# Black Helen Handicap

The Black Helen Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida, from 1941 through 2001. Open to fillies and mares age three and older, the Grade II event was raced on turf at a distance of a mile and an eighth (9 furlongs).
The race was named for Edward R. Bradley's U.S. Racing Hall of Fame mare Black Helen. The inaugural running took place on February 8, 1941, and was won by Sweet Willow at a distance of seven furlongs. The following year the race was run at a mile and an eighth and would remain at that distance for all subsequent editions.

## Historical notes

In 1948 the Black Helen Handicap had a Dead heat for win between Shotsilk and Rampart. It marked a rarity for a dead heat in that Rampart carried the highweight, in the field of ten, and Shotsilk the low weight. Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr.'s Shotsilk would turn out to be the only three-year-old to ever win the race.
Bewitch won the 1950 Black Helen Handicap by seven lengths in a time of 1:48 flat for a mile and one-eighth that was just 2/5 of a second off the World Record.
In 1968, Treacherous won the Black Helen Handicap but her win was overshadowed by jockey Ángel Cordero Jr. who set a Hialeah track record by riding six winners that day. One horse Cordero Jr. did not ride was Treacherous.
The 2000 running of the Black Helen Handicap was run at Gulfstream Park. It returned to Hialeah Park in 2001 for what would prove to be the final edition.

## Records

Speed record:
* 1:46.71 @ 11⁄8 miles – Class Kris (1996)
Most wins:
* In its 58 runnings, no horse ever won this race more than once.
Most wins by a jockey:
* 3 – Eddie Maple (1984, 1985, 1987)
Most wins by a trainer:
* 4 – H. Allen Jerkens (1963, 1967, 1970, 1975)
Most wins by an owner:
* 4 – Calumet Farm (1950, 1957, 1959, 1954)

## Winners

| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Dist. (Miles) | Time | Win$ | Gr. |
| 2001 | Perfect Sting | 5 | Eibar Coa | Joe Orseno | Stronach Stables | 11⁄8 M | 1:47.17 | $120,000 | G2 |
| 2000 | Snow Polina | 5 | Javier Castellano | William I. Mott | Gary A. Tanaka | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.91 | $120,000 | G2 |
| 1999 | Anguilla | 4 | Julie Krone | Thomas J. Skiffington | John & Glenn Sikura | 11⁄8 M | 1:47.43 | $120,000 | G2 |
| 1998 | Sopran Mariduff | 4 | Heberto Castillo Jr. | William I. Mott | Leonardo Ciampoli | 11⁄8 M | 1:47.30 | $120,000 | G2 |
| 1997 | Powder Bowl | 5 | Herb McCauley | Jonathan E. Sheppard | Augustin Stable | 11⁄8 M | 1:48.80 | $120,000 | G2 |
| 1996 | Class Kris | 4 | Gary Boulanger | James E. Picou | Fred W. Hooper | 11⁄8 M | 1:46.71 | $120,000 | G2 |
| 1995 | Alice Springs | 5 | René R. Douglas | Jonathan E. Sheppard | Augustin Stable | 11⁄8 M | 1:48.74 | $120,000 | G2 |
| 1994 | Aquilegia | 5 | Herb McCauley | Flint S. Schulhofer | Helen K. Groves | 11⁄8 M | 1:48.20 | $120,000 | G3 |
| 1993 | Klassy Individual | 7 | René R. Douglas | Lawrence W. Jennings Jr. | Ballet Stable | 11⁄8 M | 1:48.50 | $90,000 | |
| 1992 | Grab the Green | 4 | José A. Santos | Barclay Tagg | Samuel Rogers | 11⁄8 M (±) | 1:48.00 | $90,000 | |
| 1990 | – 1991 | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held | Race not held |
| 1989 | Love You by Heart | 4 | Jean Cruguet | John M. Veitch | Darby Dan Farm | 11⁄8 M | 1:50.40 | $105,000 | G2 |
| 1988 | Anka Germania | 5 | José A. Santos | Thomas J. Skiffington | Glencrest Farm (David Greathouse) | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.80 | $75,000 | G2 |
| 1987 | Lotka | 4 | Eddie Maple | Woody Stephens | Henryk de Kwiatkowski | 11⁄8 M | 1:46.80 | $105,000 | G2 |
| 1986 | Shocker T. | 4 | Gene St. Leon | George Gianos | Thomasina Caporella | 11⁄8 M | 1:47.00 | $60,000 | G2 |
| 1985 | Isayso | 6 | Eddie Maple | Michael O. Chamblee | Judie Nichols Chamblee | 11⁄8 M | 1:47.20 | $60,000 | G2 |
| 1984 | Sabin | 4 | Eddie Maple | Woody Stephens | Henryk de Kwiatkowski | 11⁄8 M | 1:47.00 | $75,000 | G2 |
| 1983 | Mistretta | 4 | Jerry D. Bailey | Woody Stephens | Ghislaine Head | 11⁄8 M | 1:46.80 | $45,000 | G2 |
| 1982 | Honey Fox | 5 | Jean-Luc Samyn | Flint S. Schulhofer | Jerome Torsney | 11⁄8 M | 1:47.00 | $60,000 | G2 |
| 1981 | The Very One | 6 | Jorge Velásquez | Stephen A. DiMauro | Helen M. Polinger | 11⁄8 M | 1:48.20 | $45,000 | G2 |
| 1980 | Spring in Deepsea | 5 | Jean-Luc Samyn | Horatio Luro | Serge Fradkoff | 11⁄8 M | 1:51.00 | $45,000 | G2 |
| 1979 | Late Bloomer | 5 | Jorge Velásquez | John M. Gaver Jr. | Greentree Stable | 11⁄8 M | 1:50.40 | $30,000 | G2 |
| 1978 | Len's Determined | 4 | Jean Cruguet | Duke Davis | Leonard Smith | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.00 | $30,000 | G2 |
| 1977 | Copano | 5 | Larry Saumell | Oral C. Pickard | J. D. King | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.80 | $30,000 | G2 |
| 1976 | Yes Dear Maggy | 4 | Ruben Hernandez | Robert S. DuBois | John C. Oxley | 11⁄8 M | 1:48.40 | $30,000 | G2 |
| 1975 | Garland of Roses | 6 | Ángel Cordero Jr. | H. Allen Jerkens | Hobeau Farm | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.00 | $42,510 | |
| 1974 | Dogtooth Violet | 4 | Don MacBeth | Stanley M. Rieser | Barbra Hunter | 11⁄8 M | 1:47.00 | $42,770 | |
| 1973 | Graffiti | 5 | Marco Castaneda | Horatio Luro | Louisa d'A Carpenter | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.80 | $ | |
| 1972 | Alma North | 4 | Frank Lovato | Frank J. Zitto | Eugene V. Mori | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.00 | $41,990 |
| 1971 | Swoons Flower | 4 | Carlos H. Marquez | George Towne | Howard Sams | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.00 | $41,080 |
| 1970 | Taken Aback | 4 | Braulio Baeza | H. Allen Jerkens | Hobeau Farm | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.20 | $41,275 |
| 1969 | Amerigo Lady | 5 | Manuel Ycaza | J. Elliott Burch | Rokeby Stable | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.60 | $43,225 |
| 1968 | Treacherous | 4 | Heliodoro Gustines | Sherrill W. Ward | Lazy F Ranch | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.00 | $40,235 |
| 1967 | Mac's Sparkler | 5 | William Boland | H. Allen Jerkens | Hobeau Farm | 11⁄8 M | 1:48.60 | $42,250 |
| 1966 | What A Treat | 4 | John L. Rotz | Sylvester Veitch | George D. Widener Jr. | 11⁄8 M | 1:50.40 | $40,690 |
| 1965 | Old Hat | 6 | Donald Brumfield | Charles C. Norman | Stanley Conrad | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.80 | $39,390 |
| 1964 | Princess Arle | 4 | John L. Rotz | Horace A. Jones | Calumet Farm | 11⁄8 M | 1:50.60 | $39,455 |
| 1963 | Pocosaba | 6 | William Boland | H. Allen Jerkens | Pete Bostwick | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.40 | $41,005 |
| 1962 | Seven Thirty | 4 | Larry Adams | Winbert F. Mulholland | George D. Widener Jr. | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.00 | $33,215 |
| 1961 | Be Cautious | 4 | Bobby Ussery | John A. Nerud | Joseph M. Roebling | 11⁄8 M | 1:50.80 | $30,095 |
| 1960 | Royal Native | 4 | Bill Hartack | Kenneth D. Noe Sr. | Perne L. Grissom | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.00 | $30,160 |
| 1959 | Rosewood | 5 | Charlie Burr | Horace A. Jones | Calumet Farm | 11⁄8 M | 1:50.20 | $25,350 |
| 1958 | Pardala | 5 | Dave Erb | Hugh L. Fontaine | D & H Stable (Jack Dudley/Bonnie Heath) | 11⁄8 M | 1:50.00 | $28,400 |
| 1957 | Amoret | 5 | Bill Hartack | Horace A. Jones | Calumet Farm | 11⁄8 M | 1:54.60 | $25,450 |
| 1956 | Clear Dawn | 5 | Logan Batcheller | Jack Long | Darby Dan Farm | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.40 | $28,959 |
| 1955 | Rosemary B. | 4 | William M. Cook | Mose F. Shapoff | William L. Huntley | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.40 | $24,500 |
| 1954 | Gainsboro Girl | 4 | Augustine Catalano | Walter D. Carroll | Shawmut Stable (Richard A. Jenks) | 11⁄8 M | 1:57.80 | $23,600 |
| 1953 | Atalanta | 5 | Harrison B. Wilson | Jack Long | Darby Dan Farm | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.40 | $23,600 |
| 1952 | Roman Miss | 4 | Kenneth Church | John Hanover | Harry F. Krimendahl | 11⁄8 M | 1:55.80 | $18,175 |
| 1951 | Antagonism | 4 | Robert Bernhardt | James E. Fitzsimmons | Wheatley Stable | 11⁄8 M | 1:51.60 | $15,050 |
| 1950 | Bewitch | 5 | Ovie Scurlock | Ben A. Jones | Calumet Farm | 11⁄8 M | 1:48.00 | $13,825 |
| 1949 | Roman Candle | 5 | Logan Batcheller | Jack Webber | Gardenia Stable (Paul Newsom) | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.00 | $16,850 |
| 1948 | Shotsilk (DH) | 3 | William M. Cook | Winbert F. Mulholland | Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr. | 11⁄8 M | 1:50.00 | $10,950 |
| 1948 | Rampart (DH) | 6 | Mike Basile | Richard "Whitey" Nixon | Helene K. Haggerty | 11⁄8 M | 1:50.00 | $10,950 |
| 1947 | Miss Grillo | 5 | Conn McCreary | Horatio Luro | Mill River Stable (Josephine Douglas) | 11⁄8 M | 1:49.80 | $19,400 |
| 1946 | Adroit | 6 | Kenneth Scawthorn | Joseph W. Mergler | Mrs. Robert H. Heighe | 11⁄8 M | 1:51.80 | $22,700 |
| 1945 | No race held due to WW II restrictions. | No race held due to WW II restrictions. | No race held due to WW II restrictions. | No race held due to WW II restrictions. | No race held due to WW II restrictions. | No race held due to WW II restrictions. | No race held due to WW II restrictions. | No race held due to WW II restrictions. |
| 1944 | Silvestra | 6 | Ted Atkinson | Ross O. Higdon | Woolford Farm | 11⁄8 M | 1:52.20 | $4,130 |
| 1943 | No race held due to WW II restrictions. | No race held due to WW II restrictions. | No race held due to WW II restrictions. | No race held due to WW II restrictions. | No race held due to WW II restrictions. | No race held due to WW II restrictions. | No race held due to WW II restrictions. | No race held due to WW II restrictions. |
| 1942 | Pomayya | 4 | Basil James | J. J. McCabe | Brookmeade Stable | 11⁄8 M | 1:50.80 | $9,075 |
| 1941 | Sweet Willow | 4 | Robert Howell | Robert W. Collins | Robert W. Collins | 7 F | 1:23.40 | $4,810 |