Agua Caliente Handicap
discontinued stakes race
LocationAgua Caliente Racetrack
Tijuana, Mexico
Inaugurated1917
Race typeThoroughbred - Flat racing
Race information
Distance11⁄16 miles (8.5 furlongs)
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationThree-year-olds and up

The Agua Caliente Handicap is a defunct thoroughbred horse race that was once the premier event at Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, and the richest race in North America. Inaugurated in 1917 as the Coffroth Handicap, it was named in honor of James Wood Coffroth, President of the Lower California Jockey Club.[1] It was run at the Tijuana Racetrack through 1929 after which it was hosted by the newly built Agua Caliente Racetrack.[2]

In the 1930s the event offered a $100,000 purse which drew high-profile stable owners from the United States and Canada such as Adolph B. Spreckels,[3] J. K. L. Ross,[4] Charles Howard, Suzanne Mason and the Seagram family stables. Among the champions to win the race were Round Table, Gallant Sir, who won it twice and in record time, Seabiscuit, and Phar Lap, who won the 1932 race, ridden by Billy Elliot, in track record time. It was the great Australian champion's only North American appearance.

After the 1934 racing season, the government of Mexico outlawed gambling until 1938 by which time the track had been effectively replaced by the new Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, United States, the choice of convenience for owners as a place to train, stable, and race their horses. The Agua Caliente Handicap was only run twice more: in 1938, when it was won by Seabiscuit, and in 1958, when it was won by Round Table.


Distances:

  • 1917-1937 : 1¼ miles
  • 1938 : 11⁄8 miles
  • 1958 : 11⁄16 miles

Records

Speed record: (at 1¼ miles)

Most wins:

Most wins by a jockey:

  • no jockey won this race more than once

Most wins by a trainer:

  • 2 - Harry M. Unna (1921, 1929)
  • 2 - Elwood L. Fitzgerald (1933, 1934)

Most wins by an owner:

  • 2 - Northway Stable (1933, 1934)

Winners

Year
 Winner
 Age
 Jockey
 Trainer
 Owner
 Dist.
(Miles)		 Time
 Win$
1958 Round Table 4 Bill Shoemaker William Molter Kerr Stable 11⁄16 M 1:41.20 $31,800
1939 - 1957 Race not held
1938 Seabiscuit 5 Noel Richardson Tom Smith Charles S. Howard 11⁄8 M 1:50.40 $8,600
1935 - 1937 Race not held
1934 Gallant Sir 5 Red Pollard Elwood L. Fitzgerald Northway Stable (Norman W. Church) 11⁄4 M 2:02.80 $23,300
1933 Gallant Sir 4 George Woolf Elwood L. Fitzgerald Northway Stable (Norman W. Church) 11⁄4 M 2:02.60 $24,200
1932 Phar Lap 6 Billy Elliot Tommy Woodcock David Davis & Harry R. Telford 11⁄4 M 2:02.80 $50,050
1931 Mike Hall 7 Steve O'Donnell Walter W. Taylor Robert M. Eastman 11⁄4 M 2:03.00
1930 Victorian 5 George Ellis J. Thomas Taylor Warm Stable (Suzanne Mason & W. A. Hanger) 11⁄4 M 2:03.20 $98,400
1929 Golden Prince 5 Jack Parmalee Harry M. Unna Harry M. Unna 13⁄16 M 2:03.60 $98,250
1928 Crystal Pennant 4 Tommy Luther Earl Linnell R. C. Stable (Walter H. Hoffman) 11⁄4 M 2:05.00 $92,700
1927 Sir Harry 3 Ovila Bourassa William H. Bringloe Seagram Stables 11⁄4 M 2:03.40 $84,400
1926 Carlaris 3 Willie Munden Fred Kraft Chula Vista Stable 11⁄4 M 2:02.60 $70,700
1925 Atherstone 5 Harry Wakoff David R. McDaniel Mrs. Victor Vivaudou 11⁄4 M 2:07.40 $56,425
1924 Runstar 5 Edgar Barnes Charles W. Carroll Adolph B. Spreckels 11⁄4 M 2:05.40 $43,650
1923 Rebuke 4 William Pool Henry McDaniel J. K. L. Ross 11⁄4 M 2:06.20 $29,475
1922 Mulciber 4 Jack Huntamer Gribley R. Allen Gribley R. Allen 11⁄4 M 2:06.40 $15,000
1921 Be Frank 5 W. McIntyre Harry M. Unna Bronx Stable (George P. Fuller) 11⁄4 M 2:05.60 $14,775
1918 - 1920 Race not held
1917 Sasin 4 Willie Kelsay Clarence Buxton Clarence Buxton 11⁄4 M 2:22.00 $4,000

References

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