,600 |
| 1888 | Salvator | 2 | Shelby Barnes | Matthew Byrnes | James B. A. Haggin | 7 F | 1:30.80 | $5,450 |
| 1887 | Sir Dixon | 2 | William J. Fitzpatrick | Green B. Morris | Green B. Morris | 7 F | 1:29.00 | $5,650 |
| 1886 | King Fox | 2 | John Spellman | Jim Murphy | James B. A. Haggin | 7 F | 1:27.75 | $3,650 |
| 1885 | Charity | 2 | Robert "Tiny" Williams | | William L. Scott | 7 F | 1:31.25 | $4,700 |
| 1884 | Wanda | 2 | Harris Olney | Matthew Byrnes | Pierre Lorillard IV | 7 F | 1:31.00 | $2,475 |
* † In 1898, Martimas won but was disqualified.