Ballston Spa Handicap

Turf race infobox
class = Grade II
horse race = Ballston Spa Handicap


caption =
location = Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Springs, New York, flagicon|USA
inaugurated = 1989
race type = Thoroughbred - Flat racing
website = [http://www.nyra.com/index_saratoga.html NYRA - Saratoga Race Course]
distance = 1 1/16 miles (8.5 furlongs)
track = Grass, left-handed
qualification = Fillies & Mares, three-years-old & up
weight = Assigned
purse = $200,000 added
bonuses = The Ballston Spa Handicap is an American race for thoroughbred horses open to fillies and mares, age three and up, on the turf at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Part of the Breeders' Cup National Stakes Program, it is run at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles, it's a Grade II race offering a purse of $200,000.

From its inception in 1989 until 1993 the race was run as the Aqueduct Budweiser Breeders' Cup Handicap at a distance of one mile. From 1994 through 1996, the race was known as the Saratoga Breeders' Cup Handicap, the same name that would later be used for the Saratoga Cup Handicap. It's current name honors Ballston Spa, New York, a small town just south of Saratoga Springs.

The race will be in its 20th running in 2008.

Records

Speed record: (at current distance of 1 1/16 miles)
* 1:39.47 - Valor Lady (1997)

Most wins:
* 2 - Weekend Madness (1994, 1995)

Most wins by an owner:
* 2 - New Phoenix Stable (1994, 1995)

Most wins by a jockey:
* 4 - Jerry Bailey (1998, 1999, 2001, 2002)

Most wins by a trainer:
* 2 - Burk Kessinger, Jr. (1994, 1995)
* 2 - Christophe Clement (1996, 2001)
* 2 - W. Elliott Walden (1999, 2000)
* 2 - Robert J. Frankel (2002, 2005)
* 2 - William I. Mott (2003, 2006)
* 2 - Todd A. Pletcher (2004, 2007)

Winners

References

* [http://www.nyra.com/Saratoga/Stakes/BallstonSpa.html The Ballston Spa at the NYRA]
* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/index.php?search_bar=stakes&query_type=stakes&field=view&id=1383 The Ballston Spa at Pedigree Query]