{{short description|Defunct American Thoroughbred horse race}} {{Infobox horseraces | class = Discontinued stakes | horse race = Ocean Handicap | website = | image = | caption = | location = [[Sheepshead Bay Race Track]]<br>[[Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]] | inaugurated = 1894–1909 | race type = [[Thoroughbred]] – [[Flat racing]] | distance = {{convert|1|mi|furlong km}} | surface = Dirt | track = left-handed | qualification = Three-years-old and up | weight = | purse = }}
The '''Ocean Handicap''' was an American [[Thoroughbred racing|Thoroughbred horse race]] held annually at [[Sheepshead Bay Race Track]] in [[Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]] from 1894 thru 1909. A race for horses of either sex age three and older, it was run on dirt over a distance of 1 mile. The Ocean Handicap was the second of the track's autumn serials, coming after the [[Fall Handicap]] at {{cvt|13/16|mi|furlong km}} and before the [[Omnium Handicap]] at {{convert|1+1/8|mi|furlong km}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1909090501/drf1909090501_1_3 |title=The Ocean Handicap Winners |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date=1909-09-05 |access-date=2019-01-16}}</ref>
The 1904 running of the Ocean Handicap was won by Walter Jennings very good [[filly]] Dainty who beat [[Alan-a-Dale (horse)|Alan-a-Dale]], winner of the [[1902 Kentucky Derby]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kentuckyderby.com/history/year/1902 |title=Alan-a-Dale |publisher=Churchill Downs Incorporated |date=2019-01-29 |access-date=2019-01-29}}</ref>
The final running of the Ocean Handicap was won by [[King James (horse)|King James]], owned and trained by future [[National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame|U.S. Racing Hall of Fame]] inductee [[Sam Hildreth]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19090907.2.52.18&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 |title=King James Is Winner of the Ocean Handicap |work=San Francisco Call|volume=106|number=99 |date=1909-09-07 |access-date=2019-01-28}}</ref> King James had not run in the Fall Handicap but went on to earn his second win of the autumn serials with a victory in the Omnium Handicap.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/34142827/ |title=Added Starter Takes The Sheepshead Feature |work=Atlanta Constitution|page=4|date=1909-09-14 |access-date=2019-01-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1909091501/drf1909091501_2_2 |title=Sheepshead Bay Racing Statistics |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date=1909-09-15 |access-date=2019-01-24}}</ref> His performance for the year would earn him recognition as the [[American Champion Older Dirt Male Horse|American Champion Older Horse]] of 1909.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanclassicpedigrees.com/king-james.html |title=King James |publisher=[[Avalyn Hunter]]'s American Classic Pedigrees |date=1942-06-27 |access-date=2019-01-25}}</ref>
==Demise of the Ocean Handicap == After years of uncertainty, on June 11, 1908 the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] controlled [[New York Legislature]] under [[Governor of New York|Governor]] [[Charles Evans Hughes]] passed the [[Hart–Agnew Law|Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation]] with penalties allowing for fines and up to a year in prison.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1908511851/drf1908511851_1_7 |title=Penalties in the New York Bills |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date=1908-01-18 |access-date=2018-10-26 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without income from betting.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1908/09/01/archives/keep-up-betting-ban-strict-enforcement-of-the-law-at-sheepshead-bay.html |title=Keep Up Betting Ban |work=New York Times |date=1908-09-01 |access-date=2018-11-06}}</ref> Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the [[Purse distribution|purse money]] being paid out which resulted in the Ocean Handicap offering a purse in 1909 that was one-third of what it had been in earlier years. These small purses made horse racing highly unprofitable and impossible for even the most successful horse owners to continue in business. As such, for the 1910 racing season management of the Sheepshead Bay facility dropped some of its less important stakes races and used the purse money to bolster its most important events. The effect was to place the Ocean Handicap on hiatus.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1910071601/drf1910071601_1_7 |title=Striking Falling off in Value of Ten Greatest Stakes |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date= 1910-07-16 |access-date=2018-10-15}}</ref> Further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which deepened the financial crisis for track operators and after a 1911 amendment to the law to limit the liability of owners and directors was defeated, every racetrack in New York State shut down.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1911/07/14/archives/race-track-bill-defeated-in-senate-measure-modifying-directors.html|title=Race Track Bill Defeated In Senate; Measure Modifying Directors' Liability for Gambling Fails of Passage.|work=The New York Times|date=July 14, 1911|access-date=September 2, 2017}}</ref> Owners, whose horses of racing age had nowhere to go, began sending them, their trainers and their jockeys to race in England and France. Many horses ended their racing careers there, and a number remained to become an important part of the European [[horse breeding]] industry. ''[[Thoroughbred Times]]'' reported that more than 1,500 American horses were sent overseas between 1908 and 1913 and of them at least 24 were either past, present, or future [[Eclipse Award|Champions]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/weekly-feature-articles/2000/February/14/Racing-Through-the-Century-1911-1920.aspx|title=Thoroughbred Times|date=February 14, 2000|website=www.ThoroughbredTimes.com|access-date=September 2, 2017}}</ref> When a February 21, 1913 ruling by the [[New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division]] Court saw horse racing return in 1913 it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay horse racing facility and it never reopened.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1908121501/drf1908121501_1_7|title=Destruction Wrought by Hughes |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date=1908-12-15|access-date=2018-11-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1914111701/drf1914111701_1_2 |title=Famous Old Track is Sold |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date=1914-11-17|access-date=2018-11-30}}</ref>
==Records== '''Speed record:''' * 1 mile : 1:37.80 – [[King James (horse)|King James]] (1909)
'''Most wins:''' * No horse ever won this race more than once
'''Most wins by a [[jockey]]:''' * 2 – [[Henry Spencer (jockey)|Henry Spencer]] (1900, 1901) * 2 – [[Eddie Dugan]] (1907, 1909)
'''Most wins by a [[Horse trainer|trainer]]:''' * 3 – [[Walter B. Jennings]] (1898, 1904, 1905)
'''Most wins by an owner:''' * 3 – Walter B. Jennings (1898, 1904, 1905)
==Winners== {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%" |- ! style="width:30px" | Year<br> ! style="width:110px" | Winner<br> ! style="width:20px" | Age<br> ! style="width:110px" | Jockey<br> ! style="width:120px" | Trainer<br> ! Owner<br> ! style="width:25px" | Dist.<br> <span style="font-size:70%">([[Mile]]s)</span> ! style="width:25px" | Time<br> ! style="width:25px" | Win$ |- |align=center|1909 |[[King James (horse)|King James]] |align=center|4 |[[Eddie Dugan]] |[[Sam Hildreth]] |Sam Hildreth |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:37.80 |align=center|$1,125 |- |align=center|1908 |Half Sovereign |align=center|3 |James Butler Jr. |John Whalen |[[August Belmont Jr.]] |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:38.60 |align=center|$1,125 |- |align=center|1907 |Dandelion |align=center|5 |Eddie Dugan |[[John E. Madden]] |[[Francis R. Hitchcock]] |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:40.00 |align=center|$2,880 |- |align=center|1906 |Tiptoe |align=center|3 |Henry Horner |John Whalen |August Belmont Jr. |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:38.60 |align=center|$3,320 |- |align=center|1905 |Proper |align=center|5 |[[Willie Knapp]] |[[Walter B. Jennings]] |Walter B. Jennings |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:41.20 |align=center|$3,300 |- |align=center|1904 |Dainty |align=center|4 |[[Gene Hildebrand]] |Walter B. Jennings |Walter B. Jennings |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:39.00 |align=center|$3,180 |- |align=center|1903 |[[Hermis]] |align=center|4 |[[George M. Odom]] |[[Alexander Shields (horse trainer)|Alexander Shields]] |[[Edward R. Thomas]] |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:39.80 |align=center|$2,100 |- |align=center|1902 |Colonel Bill |align=center|3 |Harry Michaels |[[James H. McCormick]] |Louis V. Bell |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:39.40 |align=center|$1,450 |- |align=center|1901 |Ten Candles |align=center|4 |[[Henry Spencer (jockey)|Henry Spencer]] |[[William Lakeland (horse trainer)|William Lakeland]] |William Lakeland |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:38.60 |align=center|$1,450 |- |align=center|1900 |[[Voter (horse)|Voter]] |align=center|6 |Henry Spencer |[[James G. Rowe Sr.]] |[[James R. Keene]] |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:39.40 |align=center|$1,450 |- |align=center|1899 |[[Imp (horse)|Imp]] |align=center|5 |Peter Clay |[[Charles E. Brossman]] |Daniel R. Harness |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:40.20 |align=center|$1,150 |- |align=center|1898 |[[Briar Sweet]] |align=center|3 |[[Danny Maher]] |Walter B. Jennings |Walter B. Jennings |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:40.80 |align=center|$1,150 |- |align=center|1897 |[[Belmar (horse)|Belmar]] |align=center|5 |[[Tod Sloan (jockey)|Tod Sloan]] |William C. Smith |[[George E. Smith (gambler)|George E. Smith]] |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:41.00 |align=center|$1,125 |- |align=center|1896 |Buck Massie |align=center|4 |John Hill |J. Healy |James M. Murphy |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:41.00 |align=center|$1,125 |- |align=center|1895 |Henry Young |align=center|5 |[[Alonzo Clayton]] | |Pastime Stable (Nick Finzer) |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:39.80 |align=center|$1,125 |- |align=center|1894 |[[Domino (horse)|Domino]] |align=center|3 |[[Fred Taral]] |William Lakeland |[[James R. Keene|James R.]] & [[Foxhall P. Keene]] |align=center|1 M |align=center|1:40.20 |align=center|$1,450 |- |}
==References== {{reflist}}
[[Category:Open mile category horse races]] [[Category:Discontinued horse races in New York City]] [[Category:Sheepshead Bay Race Track]] [[Category:Horse races established in 1894]] [[Category:Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1909]] [[Category:1894 establishments in New York (state)]] [[Category:1909 disestablishments in New York (state)]]