Lamplighter Stakes
Horse race / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Lamplighter Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the last week of May at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. Open to three-year-old horses, it is contested on turf over a distance of 1+1⁄16 miles (8.5 furlongs).
Non-graded stakes race | |
Location | Monmouth Park Racetrack Oceanport, New Jersey, United States |
---|---|
Inaugurated | 1946 |
Race type | Thoroughbred – Flat racing |
Website | www.monmouthpark |
Race information | |
Distance | 1+1⁄16 miles (8.5 furlongs) |
Surface | Turf |
Track | Left-handed |
Qualification | Three-years-old |
Weight | Assigned |
Purse | US$60,000 |
Inaugurated in 1946 as the Lamplighter Handicap, the race was named to honor Lamplighter, the 1893 American Co-Champion Older Male Horse owned by prominent horseman Pierre Lorillard IV who had been a co-owner of the Monmouth Park Association's racetrack.
Since its inception, the race has been contested at various distances on both dirt and turf:
- 1+1⁄16 miles on dirt : 1946–1970, 1972, 1974, 1984,1987
- 1+1⁄8 miles on turf : 1971
- 1+1⁄16 miles on turf : 1973, 1975–1983, 1985–1986, 1988–2004, 2007–present
- 1 mile on turf : 2005, 2006
On July 1, 1978 the legendary U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, John Henry, made his turf stakes debut with a third-place finish in the second division of the Lamplighter.