Brooklyn Handicap

The Brooklyn Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. It currently is a Grade II event open to three-year-olds and up willing to race one and one-half miles on dirt.

The race is the second leg of what is sometimes referred to as the New York Handicap Triple series of races. It is preceded by the Metropolitan Handicap and followed by the Suburban Handicap. Four horse have won the Handicap Triple:

  • Whisk Broom II (1913)
  • Tom Fool (1953)
  • Kelso (1961)
  • Fit to Fight (1984)

First run in 1887 at Gravesend Race Track on Coney Island, New York, the Brooklyn Handicap quickly became one time of the top attractions on the New York racing circuit, drawing some of the best Thoroughbreds. Since inception the race has been held at:

  • Gravesend Race Track : 1887-1910
  • Not run 1911-1912 due to New York State ban on parimutuel betting
  • Old Aqueduct Racetrack : 1914-1944, 1946-1955
  • Jamaica Racetrack : 1956, 1958-1959
  • Aqueduct Racetrack : 1960-1974, 1976
  • Belmont Park : 1957, 1975, 1977 to present

The Brooklyn Handicap has been contested at a variety of distances:

  • 1 mile, 1 furlong : 1915-1939, 1994-2007
  • 1³/ miles : 1956-1959, 1972-1974
  • 1¼ miles : 1887-1914, 1940-1955, 1960-1971, 1975-1976
  • 1⅜ miles : 1991-1993
  • 1½ miles : 1977-1990, 2008 to present

Read more about Brooklyn Handicap:  Records, Winners

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