# Commonwealth Handicap

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Horse race

Commonwealth Handicap Class Discontinued Location Sheepshead Bay Race Track Sheepshead Bay, New York Inaugurated 1903 Race type Thoroughbred – Flat racing Race information Distance 1¼ miles Surface Dirt Track left-handed Qualification Three years & older

The **Commonwealth Handicap** was an American [Thoroughbred horse race](/source/Thoroughbred_racing) run annually from 1903 through 1910 at [Sheepshead Bay Race Track](/source/Sheepshead_Bay_Race_Track) in [Sheepshead Bay](/source/Sheepshead_Bay%2C_Brooklyn), [New York](/source/New_York_(state)). Open to horses age three and older, it was run on dirt over a distance of 1¼ miles on dirt. It was raced in its first year as the "Suburban Renewal Handicap" having been created as a sequel to [Suburban Handicap](/source/Suburban_Handicap), the most important race in New York at the time for horses aged three and older.[1][2] In a July 1, 1906 review of upcoming races, the *[Daily Racing Form](/source/Daily_Racing_Form)* referred to the Commonwealth Handicap as a "highly important" race.[3]

## Historical notes

[Waterboy](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Waterboy_(horse)&action=edit&redlink=1) won the 1903 inaugural edition and would go on to retrospectively be named that year's [American Champion Older Male Horse](/source/American_Champion_Older_Dirt_Male_Horse). In the next two years [Ort Wells](/source/Ort_Wells) and then [Sysonby](/source/Sysonby_(horse)) would similarly be named the [American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse](/source/American_Champion_Three-Year-Old_Male_Horse) for the year of their win.[4]

The 1906 winner [Sir Huon](/source/Sir_Huon) came into the Commonwealth Handicap as the victor in the May 2 [Kentucky Derby](/source/Kentucky_Derby). However, New York racing fans thought little of the "western" horse and sent him off as a 15-1 longshot [5][6] Sir Huron then showed it was no fluke and won the [Seagate Stakes](/source/Seagate_Stakes) at [Brighton Beach Race Course](/source/Brighton_Beach_Race_Course).[7]

In winning the 1910 and last running of the Commonwealth Handicap, [Richard Wilson Jr.'s](/source/Richard_Thornton_Wilson_Jr.) speedy [Olambala](/source/Olambala) equaled the American record for a mile and one-quarter set by [Broomstick](/source/Broomstick_(horse)) six years earlier.[8]

## Closing

The race had a short existence as a result of the [Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation](/source/Hart%E2%80%93Agnew_Law) passed by the [New York Legislature](/source/New_York_Legislature) which devastated horse racing.[9] For its first six years the winner's share of the purse for the Commonwealth Handicap averaged more than $12,000 but for its final two runnings in 1909 and 1910 the winner's share was reduced to less than 20% of what it had been.[10][11] When 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 it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay horse racing facility and it never reopened.[12][13][14]

## Records

**Speed record:**

- 2:02 4/5 @ 11⁄4 miles : [Olambala](/source/Olambala) (1910) (equaled American record)

**Most wins:**

- No horse won this race more than once.

**Most wins by a [jockey](/source/Jockey):**

- No jockey won this race more than once.

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

- 2 – [A. Jack Joyner](/source/A._Jack_Joyner) (1903, 1908)

**Most wins by an owner:**

- No owner won this race more than once.

## Winners

Year Winner Age Jockey Trainer Owner Dist. (Miles) Time Win$ 1910 Olambala 4 James Butwell Thomas J. Healey Montpelier Stable 11⁄4 2:02.80 $2,250 1909 King's Daughter 6 Stanley B. Page George Denny Thomas Clay McDowell 11⁄4 2:04.00 $1,925 1908 Priscillian 3 Walter Miller A. Jack Joyner August Belmont Jr. 11⁄4 2:08.60 $12,300 1907 Montgomery 3 Guy Garner Robert Augustus Smith Emil Herz 11⁄4 2:06.60 $13,850 1906 Sir Huon 3 Roscoe Troxler Peter Coyne Bashford Manor Stable 11⁄4 2:05.20 $12,900 1905 Sysonby 3 Dave Nicol James G. Rowe Sr. James R. Keene 11⁄4 2:07.00 $12,225 1904 Ort Wells 3 Frank O'Neill Enoch Wishard John A. Drake 11⁄4 2:06.60 $13,425 1903 Waterboy 4 George M. Odom A. Jack Joyner James Ben Ali Haggin 11⁄4 2:04.60 $9,900

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Two Stake Races at Sheepshead Bay This Afternoon"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1910070201/drf1910070201_1_3). *Daily Racing Form*. 1910-07-02. Retrieved 2019-05-14 – via University of Kentucky Archives.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Condensed History of the Waldorf Stakes"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1907091101/drf1907091101_3_3). *Daily Racing Form*. 1907-09-11. Retrieved 2019-08-18 – via University of Kentucky Archives.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Great Racing In Store at Sheepshead"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1906070101/drf1906070101_1_3). *Daily Racing Form*. 1906-07-01. Retrieved 2020-02-02 – via University of Kentucky Archives.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [*The Bloodhorse.com* Champion's history charts](http://www.bloodhorse.com/eclipsewinners/pdf/History_Charts.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120904120526/http://www.bloodhorse.com/eclipsewinners/pdf/History_Charts.pdf) September 4, 2012, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Derby countdown – Sir Huon, 1906"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/). [The Courier-Journal](/source/The_Courier-Journal). 2015-03-31. Retrieved 2020-02-02.[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Sir Huon, at 15-1, Won The Commonwealth"](https://www.nytimes.com/1906/07/08/archives/sir-huon-at-15-to-1-won-the-commonwealth-longchance-horses-filled.html). *New York Times*. 1906-07-08. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-02-02.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Condensed History of the Seagate Stakes"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1910071301/drf1910071301_1_7). *Daily Racing Form*. 1910-07-13. Retrieved 2020-02-02 – via University of Kentucky Archives.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Olambala in Fine Fettle: Equals American Record for Mile and Quarter in Winning Commonwealth"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1910070301/drf1910070301_1_2). *Daily Racing Form*. 1910-07-03. Retrieved 2019-01-01 – via University of Kentucky Archives.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Penalties in the New York Bills"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1908011801/drf1908011801_1_7). *Daily Racing Form*. 1908-01-18. Retrieved 2018-10-26 – via University of Kentucky Archives.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["New York Form Chart"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1909070601/drf1909070601_3_1). *Daily Racing Form*. 1909-07-06. Retrieved 2019-05-14 – via University of Kentucky Archives.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Olambala in Fine Fettle: Equals American Record for Mile and Quarter in Winning Commonwealth"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1910070301/drf1910070301_1_2). *Daily Racing Form*. 1910-07-03. Retrieved 2019-01-01 – via University of Kentucky Archives.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["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*. 1913-02-22. Retrieved 2019-06-29 – via University of Kentucky Archives.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Destruction Wrought by Hughes"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1908121501/drf1908121501_1_7). *Daily Racing Form*. 1908-12-15. Retrieved 2018-11-30 – via University of Kentucky Archives.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Famous Old Track is Sold"](https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1914111701/drf1914111701_1_2). *Daily Racing Form*. 1914-11-17. Retrieved 2018-11-30 – via University of Kentucky Archives.

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