Flamingo Stakes

The Flamingo Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in March at the Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida. Run over a distance of nine furlongs, the inaugural race took place in 1926 at the Tampa, Florida racetrack. Until 1937 it was known as the Florida Derby.

Run in March, at one time the Flamingo Stakes was an important early prep race for the Kentucky Derby. A Grade I race until 1989, it drew some of the top East Coast colts including a number of future National Museum of Racing and Hall of Famers. In 1948, Citation won the Flamingo Stakes under regular jockey Al Snider. Six days later Snider drowned while out fishing in the Florida Keys and Eddie Arcaro would replace him on Citation, going on to win the U.S. Triple Crown. Northern Dancer, the most dominant sire of the second half of the 20th century and the grandsire of current world number one sire Galileo (through Sadlers Wells), used his Flamingo Stakes victory in 1964 (along with wins in the Florida Derby and Blue Grass) to propel himself into setting the Stakes Record for the Kentucky Derby (2:00:00 flat).

The Hialeah Park racetrack ran into financial problems and the facility ceased operations with the last Flamingo Stakes run in 2001.

Past winners