Junior Champion Stakes (Gravesend)
# Junior Champion Stakes (Gravesend)

The Junior Champion Stakes was a race for two-year-old Thoroughbred horses at Gravesend Race Track in Gravesend, on Coney Island, New York State. The September 18, 1909 edition of the Daily Racing Form stated that for a number of years it had been one of the East Coast's most important and valuable stakes for two-year-olds.

Among the race winners, Mesmerist was chosen the 1899 American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse as was Commando (1900), Highball (1903), Sysonby (1904) and Salvidere in 1906.

## Demise

In 1908, the administration of Republican Governor Charles Evans Hughes signed into law the Hart–Agnew bill that effectively banned all racetrack wagering in New York State. A 1910 amendment to the legislation added further restrictions that meant by 1911 all racetracks in the state ceased operations. Although the law was repealed in time to resume racing in 1913, the Gravesend Race Track never reopened.

In 1923, a new Junior Champion Stakes, later renamed the Cowdin Stakes, was inaugurated at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park neighborhood in Queens, New York City.

## Records

Speed record:

* 1:09.00 at 6 F ± – Suffragette (1908)
* 1:13.80 at 6 F – Commando (1900)

Most wins by a jockey:

* 2 – Walter Miller (1906–1907)

Most wins by a trainer:

* 4 – James G. Rowe Sr. (1900, 1904, 1907, 1908)

Most wins by an owner:

* 3 – James R. Keene (1900, 1904, 1907)

## Winners

DRF history of the Junior Champion Stakes, 1898–1908

| Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Dist. (Furlong) | Time | Win$ |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1908 | Suffragette | Joe Notter | James G. Rowe Sr. | James G. Rowe Sr. | 6 F ± | 1:09.00 | $2,250 |
| 1907 | Celt | Walter Miller | James G. Rowe Sr. | James R. Keene | 6 F ± | 1:10.00 | $5,425 |
| 1906 | Salvidere | Walter Miller | John E. Madden | Thomas Hitchcock Sr. | 6 F ± | 1:10.80 | $13,475 |
| 1905 | Pegasus | Lucien Lyne | John W. Rogers | Harry Payne Whitney | 6 F ± | 1:10.40 | $11,775 |
| 1904 | Sysonby | Arthur Redfern | James G. Rowe Sr. | James R. Keene | 6 F ± | 1:09.60 | $6,010 |
| 1903 | Highball | Grover Fuller | John W. May | Walter M. Shiftel & John W. May | 6 F ± | 1:10.40 | $12,760 |
| 1902 | Acefull | Harry Cochran | John E. Madden | William C. Whitney & Herman B. Duryea | 6 F ± | 1:09.40 | $13,425 |
| 1901 | Goldsmith | Nash Turner | John W. Rogers | William C. Whitney | 6 F ± | 1:11.20 | $12,650 |
| 1900 | Commando | Henry Spencer | James G. Rowe Sr. | James R. Keene | 6 F | 1:13.80 | $10,510 |
| 1899 | Mesmerist | Winfield O'Connor | Julius J. Bauer | Bromley & Co. (Joseph E. Bromley & Arthur Featherstone) | 6 F | 1:15.00 | $18,320 |
| 1898 | Armament | Danny Maher | Walter C. Rollins | Oneck Stable | 6 F | 1:14.25 | $9,600 |
