First Flight Handicap

First Flight Handicap
Grade II race
LocationBelmont Racetrack
Elmont, New York, United States
Inaugurated1978
Race typeThoroughbredFlat racing
Websitewww.nyra.com/Belmont/Stakes/FirstFlight.shtml
Race information
Distance7 furlongs
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationFillies & Mares, three-years-old & up
WeightAssigned
PurseUS$150,000

The First Flight Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late June/early July at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. A Grade II event open to fillies and Mares, ages three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of seven furlongs.

The race is named in honor of Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney's American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly of 1946. First Flight won the Matron Stakes, and beat male opponents in winning the Belmont Futurity Stakes.

Inaugurated in 1978, the race has been hosted by Aqueduct Racetrack and Belmont Park:

  • Aqueduct – 1978–1989, 1991–2002, 2004–2006
  • Belmont – 1990, 2001, 2003, 2007–present