| Location | Belmont Park Elmont, New York, United States |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1980 (Original Kelso Handicap, run at two miles on dirt from 1980-'82 before being discontinued). The current Kelso Stakes was renamed from the Brighton Beach Handicap in 1984. |
| Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
| Website | www.nyra.com/Belmont/Stakes/Kelso |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1 mile (8 furlongs) |
| Track | Dirt, left-handed (since 2010, the 2009 running was originally scheduled for turf, was on turf through 2008) |
| Qualification | Three-year-olds & up |
| Weight | Assigned |
| Purse | $250,000 |
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. It had been originally being scheduled for turf before being moved to the main track in 2009 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 current Kelso Stakes when it was the Brighton Beach Handicap was John Henry, who won the Brighton Beach in 1980 for his then-trainer, Lefty Nickerson.
The original Kelso Handicap was first run in 1980 as a two-mile dirt race, but was only run three times before being discontinued after 1982. Two years after the original Kelso Handicap was discontinued, the Brighton Beach Handicap was renamed the Kelso Handicap. The combined Kelso Handicap has been run at a total of three different distances:
Speed record: (at 1 mile on turf)
Speed record: (at 1 mile on dirt)
Most wins:
Most wins by an owner:
Most wins by a jockey:
Most wins by a trainer:
+ -- First running of the Kelso after being renamed from the Brighton Beach Handicap, which the current Kelso Stakes was run as prior to 1984.
| Year |
Winner |
Age |
Jockey |
Trainer |
Owner |
Time |
| 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 | Jose 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 | Jose 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 | Jose 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 Stable | 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: 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.