The Vagrancy Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at the end of May/early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event is open to fillies and mares, age three and older. The Grade II race is contested on dirt over a distance of six and one-half furlongs.
Inaugurated in 1948 at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York, there was no race from 1949 through 1951. It was hosted by the Aqueduct track from inception through 1955 and again in 1960, 1963–1967, 1975, and 1977-1986. Over the years it has been contested at various distances:
- 11/ miles : 1948, 1952
- 7 furlongs : 1953-1997
- 6.5 furlongs : 1998 to present
The race is named in honor of Vagrancy, the Champion three-year-old filly and champion handicap mare of 1942 owned by Belair Stud and trained by Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons.
In 1955, the Vagrancy Handicap was run in two divisions.
Famous quotes containing the word handicap:
“I have the handicap of being born with a special language to which I alone have the key.”
—Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880)