Gardenia Stakes (Garden State Park)

The Gardenia Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run at Garden State Park Racetrack near Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Created in 1955, the event was the world's richest race for two-year-old fillies with a total purse of US$130,300 in its inaugural year. It was the counterpart to the Garden State Futurity for two-year-old male horses.

Gardenia Stakes
Discontinued stakes race
LocationGarden State Park Racetrack, Cherry Hill, New Jersey,
United States
Inaugurated1955
Race typeThoroughbred - Flat racing
Websitewww.pegasusworldcup.com
Race information
Distance1 1/16 miles
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationTwo-year-old fillies

The Gardenia Stakes was placed on hiatus after the 1972 edition. It would be revived in 1980 at the Meadowlands Racetrack where it would be run thru to the final running in 1991. In 1990 only, the race was run on Turf.[1]

Historical notes

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The inaugural running of the Gardenia Stakes took on a muddy track place on October 15, 1955 and was won by Nasrina who would be recognized as that year's American Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.[2] The substantial purse, as well as the Gardenia's place on the American racing calendar late in the year, would see the event won by fillies that would be voted National Champion honors for thirteen of its first eighteen runnings from 1955 thru 1972. Until 1970 there were three different racing organizations picking an annual National Champion and only two Gardenia winners prior to 1971, Castle Forbes in 1963 and Gallant Bloom in 1968, were not unanimous choices.[3]

Gardenia winner Numbered Account, owned by Ogden Phipps and trained by Roger Laurin was the first Eclipse Award recipient in the two-year-old filly category. The following year, the future Hall of Fame inductee La Prevoyante won the Gardenia. Owned by Canadian J. Louis Lévesque and trained by Yonnie Starr, it was her final start of 1972 and marked her twelfth straight win without a loss. [4] La Prevoyante would prove to be the last Gardenia winner to earn American Champion Two Year-Old Filly honors. In that year's voting for American Horse of the Year, La Prevoyante was second to Secretariat.[5]

Flawlessly, a daughter of 1978 U.S. Triple Crown winner Affirmed, won the 1990 Gardenia and went on to a stellar career that saw her inducted into the U. S. Racing Hall of Fame in 2004.

No. Winner Gardenia winner &
2yo U.S. Champion filly
1 1955 Nasrina
2 1957 Idun
3 1958 Quill
4 1959 My Dear Girl
5 1960 Bowl of Flowers
6 1961 Cicada
7 1963 Castle Forbes
8 1964 Queen Empress
9 1965 Moccasin
10 1968 Gallant Bloom
11 1969 Fast Attack
12 1971 Numbered Account
13 1972 La Prevoyante

Records

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Speed record:

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

Winners

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Year Winner Age Jockey Trainer Owner
Dist.
(Miles)
Time Win$ Gr.
1991 Miss Legality 2 Joe Bravo Hubert "Sonny" Hine Norton D. Waltuch 1-1/16 m 1:45.55 $45,000 G3
1990 Flawlessly 2 Jerry D. Bailey Richard E. Dutrow Sr. Harbor View Farm 1-1/16 m 1:43.60 $75,000 G3
1989 Danzig's Beauty 2 Eddie Maple Woody Stephens Russell L. Reineman 1-1/16 m 1:46.40 $120,000 G2
1988 Gild 2 Julie Krone Woody Stephens Claiborne Farm 1-1/16 m 1:44.00 $120,000 G2
1987 Thirty Eight Go Go 2 Kent Desormeaux King T. Leatherbury Janet Wayson 1-1/16 m 1:46.80 $120,000 G2
1986 Collins 2 George Martens Flint S. Schulhofer Frances A. Genter 1-1/16 m 1:45.20 $120,000 G2
1985 I'm Sweets 2 Eddie Maple Woody Stephens Brushwood Stable (Elizabeth Ranney Moran) 1-1/16 m 1:44.20 $120,000 G2
1984 Bessarabian 2 Gary Stahlbaum Michael J. Doyle Eaton Hall Farm (Thor Eaton) 1-1/16 m 1:45.80 $120,000 G2
1983 Lucky Lucky Lucky 2 Angel Cordero Jr. D. Wayne Lukas Leslie Combs II 1-1/16 m 1:45.20 $120,000 G2
1982 Princess Rooney 2 Jacinto Vasquez Frank Gomez Paula J. Tucker 1-1/16 m 1:43.00 $120,000 G2
1981 Vain Gold 2 Gregg McCarron Sally A. Bailie Aisco Stable 1-1/16 m 1:43.80 $90,000 G3
1980 Carolina Command 2 Jimmy J. Miranda James J. Pascuma Jr. Marian S. Feldman 1-1/16 m 1:44.60 $90,000
1973 - 1979 Race not held
1972 La Prevoyante 2 John LeBlanc Yonnie Starr Jean-Louis Lévesque 1-1/16 m 1:47.40 $114,552
1971 Numbered Account 2 Braulio Baeza Roger Laurin Ogden Phipps 1-1/16 m 1:45.80 $110,625
1970 Eggy 2 Frank Lovato Sr. Oscar White Walter M. Jeffords Jr. 1-1/16 m 1:45.00 $113,016
1969 Fast Attack 2 Buck Thornburg Harry M. Wells Hal-Bar Ranch (Mr. Hickey, Paul Robinson, William M. Ayers) 1-1/16 m 1:46.20 $120,265
1968 Gallant Bloom 2 John L. Rotz Max Hirsch Robert J. Kleberg Jr. 1-1/16 m 1:45.80 $110,142
1967 Gay Matelda 2 Robert Ussery Casey Hayes Meadow Stable 1-1/16 m 1:45.80 $112,722
1966 Pepperwood 2 Robert Ussery Casey Hayes Meadow Stable 1-1/16 m 1:44.60 $117,612
1965 Moccasin 2 Larry Adams Harry Trotsek Claiborne Farm 1-1/16 m 1:44.40 $110,214
1964 Queen Empress 2 Bill Shoemaker Bill Winfrey Wheatley Stable 1-1/16 m 1:44.00 $112,854
1963 Castle Forbes 2 Ismael Valenzuela Bill Winfrey Wheatley Stable 1-1/16 m 1:45.40 $101.076
1962 Main Swap 2 Braulio Baeza Charles R. Parke Fred W. Hooper 1-1/16 m 1:46.40 $95,977
1961 Cicada 2 Bill Shoemaker Casey Hayes Meadow Stable 1-1/16 m 1:44.80 $91,131
1960 Bowl of Flowers 2 Bill Shoemaker J. Elliott Burch Brookmeade Stable 1-1/16 m 1:46.00 $90,623
1959 My Dear Girl 2 Manuel N. Gonzales Melvin Calvert Frances A. Genter 1-1/16 m 1:46.60 $79,304
1958 Quill 2 Paul J. Bailey Lucien Laurin Reginald N. Webster 1-1/16 m 1:45.20 $81,576
1957 Idun 2 Bill Hartack Sherrill W. Ward Josephine Bay Paul 1-1/16 m 1:45.40 $101,750
1956 Magic Forest † 2 Hedley Woodhouse Sylvester Veitch Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney 1-1/16 m 1:45.20 $93,550
1955 Nasrina 2 William Boland Edward A. Christmas Howell E. Jackson III 1-1/16 m 1:45.40 $87,575

* † Romanita finished first, but was disqualified and set back to third.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Gardenia Stakes". Equibase Co LLC. 2021-11-29. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  2. ^ "Nasrina, 7-2, First In $130,300 Stake". New York Times, Section Sports, page 1. 1955-10-16. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
  3. ^ The Bloodhorse.com Champion's history charts Archived September 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "La Prevoyante Wins 12th Straight Race". New York Times, Section Sports, page. 1972-11-12. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
  5. ^ "Secretariat Is Horse of Year, Topping La Prevoyante in Poll". New York Times, page 53. 1972-12-27. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
  6. ^ "Magic Forest, $29, Scores On A Foul". New York Times, Section Sports, page 205. 1956-10-21. Retrieved 2021-12-11.