Bessarabian Stakes

Bessarabian Stakes
Grade II Stakes race
LocationWoodbine Racetrack
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Inaugurated1985
Race typeThoroughbred - Flat racing
Websitehttp://www.woodbineentertainment.com
Race information
Distance7 furlongs
SurfaceTapeta synthetic dirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationFillies & mares, three-years-old & up
WeightAllowance
PurseCan$200,000 (since 2014)[1]
Bonuses$23,265 for Ontario-bred horses from the T.I.P.)

The Bessarabian Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually since 1985 at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Raced at a distance of seven furlongs, it is held during the latter part of November and is open to fillies and mares, age three and older. It has been a Grade II event since 2013.

Inaugurated in 1985 as the Etobicoke Handicap, in 1996 it was renamed in honor of Eaton Hall Farm's Champion filly, Bessarabian.[2]

Through 1990 the race was contested at six furlongs on dirt.[3] In 2006 the track surface was replaced with a Polytrack synthetic dirt which would be changed again in 2016 to Tapeta synthetic dirt. (both referred to as an "all weather track" in official charts). The purse for the Bessarabian was increased to $200,000 in 2014, plus up to $23,265 for Ontario-bred horses.[1]

  1. ^ a b "Bessarabian Stakes Profile". www.equibase.com. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  2. ^ "Remembering Bessarabian". www.tripledeadheat.ca. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  3. ^ "Woodbine Stakes History" (PDF). Woodbine Entertainment Group. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.