{{Infobox horseraces | class = Discontinued stakes | horse race = Autumn Maiden Stakes | website = | image = [[Image:Flat racing clipart.svg|60px]] | caption = | location = [[Sheepshead Bay Race Track]], [[Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]],<br>[[United States]] | inaugurated = 1899 | race type = [[Thoroughbred]] - [[Flat racing]] | distance = 5.5 furlongs | surface = Dirt | track = left-handed | qualification = Two-year-old [[Maiden race|maidens]] | weight = | purse = | bonuses = }}

The '''Autumn Maiden Stakes''' was an American [[Thoroughbred racing|Thoroughbred horse race]] held annually near the end of the racing season each fall at [[Sheepshead Bay Race Track]] in [[Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]]. Run from 1893 through 1909, it was a [[Maiden race]] on dirt for two-year-olds of either sex that had not yet won a race at the time of official registration for that year’s event.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Autumn Maiden Stakes (1893-1908) |url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1909083101/drf1909083101_1_4 |website=[[Daily Racing Form]] (Library of Congress Record) |access-date=18 April 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=New York Form Chart (1909) |url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1909090101/drf1909090101_3_1 |website=[[Daily Racing Form]] (Library of Congress Record) |access-date=19 April 2025}}</ref>

==Distances== *1893-1904, 1906, 1907: {{convert|5/8|mi|furlong m|0|abbr=on}} *1905, 1908, 1909 at 5½ furlongs

==Raison d'être== For horse owners, as well as their trainer, having their horse earn its first victory was very important. Being winless near the end of the racing season was frustrating for the owner who would have spent a considerable amount of money buying the horse, then paying for all its racing costs including for its stabling, feed, trainer, veterinarian, entry fees, travel etc. For the trainer, a winless year usually resulted in dismissal. As such, the Autumn Maiden Stakes meant a great deal.

In the case of Ormonde's Right, after winning the 1903 Autumn Maiden Stakes, the [[gelding]] won that year’s [[Neptune Stakes]] at the [[Brighton Beach Race Course]] and would go on to a good racing career, winning such events as the important [[Carter Handicap]] in 1905.

In 1906, [[Electioneer]] won this race and went on to win the [[Belmont Futurity Stakes|Futurity Stakes]], one of the richest races in America that earned $36,880 for Electioneer, more than ten times the $3,375 he earned for winning the Autumn Maiden Stakes.

Other Autumn Maiden Stakes winners went on to more victories the following year at age three such as: <br> *Lady Bedford - [[Coney Island Handicap]] (SHB) *Lawrence P. Daley - [[Canadian Derby]] (FE,10f), [[Van Courtlandt Handicap]] (BEL,7f) *Arsenal - [[Metropolitan Handicap]] *Duke of Middleburg - [[Washington Handicap]], [[Carter Handicap]] *King Lief - [[Crotona Handicap]] (Morris Park,6f)

==The race’s demise== The 1908 passage of the [[Hart-Agnew Law|Hart-Agnew]] anti-betting legislation by the [[New York Legislature]] under [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Governor of New York|Governor]] [[Charles Evans Hughes]] led to a state-wide shutdown of racing in 1911 and 1912.<ref>{{cite web |title=Penalties in the New York Bills|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1908011801/drf1908011801_1_7 |website=Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives|access-date=19 March 2025}}</ref> Having no alternative to survive without income from wagering, the Sheepshead Bay Race Track had no choice but to cut the race’s total [[Purse distribution|purse money]] for 1908 by more than 70% from its 1907 level. The following year it was reduced again to less than 13% of what it had been at its peak in 1907.

It would be five years after Hart-Agnew became law that a February 21, 1913 ruling by the [[New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division]] saw horse racing return in that year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oral Betting Held Legal: Appellate Division of New York Supreme Court Renders Important Decision |url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1913022201/drf1913022201_1_9 |website=[[Daily Racing Form]] at the Library of Congress |access-date=21 July 2025}}</ref> However, by then it was too late for horse racing at the Sheepshead Bay track and it was ultimately sold.

==Records== '''Speed record:''' * 0:59.20 @ 5 furlongs: Arsenal (1901) * 1:06.80 @ 5.5 furlongs: Lady Bedford (1908)

'''Most wins by a [[jockey]]:''' * no jockey won this race more than once

'''Most wins by a [[Horse trainer|trainer]]:''' * [[A. Jack Joyner]] (1893, 1903, 1904)

'''Most wins by an owner:''' * [[August Belmont Jr.]] (1893, 1897) * [[Sydney Paget]] (1903, 1904)

==Winners== {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:85%" |- ! style="width:30px" | Year ! style="width:110px" | Winner ! style="width:110px" | Jockey ! style="width:120px" | Trainer ! Owner<br> ! style="width:25px" | {{abbr|Dist.|Distance}}<br> ([[Furlong|Furlongs]]) ! style="width:25px" | Time ! style="width:40px" | Win [[United States dollar|$]] |- |align=center|1909 |Ben Loyal |Charles Grand |John Hynes |Rangeley Stable |align=center|5.5 [[Furlong|F]] |1:07.00 |$460 |- |align=center|1908 |Lady Bedford |[[Carroll H. Shilling|Carroll Shilling]] |[[John E. Madden]] |John E. Madden |align=center|5.5 F |1:06.80 |$1,050 |- |align=center|1907 |Lawrence P. Daley |[[Dave Nicol (jockey)|Dave Nicol]] |William E. Phillips |Fred Cook |align=center|5 F |1:00.00 |$3,575 |- |align=center|1906 |[[Electioneer]] |Leroy Williams |[[William Lakeland (horse trainer)|William Lakeland]] |William Lakeland |align=center|5 F |1:00.60 |$3,375 |- |align=center|1905 |Blair Athol |[[Thomas H. Burns|Tommy Burns]] |[[John Hyland (horse trainer)|John J. Hyland]] |Walter M. Scheftel |align=center|5.5 F |1:07.20 |$3,350 |- |align=center|1904 |Woodsaw |[[Lucien Lyne]] |[[A. Jack Joyner]] |[[Sydney Paget]] |align=center|5 F |0:59.80 |$3,300 |- |align=center|1903 |[[Ormonde's Right]] |[[Frank O'Neill (jockey)|Frank O'Neill]] |A. Jack Joyner |Sydney Paget |align=center|5 F |1:00.60 |$3,240 |- |align=center|1902 |Parisienne |[[Otto Wonderly]] |[[Barry Littlefield]] |[[James B. A. Haggin]] |align=center|5 F |0:59.60 |$3,530 |- |align=center|1901 |Arsenal |[[Winfield O'Connor]] |[[Julius Bauer]] |Arthur Featherstone |align=center|5 F |0:59.20 |$2,480 |- |align=center|1900 |King Lief |[[Nash Turner]] |John Dillard Smith Jr. |John Dillard Smith Jr. |align=center|5 F |1:01.80 |$2,440 |- |align=center|1899 |Elfin Conig |Eugene Van Keuren |Charles L. Railey |Charles L. Railey |align=center|5 F |1:02.40 |$2,440 |- |align=center|1898 |Duke of Middleburg |[[Fred Littlefield]] |[[R. Wyndham Walden]] |[[Alfred Hennen Morris|Alfred H.]] & [[Dave Hennen Morris|Dave H. Morris]] |align=center|5 F |1:03.00 |$2,100 |- |align=center|1897 |Lady Marian |Harry Hewitt |John J. Hyland |[[August Belmont Jr.]] |align=center|5 F |1:02.00 |$1,430 |- |align=center|1896 |Sunny Slope |[[Fred Taral]] |Jere Dunn |Jere Dunn |align=center|5 F |1:01.00 |$1,425 |- |align=center|1895 |Silver II |Charles A. Ballard |[[Matthew Byrnes]] |[[Marcus Daly]] |align=center|5 F |1:01.80 |$1,540 |- |align=center|1894 |The Sage |[[Henry Griffin (jockey)|Henry Griffin]] |[[James G. Rowe Sr.]] |[[Brookdale Farm (Lincroft, New Jersey)|Brookdale Stable]] (Col. William Payne Thompson) |align=center|5 F |1:01.00 |$1,845 |- |align=center|1893 |Economist |[[Anthony Hamilton (jockey)|Anthony Hamilton]] |A. Jack Joyner |August Belmont Jr. |align=center|5 F |1:03.00 |$1,275 |- |}

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Horse races in New York (state)]] [[Category:Restricted stakes races in the United States]] [[Category:Open sprint category horse races]] [[Category:Horse races established in 1893]] [[Category:Discontinued horse races in New York (state)]] [[Category:Recurring sporting events established in 1893]] [[Category:Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1910]] [[Category:Sheepshead Bay Race Track]]