Saratoga Special Stakes

Saratoga Special Stakes

Grade II race
Our Talisman, oil on canvas Painting by Bob Demuyser (1920–2003)
Location	Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Springs, New York, United States
Inaugurated	1901
Race type	Thoroughbred – Flat racing
Website	www.nyra.com/index_saratoga.html
Race information
Distance	6 furlongs
Surface	Dirt
Track	left-handed
Qualification	Two-year-olds
Weight	Assigned
Purse	$200,000 (since 2012)[1]

The Saratoga Special Stakes is an American grade II thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid-August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The race is for two-year-olds willing to race six furlongs on the dirt.^[2]

With its first run in 1901, the Saratoga Special was a winner-take-all race until 1959 when it became a standard stakes race. The race was held at Belmont Park on the Widener Course in 1943, 1944, and 1945. There was no race in 1911 and 1912 due to the New York State legislated ban on parimutuel betting that led to the closure of all New York racetracks. There was also no race held in 2004.

Since inception it has been contested at various distances:

• 5.5 furlongs : 1901–1906
• 6 furlongs : 1907–1993, 2005, 2020
• 6+1⁄2 furlongs : 1994–2003, 2006–2019

Only four horses have ever won all three Saratoga Racecourse events for two-year-olds. Regret (1914), Campfire (1916), Dehere (1993), and City Zip (2000) each swept the Saratoga Special, Sanford Stakes and Hopeful Stakes.