Long Branch Stakes

Long Branch Stakes
Grade III race
LocationMonmouth Park Racetrack
Oceanport, New Jersey, United States
Inaugurated1878
Race typeThoroughbred – Flat racing
Websitewww.monmouthpark.com
Race information
Distance1+1⁄16 miles (8.5 furlongs)
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationThree-year-olds
WeightAssigned
Purse$100,000[1]

The Long Branch Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. Open to three-year-olds, it is contested on dirt over a distance of 1+1⁄16 miles (8.5 furlongs). It is generally viewed as a prep race for the Haskell Invitational. The race is named after nearby Long Branch, New Jersey.

First run in 1878,[2] it was raced annually through 1893 as the Long Branch Handicap after which the race track closed its gates. The race was revived in 1947, following the 1946 reopening of the new Monmouth Park. The race was discontinued after the 1958 running—as a handicap, it was not drawing large fields.[3] In 1963, it was restarted as the Long Branch Stakes.[4]

  1. ^ "Long Branch Stakes". Equibase. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  2. ^ "The Long Branch Races". The New York Times. May 24, 1878. p. 2. Retrieved May 26, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Monmouth Park Discards 'Long Branch Handicap'". The Daily Record. Long Branch, New Jersey. April 16, 1959. p. 1. Retrieved May 27, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Ahoy Tabbed Favorite In Long Branch Stakes". The Daily Record. Long Branch, New Jersey. June 1, 1963. p. 9. Retrieved May 27, 2019 – via newspapers.com.