Matron Stakes (NYRA)

This article is about the horse race at Belmont Park known as the Matron Stakes. For other races with the similar name, see Matron Stakes (disambiguation).
Matron Stakes
Grade III race
LocationBelmont Park
Elmont, New York, United States
Inaugurated1892
Race typeThoroughbred – Flat racing
Websitewww.nyra.com
Race information
Distance6 furlongs
SurfaceTurf
Trackleft-handed
QualificationTwo-year-old fillies
WeightAssigned
Purse$150,000

The Matron Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the fall season at Belmont Park, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) track in Elmont, Long Island, New York. It is open to two-year-old fillies and is the filly counterpart to the Belmont Futurity Stakes.[1]

The Matron Stakes was run over a straight course before 1959, with the exception of 1941. Always a race for two-year-old horses, it has been run under different conditions four times:

  • 1892–1901 : on dirt, open to both colts and fIllies
  • 1902–1914 : on dirt, a division for colts and geldings and a division for fillies
  • 1915–2017 : on dirt, for fillies only
  • 2018–present : on turf, for fillies only

The inaugural race took place at Morris Park Racecourse in The Bronx, New York where it remained until 1905 when it was moved to the new Belmont Park. Through special arrangements, in 1910 it was hosted by Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The NYRA's Aqueduct Racetrack hosted the event in 1960 and again from 1962 to 1968.

There was no race held from 1895 to 1898 and as a result of the passage of New York state's Hart–Agnew Law that banned parimutuel wagering, from 1911 to 1913. The race was placed on hiatus from 1915 to 1922. When it was revived in 1923 as part of the Belmont Park schedule, the Matron was won by the Greentree Stable filly Tree Top who beat twelve other competitors. Runner-up Nellie Morse went on to win the 1924 Preakness Stakes and earn American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly honors. The third-place finisher, Princess Doreen, would have a career that saw her win three National Championships and induction into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.[2]

In 2001 the race was cancelled in observance of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.

  1. ^ Hersh, Marcus (27 June 2018). "Belmont fall stakes schedule has 44 races worth more than $10 million". live.drf.com. Daily Racing Form. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  2. ^ "Tree Top is First in Matron Stakes". New York Times. 1923-09-11. Section Sports, page 11. Retrieved 2020-08-09.