National Stakes - History

History

The event was established in 1849, and it was originally called the National Produce Stakes and then the National Stakes. The inaugural running was won by Chatterbox.

For a period the National Stakes was classed at Group 2 level, and it was promoted to Group 1 in 1985. It was extended from 7 furlongs to a mile in 1997, but its former distance was restored in 2000.

The race became known as the Vincent O'Brien National Stakes in 2009, in memory of the successful trainer Vincent O'Brien (1917–2009). It reverted to its previous title in 2011 but was renamed the Vincent O'Brien Stakes in 2012.

The National Stakes was formerly part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series, with the winner earning an automatic invitation to compete in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. It was removed from the series in 2012.

Read more about this topic:  National Stakes

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    The history of the world is the record of the weakness, frailty and death of public opinion.
    Samuel Butler (1835–1902)

    Regarding History as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of peoples, the wisdom of States, and the virtue of individuals have been victimized—the question involuntarily arises—to what principle, to what final aim these enormous sacrifices have been offered.
    Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)

    The greatest horrors in the history of mankind are not due to the ambition of the Napoleons or the vengeance of the Agamemnons, but to the doctrinaire philosophers. The theories of the sentimentalist Rousseau inspired the integrity of the passionless Robespierre. The cold-blooded calculations of Karl Marx led to the judicial and business-like operations of the Cheka.
    Aleister Crowley (1875–1947)