Our Talisman, oil on canvas Painting by Bob Demuyser (1920–2003)
Location
Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Springs, New York, United States
Inaugurated
1901
Race type
Thoroughbred – Flat racing
Website
www.nyra.com/index_saratoga.html
Race information
Distance
6 furlongs
Surface
Dirt
Track
left-handed
Qualification
Two-year-olds
Weight
Assigned
Purse
$200,000 (since 2012)[1]
The Saratoga Special Stakes is an American grade II thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid-August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The race is for two-year-olds willing to race six furlongs on the dirt.[2]
With its first run in 1901, the Saratoga Special was a winner-take-all race until 1959 when it became a standard stakes race. The race was held at Belmont Park on the Widener Course in 1943, 1944, and 1945. There was no race in 1911 and 1912 due to the New York State legislated ban on parimutuel betting that led to the closure of all New York racetracks. There was also no race held in 2004.
Since inception it has been contested at various distances:
5.5 furlongs : 1901–1906
6 furlongs : 1907–1993, 2005, 2020
6+1⁄2 furlongs : 1994–2003, 2006–2019
Only four horses have ever won all three Saratoga Racecourse events for two-year-olds. Regret (1914), Campfire (1916), Dehere (1993), and City Zip (2000) each swept the Saratoga Special, Sanford Stakes and Hopeful Stakes.
^"Saratoga Special Stakes Profile". www.equibase.com. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
^Saratoga Special Stakes history at the NYRA
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