- Source: Lamplighter Stakes
The Lamplighter Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the last week of May at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. Open to three-year-old horses, it is contested on turf over a distance of 1+1⁄16 miles (8.5 furlongs).
Inaugurated in 1946 as the Lamplighter Handicap, the race was named to honor Lamplighter, the 1893 American Co-Champion Older Male Horse owned by prominent horseman Pierre Lorillard IV who had been a co-owner of the Monmouth Park Association's racetrack.
Since its inception, the race has been contested at various distances on both dirt and turf:
1+1⁄16 miles on dirt : 1946–1970, 1972, 1974, 1984,1987
1+1⁄8 miles on turf : 1971
1+1⁄16 miles on turf : 1973, 1975–1983, 1985–1986, 1988–2004, 2007–present
1 mile on turf : 2005, 2006
On July 1, 1978 the legendary U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, John Henry, made his turf stakes debut with a third-place finish in the second division of the Lamplighter.
Records
Speed record:
1:40.52 – Lendell Ray (2000)
Most wins by an owner:
2 – George D. Widener Jr. (1950, 1965)
2 – James Cox Brady Jr. (1953, 1954)
2 – Calumet Farm (1961, 1971)
Most wins by a jockey:
5 – Craig Perret (1975, 1976, 1986, 1987, 1988)
Most wins by a trainer:
4 – William I. Mott (1993, 1995, 2000, 2003)
Winners
References
The 2008 Lamplighter Stakers at Oceanport Racing Report