Aqueduct Racetrack Ozone Park, New York, United States
Inaugurated
1954
Race type
Thoroughbred – Flat racing
Race information
Distance
1 mile
Surface
Dirt
Track
left-handed
Qualification
Fillies & Mares, three-years-old & up
Weight
Assigned
Purse
US$250,000 (2016)
The Go For Wand Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race established in 1954 for fillies and mares age three and up. Raced in the fall, it is a Grade III race (Grade I before 2010) on dirt at a distance of one mile.
Inaugurated in 1954 at Belmont Park as the Maskette Stakes in honor of the Hall of Fame filly, Maskette, it was renamed in 1992 for its ill-fated 1990 winner and Hall of Fame inductee, Go For Wand who is buried in the infield at Saratoga Race Course.
The Maskette took place at Aqueduct Racetrack in 1959, 1960, and from 1962 to 1968. From 1994–2009, the Go For Wand was hosted at the Saratoga Race Course. After not being raced in 2010, the Go For Wand Handicap returned to Aqueduct on November 25, 2011.[1] The distance reverted to the mile distance the race was contested at prior to its move to Saratoga Race Course.
Since inception, the race has been contested at various distances:
1 mile (8 furlongs) : 1954–1981, 1983–1993, 2011-
7 furlongs : 1982
1+1⁄8 miles (9 furlongs) : 1994–2009
The race was run in two divisions in 1976.
This race was downgraded to a Grade III for its 2014 running.[2]
^"NYRA Announces Belmont and Aqueduct Fall Stakes Schedules". Archived from the original on 2011-09-24. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
^LaMarra, Tom (6 December 2013). "Eight Stakes Elevated in Status for 2014". www.bloodhorse.com. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
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