# Empire City Handicap

The Empire City Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race inaugurated on October 22, 1900, as part of the opening day racecard at Empire City Race Track in Yonkers, New York. Sometimes referred in newspaper reports as the Empire City Stakes, it was raced at the Empire City track through 1942 then the following year it moved to the Jamaica Race Course in Jamaica, Queens where it remained until its final running on November 7, 1953.
The first edition of the Empire City Handicap was open to horses age three and older. From 1937 until its final running in 1953, the race was restricted to three-year-old horses. There was no race run 1901–1906, and 1911–1913. That inaugural running was won by Charentus in a World record time of 2:04 flat for a mile and a quarter on dirt.
During its tenure, the Empire City Handicap was contested at various distances:
* 1 mile : 1907
* 1+1⁄8 miles : 1908–1910, 1914–1922, 1934–1941
* 1+3⁄16 miles : 1942-1953
* 1+1⁄4 miles : 1900, 1923–1933

## Records

Speed record:
* 1:50.00 @ 11⁄8 M : Swing And Sway (1941)
* 1:56.00 @ 13⁄16 M : Apache (1942)
* 2:03.00 @ 11⁄4 M : Sting (1924)
Most wins:
* 2 - Peanuts (1926, 1927)
Most wins by a jockey:
* 2 - Laverne Fator (1922, 1925)
* 2 - Johnny Longden (1935, 1943)
* 2 - Nick Wall (1939, 1950)
* 2 - James Stout (1940, 1942)
* 2 - Eddie Arcaro (1944, 1949)
* 2 - Ted Atkinson (1945, 1952)
* 2 - Eric Guerin (1946, 1953)
Most wins by a trainer:
* 6 - James E. Fitzsimmons (1930, 1932, 1934, 1940, 1942, 1946)
Most wins by an owner:
* 5 - Belair Stud (1930, 1934, 1940, 1942, 1946)

## Winners

| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Dist. (Miles) | Time |
| 1953 | Find | 3 | Eric Guerin | William C. Winfrey | Alfred G. Vanderbilt Jr. | 13⁄16 M | 1:58.00 |
| 1952 | Tom Fool | 3 | Ted Atkinson | John M. Gaver Sr. | Greentree Stable | 13⁄16 M | 1:58.00 |
| 1951 | Counterpoint | 3 | Dave Gorman | Sylvester Veitch | C. V. Whitney | 13⁄16 M | 1:58.60 |
| 1950 | All At Once | 3 | Nick Wall | W. M. Lyons | John W. Nizlek | 13⁄16 M | 1:59.00 |
| 1949 | Palestinian | 3 | Eddie Arcaro | Hirsch Jacobs | Isadore Bieber | 13⁄16 M | 1:57.20 |
| 1948 | Miss Request | 3 | Ovie Scurlock | James P. Conway | Florence Whitaker | 13⁄16 M | 1:57.40 |
| 1947 | Phalanx | 3 | Ruperto Donoso | Sylvester Veitch | C. V. Whitney | 13⁄16 M | 1:57.80 |
| 1946 | Bonnie Beryl | 3 | Eric Guerin | James E. Fitzsimmons | Belair Stud | 13⁄16 M | 1:56.80 |
| 1945 | Gallorette | 3 | Ted Atkinson | Edward A. Christmas | William L. Brann | 13⁄16 M | 1:56.80 |
| 1944 | Stir Up | 3 | Eddie Arcaro | John M. Gaver Sr. | Greentree Stable | 13⁄16 M | 1:56.20 |
| 1943 | Chop Chop | 3 | Johnny Longden | Harris B. Brown | Josephine Douglas | 13⁄16 M | 1:57.20 |
| 1942 | Apache | 3 | James Stout | James E. Fitzsimmons | Belair Stud | 13⁄16 M | 1:56.00 |
| 1941 | Swing And Sway | 3 | Don Meade | John M. Gaver Sr. | Greentree Stable | 11⁄8 M | 1:50.00 |
| 1940 | Fenelon | 3 | James Stout | James E. Fitzsimmons | Belair Stud | 11⁄8 M | 1:53.00 |
| 1939 | Lovely Night | 3 | Nick Wall | Henry McDaniel | Florence Clark | 11⁄8 M | 1:52.00 |
| 1938 | Stagehand | 3 | Jack Westrope | Earl Sande | Col. Maxwell Howard | 11⁄8 M | 1:51.00 |
| 1937 | Rex Flag | 3 | Robert Merritt | John P. Jones | Louise Viau | 11⁄8 M | 1:52.40 |
| 1936 | Esposa | 4 | Russell Kastner | Matthew P. Brady | William Ziegler Jr. | 11⁄8 M | 1:52.60 |
| 1935 | Top Row | 4 | Johnny Longden | Albert A. Baroni | Albert A. Baroni | 11⁄8 M | 1:51.00 |
| 1934 | Faireno | 5 | Silvio Coucci | James E. Fitzsimmons | Belair Stud | 11⁄8 M | 1:51.80 |
| 1933 | Dark Secret | 4 | John Gilbert | George Tappen | Wheatley Stable | 11⁄4 M | 2:05.00 |
| 1932 | Blenheim | 4 | Hank Mills | James E. Fitzsimmons | Wheatley Stable | 11⁄4 M | 2:06.60 |
| 1931 | Questionnaire | 4 | Raymond Workman | Edward J. Bennett | James Butler | 11⁄4 M | 2:07.00 |
| 1930 | Frisius | 4 | Whitey Abel | James E. Fitzsimmons | Belair Stud | 11⁄4 M | 2:06.00 |
| 1929 | Sun Edwin | 4 | Linus McAtee | Louis Feustel | Arden Farm | 11⁄4 M | 2:05.75 |
| 1928 | Recreation | 4 | Pete Goodwin | Robert A. Smith| | Jefferson Livingston | 11⁄4 M | 2:08.40 |
| 1927 | Peanuts | 5 | Harold Thurber | George M. Odom | Robert L. Gerry Sr. | 11⁄4 M | 2:08.00 |
| 1926 | Peanuts | 4 | Harry Richards | George M. Odom | Robert L. Gerry Sr. | 11⁄4 M | 2:06.00 |
| 1925 | Mad Play | 4 | Laverne Fator | Sam Hildreth | Rancocas Stable | 11⁄4 M | 2:08.00 |
| 1924 | Sting | 3 | Benjamin Breuning | Jimmy Johnson | James Butler | 11⁄4 M | 2:03.00 |
| 1923 | Tryster | 5 | Earl Sande | Scott P. Harlan | Westmont Stable | 11⁄4 M | 2:05.40 |
| 1922 | Grey Lag | 4 | Laverne Fator | Sam Hildreth | Rancocas Stable | 11⁄8 M | 1:54.00 |
| 1921 | Yellow Hand | 4 | Charles H. Miller | A. J. Goldsborough | Charles A. Stoneham | 11⁄8 M | 1:51.00 |
| 1920 | Naturalist | 6 | Clarence Turner | Thomas Welsh | Joseph E. Widener | 11⁄8 M | 1:53.00 |
| 1919 | Lanius | 8 | Johnny Loftus | A. Jack Joyner | George D. Widener Jr. | 11⁄8 M | 1:51.80 |
| 1918 | Roamer | 7 | Lawrence Lyke | A. J. Goldsborough | Andrew Miller | 11⁄8 M | 1:51.00 |
| 1917 | Spur | 4 | Willie Knapp | James H. McCormick | James Butler | 11⁄8 M | 1:56.60 |
| 1916 | Short Grass | 8 | Frank Keogh | John J. Flanigan | Emil Herz | 11⁄8 M | 1:51.20 |
| 1915 | Gainer | 4 | Tommy McTaggart | James G. Rowe Sr. | Greentree Stable | 11⁄8 M | 1:51.60 |
| 1914 | Buckhorn | 5 | Joe McCahey | Jack D. Adkins | Roderick J. Mackenzie | 11⁄8 M | 1:54.00 |
| 1913 | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 1910 | Dalmatian | 3 | George Archibald | Sam Hildreth | Sam Hildreth | 11⁄8 M | 1:51.00 |
| 1909 | Maltbie | 4 | Stanley B. Page | James Gass | George Reif | 11⁄8 M | 1:53.80 |
| 1908 | Pinkola | 3 | James Butler | William H. Fizer | William H. Fizer | 11⁄8 M | 1:54.80 |
| 1907 | Prince Ahmed | 3 | Walter Ott | John C. Ferris Jr. | John C. Ferris Jr. | 10⁄0 M | 1:40.60 |
| 1900 | Charentus | 6 | Willie Shaw | Jim McLaughlin | Orville L. Richards | 11⁄4 M | 2:04.00 |