# Autumn Maiden Stakes

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Autumn_Maiden_Stakes
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Autumn_Maiden_Stakes.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_Maiden_Stakes
> Source revision: 1335016408
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Horse race

Autumn Maiden Stakes Class Discontinued stakes Location Sheepshead Bay Race Track, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, United States Inaugurated 1899 Race type Thoroughbred - Flat racing Race information Distance 5.5 furlongs Surface Dirt Track left-handed Qualification Two-year-old maidens

The **Autumn Maiden Stakes** was an American [Thoroughbred horse race](/source/Thoroughbred_racing) held annually near the end of the racing season each fall at [Sheepshead Bay Race Track](/source/Sheepshead_Bay_Race_Track) in [Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn](/source/Sheepshead_Bay%2C_Brooklyn), [New York](/source/New_York_(state)). Run from 1893 through 1909, it was a [Maiden race](/source/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.[1][2]

## Distances

- 1893-1904, 1906, 1907: 5⁄8 mi (5 furlongs; 1,006 m)

- 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](/source/Gelding) won that year’s [Neptune Stakes](/source/Neptune_Stakes) at the [Brighton Beach Race Course](/source/Brighton_Beach_Race_Course) and would go on to a good racing career, winning such events as the important [Carter Handicap](/source/Carter_Handicap) in 1905.

In 1906, [Electioneer](/source/Electioneer) won this race and went on to win the [Futurity Stakes](/source/Belmont_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:

- Lady Bedford - [Coney Island Handicap](/source/Coney_Island_Handicap) (SHB)

- Lawrence P. Daley - [Canadian Derby](/source/Canadian_Derby) (FE,10f), [Van Courtlandt Handicap](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Van_Courtlandt_Handicap&action=edit&redlink=1) (BEL,7f)

- Arsenal - [Metropolitan Handicap](/source/Metropolitan_Handicap)

- Duke of Middleburg - [Washington Handicap](/source/Washington_Handicap), [Carter Handicap](/source/Carter_Handicap)

- King Lief - [Crotona Handicap](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Crotona_Handicap&action=edit&redlink=1) (Morris Park,6f)

## The race’s demise

The 1908 passage of the [Hart-Agnew](/source/Hart-Agnew_Law) anti-betting legislation by the [New York Legislature](/source/New_York_Legislature) under [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) [Governor](/source/Governor_of_New_York) [Charles Evans Hughes](/source/Charles_Evans_Hughes) led to a state-wide shutdown of racing in 1911 and 1912.[3] 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 money](/source/Purse_distribution) 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](/source/New_York_Supreme_Court%2C_Appellate_Division) saw horse racing return in that year.[4] 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](/source/Jockey):**

- no jockey won this race more than once

**Most wins by a [trainer](/source/Horse_trainer):**

- [A. Jack Joyner](/source/A._Jack_Joyner) (1893, 1903, 1904)

**Most wins by an owner:**

- [August Belmont Jr.](/source/August_Belmont_Jr.) (1893, 1897)

- [Sydney Paget](/source/Sydney_Paget) (1903, 1904)

## Winners

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

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["The Autumn Maiden Stakes (1893-1908)"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1909083101/drf1909083101_1_4). *[Daily Racing Form](/source/Daily_Racing_Form) (Library of Congress Record)*. Retrieved 18 April 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["New York Form Chart (1909)"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1909090101/drf1909090101_3_1). *[Daily Racing Form](/source/Daily_Racing_Form) (Library of Congress Record)*. Retrieved 19 April 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Penalties in the New York Bills"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1908011801/drf1908011801_1_7). *Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives*. Retrieved 19 March 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Oral Betting Held Legal: Appellate Division of New York Supreme Court Renders Important Decision"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1913022201/drf1913022201_1_9). *[Daily Racing Form](/source/Daily_Racing_Form) at the Library of Congress*. Retrieved 21 July 2025.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Autumn Maiden Stakes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_Maiden_Stakes) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_Maiden_Stakes?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.