Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship Stakes
The John Henry Turf Championship Stakes (renamed for John Henry who won it three times) is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the Oak Tree Racing Association's Autumn Meeting at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.
It is raced over a distance of one and one-quarter miles on the turf and is one of the final prep races leading to the Breeders' Cup Turf. A Grade I event open to horses three years old and up, it currently offers a purse of $250,000.
Inaugurated as the Oak Tree Stakes in 1969, from 1971 through 1995 it was called the Oak Tree Invitational Stakes, and from 1996 through 1999, the Oak Tree Turf Championship Stakes. From 2000 through 2011 it was called the Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship Stakes. The race, now named for John Henry, remains at Santa Anita although the Oak Tree Autumn Meeting is now held at Hollywood Park.
From 1969 through 1994 it was raced at a distance of 1½ miles.
In winning the 2008 edition, Red Giant set a world record time of 1:57.16 for 1¼ miles on turf.
Read more about Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship Stakes: Records, Winners of The Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship
Famous quotes containing the words clement, hirsch, turf and/or stakes:
“Consciousness is cerebral celebrity—nothing more and nothing less. Those contents are conscious that persevere, that monopolize resources long enough to achieve certain typical and “symptomatic” effects—on memory, on the control of behavior and so forth.”
—Daniel Clement Dennett (b. 1942)
“A hook shot kisses the rim and
hangs there, helplessly, but doesn’t drop
and for once our gangly starting center
boxes out his man and times his jump
perfectly, gathering the orange leather
from the air like a cherished possession”
—Edward Hirsch (b. 1950)
“One turf shall serve as pillow for us both;
One heart, one bed, two bosoms, and one troth.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“This man was very clever and quick to learn anything in his line. Our tent was of a kind new to him; but when he had once seen it pitched, it was surprising how quickly he would find and prepare the pole and forked stakes to pitch it with, cutting and placing them right the first time, though I am sure that the majority of white men would have blundered several times.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)