Forty Niner Stakes

Kelso Handicap

Grade II race
Location	Belmont Park Elmont, New York, United States
Inaugurated	1980 (Kelso Handicap from 1980–82) 1984 (Brighton Beach Handicap renamed Kelso)
Race type	Thoroughbred - Flat racing
Website	www.nyra.com/Belmont/Stakes/Kelso
Race information
Distance	1 mile (8.0 furlongs) (1988–present) 1+1⁄4 miles (1984–87) 2 miles (1980–82)
Surface	Dirt 1980-1982 Turf 1984-2008 Dirt 2009-present
Track	Left-handed (see text)
Qualification	Three-year-olds & up
Weight	Assigned
Purse	$300,000 (2017)

The Kelso Stakes is an American race for Thoroughbred horse race run annually in late September/early October at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. A Grade II event open to horses age three and up, it was contested on turf over a distance of one mile (8 furlongs) from 1988-2008. The race was moved to the dirt at the same distance in 2010. In 2009, it had been originally being scheduled for turf before being moved to the main track due to extremely heavy rain the day before.

The race is named for Kelso, Allaire du Pont's five-time winner of American Horse of the Year honors. This incarnation of the Kelso had been run as the Brighton Beach Handicap through 1983, with the last running of the Brighton Beach at 1+1⁄16 Miles on turf. There was an earlier version of the Kelso that had three runnings at two miles on dirt from 1980-82 before that race was discontinued, with the Brighton Beach renamed the Kelso in 1984. Probably the most notable winner of the earlier incarnation of the race was John Henry, who won the Brighton Beach in 1980 for his then-trainer, Lefty Nickerson.

• 2 miles : 1980-1982 (Original Kelso Handicap run on DIRT, separate stakes event from the current Kelso)
• 1+1⁄4 miles : 1984-1987 (on TURF, current Kelso Handicap after being renamed from the Brighton Beach Handicap)
• 1 mile : 1988–present (on TURF from 1988-2008, originally scheduled for turf in 2009, moved permanently to the main track in 2010).

Records

Speed record: (at 1 mile on turf)

• 1:32.07 - Ashkal Way (2006)

Speed record: (at 1 mile on dirt)

• 1:32.90 - Anchor Down (2016)

Most wins:

• 2 - Peat Moss (1980, 1981)** (at two miles on dirt)

Most wins by an owner:

• 2 - Murray M. Garren (1980, 1981)**
• 2 - Albert Davis (1986, 1987)

Most wins by a jockey:

• 4 - Javier Castellano (2007, 2008, 2012, 2016)

Most wins by a trainer:

• 3 - Todd Pletcher (2011, 2013, 2016)

** - Earlier incarnation of the Kelso unrelated to the current Kelso Stakes, which has only been run as such since 1984 and previously had been run as the Brighton Beach Handicap

Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
2017	Sharp Azteca	4	Paco Lopez	Jorge Navarro	Ivan Rodriguez	1:34.12
2016	Anchor Down	5	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	Alto Racing	1:32.90
2015	Appealing Tale	5	Joseph Talamo	Peter Miller	Gary Barber	1:34.86
2014†	Vyjack	4	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Rudy Rodriguez	Pick Six Racing	1:34.05
2013†	Graydar	4	Edgar Prado	Todd Pletcher	Twin Creeks Racing Stable LLC	1:34.08
2012†	Jersey Town	6	Javier Castellano	Barclay Tagg	Charles E. Fipke	1:35.24
2011†	Uncle Mo	3	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	Reople Stable	1:33.82
2010†	Tizway	5	Rajiv Maragh	H. James Bond	William Clifton Jr.	1:34.42
2009♯	Le Grand Cru	4	Jose Lezcano	Allen Jerkens	Judson Streicher	1:37.36
2008	Tam Lin	5	Javier Castellano	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin Racing	1:39.13
2007	Trippi's Storm	4	Javier Castellano	Stanley M. Hough	E. Paul Robsham Stables	1:32.36
2006	Ashkal Way	5	Mike Luzzi	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin Racing	1:32.07
2005	Funfair	6	Edgar Prado	H. Graham Motion	Cheveley Park Farm	1:32.95
2004	Mr O'Brien	5	Eibar Coa	Robin L. Graham	Skeedattle Stable	1:32.69
2003	Freefourinternet	5	Jose Espinoza	Joan Scott	Equirace.com LLC	1:34.73
2002	Green Fee	6	John Velazquez	Daniel Peitz	Robert & Lawana Low	1:33.83
2001	Forbidden Apple	6	José A. Santos	Christophe Clement	Arthur I. Appleton	1:36.77
2000	Forbidden Apple	5	Jean-Luc Samyn	Christophe Clement	Arthur I. Appleton	1:34.39
1999	Middlesex Drive	4	Shane Sellers	Philip M. Hauswald	C. Steven Duncker	1:35.45
1998	Dixie Bayou	5	Jorge Chavez	Robert Barbara	Sabine Stable	1:36.21
1997	Lucky Coin	4	Robbie Davis	Richard Nieminski	Edward I. Kelly, Sr.	1:33.72
1996	Same Old Wish	6	Shane Sellers	Robert Barbara	Friendship Stable	1:34.42
1995	Mighty Forum	4	Eddie Delahoussaye	Mark A. Hennig	Team Valor	1:39.58
1994	Nijinsky's Gold	5	José A. Santos	Richard Violette, Jr.	Stanton P. Powell	1:34.18
1993	Lure	4	Mike E. Smith	C. R. McGaughey III	Claiborne Farm	1:35.86
1992	Roman Envoy	4	Craig Perret	James E. Picou	Fred W. Hooper	1:36.39
1991	Star of Cozzene	3	José A. Santos	D. Wayne Lukas	Clover Racing Stable	1:33.37
1990	Expensive Decision	4	Jean-Luc Samyn	Stanley Shapoff	Edward Shapoff	1:32.40
1989	I Rejoice	6	Jerry Bailey	Edward I. Kelly, Sr.	Brookfield Farms	1:36.40
1988	San's The Shadow	4	Chris Antley	Timothy A. Hills	J. Scott Rutan	1:42.00
1987	I'm a Banker	5	Antonio Graell	Gasper S. Moschera	Albert Davis	2:10.80
1986	I'm a Banker	4	Antonio Graell	Gasper S. Moschera	Albert Davis	2:03.20
1985	Mourjane	5	Richard Migliore	Thomas J. Skiffington	Fernwood Stables	2:02.00
1984♯	Who's For Dinner	5	Walter Guerra	Jan H. Nerud	Tartan Farms (James & Virginia Binger)	2:01.20
1983	No race
1982†	Worthy Too	4	Jean-Luc Samyn	Michael J. Kelly	Adele L. Rand	3:24.40
1981†	Peat Moss	6	Frank Lovato, Jr.	Gilbert Puentes	Murray M. Garren	3:20.80
1980†	Peat Moss	5	Frank Lovato, Jr.	Gilbert Puentes	Murray M. Garren	3:24.60

Notes:
‡ - Originally scheduled for Turf
† -- Run on DIRT, with the 1980-'82 runnings a completely separate race from the current Kelso Stakes
♯ -- First running of the Kelso after being renamed from the Brighton Beach Handicap, which the current Kelso Stakes was run as prior to 1984.

Notes

Notes: The Edited knowledge of the Kelso Stakes previously being run as the Brighton Beach Handicap along with the fact there had been an earlier Kelso Handicap strictly come from memory of the exact situations at the time they actually happened from 1982-'84.

References

• The Kelso Stakes at the NYRA