Spinaway Stakes

Spinaway Stakes
Grade I race
LocationSaratoga Race Course
Saratoga Springs, New York, United States
Inaugurated1881
Race typeThoroughbred – Flat racing
Websitewww.nyra.com/index_saratoga.html
Race information
Distance7 furlongs
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationTwo-year-old fillies
WeightAssigned
Purse$300,000 (2021)[1]

The Spinaway Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Open to two-year-old fillies, it is a Grade I event contested at a distance of seven furlongs (1,408 metres) on dirt.[2] The Spinaway is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series, providing a "Win and You're In" berth for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

The race was named for Spinaway who in 1880 was the dominant two-year-old filly in the United States and who beat her male counterparts in every one of her seven stakes wins.[3]

Since inception in 1881, the Spinaway has been run at different distances:

  • 5 furlongs : 1881–1900
  • 5.5 furlongs : 1901–1921
  • 6 furlongs : 1922–1993
  • 7 furlongs : 1994 to present

The Spinaway was hosted by Belmont Park in 1943, 1944 and 1945. It was not run from 1892 to 1900. The race was cancelled in 1911 and 1912 following a New York State legislated ban on parimutuel betting.

In 2016, Sweet Loretta and Pretty City Dancer finished in a dead heat for first place. Both fillies were sired by leading sire Tapit.[4]

  1. ^ "Spinaway Stakes Profile". Equibase. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  2. ^ "Spinaway". New York Racing Association. 2020-08-16. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  3. ^ "Spinaway Stakes". NYRA. 1942-06-27. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  4. ^ Scott, Jeff (2 August 2001). "Sweet Loretta, Pretty City Dancer dead heat in Spinaway at Saratoga". saratogian.com. Retrieved 4 September 2016.