# Clover Stakes

The Clover Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run forty-one times at New York State's Gravesend and Aqueduct racetracks between 1888 and 1932. A race for two-year-old fillies, it was contested over a distance of five furlongs on dirt.
The first Clover Stakes was hosted by Gravesend Race Track from inception in 1888 and run through 1908 and then for a last time in 1910. Passage of the Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation by the New York Legislature under Governor Charles Evans Hughes led to a compete shutdown of racing in 1911 and 1912 in the state. A February 21, 1913 ruling by the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division saw horse racing return in 1913. However, it was too late for the Gravesend horse racing facility and it never reopened.
Picked up by the operators of the Aqueduct Racetrack, the Clover Stakes returned in 1914 and would run continuously through 1932. The valuable race then fell victim to the effects of the Great Depression in the United States which forced track owners to cut costs dramatically and eliminate some events in order to provide funding support for others.
The final edition was run on June 15, 1932, and was won by Sonny Whitney's Disdainful, stablemate of his Champion and U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Top Flight who won the 1931 running of the Clover Stakes.

## Records

Speed record:
* 0:58 flat @ 5 furlongs : Top Flight (1931)
* 0:55 2/5 @ 4.5 furlongs : Sweet Lavender (1900)
Most wins by a jockey:
* 3 – Fred Littlefield (1890, 1894, 1900)
Most wins by a trainer:
* 6 – James G. Rowe Sr. (1888, 1907, 1908, 1916, 1917, 1923)
Most wins by an owner:
* 6 – Harry Payne Whitney (1916, 1919, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1929)

## Winners

| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Dist. (Miles) | Time | Win$ |
| 1932 | Disdainful | 2 | Raymond Workman | Fred Hopkins | Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney | 5 F | 0:59.60 | $4,500 |
| 1931 | Top Flight | 2 | Alfred Robertson | T. J. Healey | Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney | 5 F | 0:58.00 | $5,775 |
| 1930 | Ladana | 2 | Laverne Fator | Frank M. Taylor | Rancocas Stable | 5 F | 1:01.20 | $6,600 |
| 1929 | Murky Cloud | 2 | Raymond Workman | Fred Hopkins | Harry Payne Whitney | 5 F | 1:00.00 | $6,200 |
| 1928 | Orissa | 2 | Laverne Fator | Sam Hildreth | Rancocas Stable | 5 F | 1:00.40 | $6,150 |
| 1927 | Princess Tina | 2 | George Fields | Robert Augustus Smith | Audley Farm Stable | 5 F | 0:59.60 | $5,675 |
| 1926 | Pandera | 2 | Linus McAtee | Fred Hopkins | Harry Payne Whitney | 5 F | 1:00.40 | $5,675 |
| 1925 | Friar's Carse | 2 | Albert Johnson | Gwyn R. Tompkins | Glen Riddle Farm | 5 F | 1:00.40 | $4,850 |
| 1924 | Maud Muller | 2 | John Maiben | Fred Hopkins | Harry Payne Whitney | 5 F | 0:58.60 | $4,650 |
| 1923 | Initiate | 2 | Linus McAtee | James G. Rowe Sr. | Harry Payne Whitney | 5 F | 0:58.60 | $5,225 |
| 1922 | Sally's Alley | 2 | Albert Johnson | Eugene Wayland | Willis Sharpe Kilmer | 5 F | 0:59.00 | $4,875 |
| 1921 | Budana | 2 | Earl Sande | Sam Hildreth | Rancocas Stable | 5 F | 0:59.80 | $4,725 |
| 1920 | Careful | 2 | Willie Kelsay | Eugene Wayland | Walter J. Salmon Sr. | 5 F | 0:59.00 | $3,150 |
| 1919 | Panoply | 2 | Eddie Ambrose | Albert Simons | Harry Payne Whitney | 5 F | 0:59.80 | $2,825 |
| 1918 | Elfin Queen | 2 | Lawrence Lyke | William H. Karrick | Oneck Stable | 5 F | 0:58.40 | $2,825 |
| 1917 | Rosie O'Grady | 2 | Frank Robinson | James G. Rowe Sr. | Lewis S. Thompson | 5 F | 1:00.40 | $2,850 |
| 1916 | Bonnie Witch | 2 | Lee Mink | James G. Rowe Sr. | Harry Payne Whitney | 5 F | 0:59.00 | $1,925 |
| 1915 | Celandria | 2 | Merritt C. Buxton | James A. McLaughlin | Elkwood Park Stable | 5 F | 1:04.40 | $1,525 |
| 1914 | Coquette | 2 | Merritt C. Buxton | George M. Odom | Brookside Stable | 5 F | 1:00.40 | $1,160 |
| 1913 | Racetrack ceased operations due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | Racetrack ceased operations due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | Racetrack ceased operations due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | Racetrack ceased operations due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | Racetrack ceased operations due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | Racetrack ceased operations due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | Racetrack ceased operations due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | Racetrack ceased operations due to the Hart–Agnew Law. |
| 1912 | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. |
| 1911 | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. | No races held due to the Hart–Agnew Law. |
| 1910 | Horizon | 2 | Stanley H. Davis | Frank Ernest | Richard F. Carman | 5 F | 1:01.00 | $1,900 |
| 1909 | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held |
| 1908 | Melisande | 2 | Joe Notter | James G. Rowe Sr. | James R. Keene | 5 F | 1:00.00 | $2,495 |
| 1907 | Meggs Hill | 2 | Joe Notter | James G. Rowe Sr. | James R. Keene | 5 F | 1:01.00 | $2,695 |
| 1906 | Adoration | 2 | Walter Miller | T. J. Healey | Richard T. Wilson Jr. | 5 F | 1:01.80 | $2,015 |
| 1905 | Transmute | 2 | Tommy Burns | Sam Hildreth | Edward E. Smathers | 5 F | 1:03.00 | $2,525 |
| 1904 | Chrysitis | 2 | Frank O'Neill | Fred Burlew | Pierre Lorillard IV | 5 F | 1:02.80 | $2,710 |
| 1903 | Contentious | 2 | Willie Gannon | R. Wyndham Walden | R. Wyndham Walden | 5 F | 1:01.00 | $2,275 |
| 1902 | Martie Lewis | 2 | George M. Odom | Peter G. Wimmer | Samuel S. Brown | 5 F | 1:00.60 | $1,850 |
| 1901 | Disadvantage | 2 | Lewis Smith | Arthur Carter | J. W. Smythe | 5 F | 1:03.20 | $1,450 |
| 1900 | Sweet Lavender | 2 | Fred Littlefield | Charles S. Littlefield Jr. | Charles Sr. & Barry Littlefield | 4.5 F | 0:55.40 | $1,450 |
| 1899 | Oneck Queen | 2 | Alonzo Clayton | Walter C. Rollins | Oneck Stable | 4.5 F | 0:56.00 | $1,450 |
| 1898 | High Degree | 2 | Tod Sloan | David Gideon | John Daly & David Gideon | 4.5 F | 0:56.75 | $1,450 |
| 1897 | Fayida | 2 | Skeets Martin | Albert Cooper | William A. Chanler | 4.5 F | 0:57.00 | $1,420 |
| 1896 | Winged Foot | 2 | John J. McCafferty | John J. McCafferty | John J. McCafferty | 4.5 F | 0:55.50 | $2,550 |
| 1895 | Axiom | 2 | John Lamley | Frank McCabe | Philip J. Dwyer | 5 F | 1:03.00 | $1,790 |
| 1894 | Ridicule | 2 | Fred Littlefield | R. Wyndham Walden | John A., Alfred H., Dave H. Morris | 5 F | 1:05.00 | $1,550 |
| 1893 | Kentigerna | 2 | Willie Simms | | Madison Stable (Ed Kelly) | 5 F | 1:03.75 | $2,950 |
| 1892 | Rain Drop | 2 | Fred Taral | | Brookwood Stable | 5 F | 1:05.00 | $2,265 |
| 1891 | Mount Vernon | 2 | Fred Taral | C. Thomas Jr. | Northampton Stable (William L. Scott) | 5 F | 1:04.00 | $2,375 |
| 1890 | Correction | 2 | Fred Littlefield | R. Wyndham Walden | John A. & Alfred H. Morris | 5 F | 1:06.75 | $3,445 |
| 1889 | Reclare | 2 | Johnny Reagan | Henry Warnke Jr. | Warnke & Son | 5 F | 1:04.75 | $3,040 |
| 1888 | Fides | 2 | P. Godfrey | James G. Rowe Sr. | August Belmont Sr. | 5 F | 1:03.75 | $2,100 |