Comely Stakes

The Comely Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. Run in late November, since 1960 it has been open to three-year-old fillies who are willing to race one mile on the dirt track. The race is a Grade III event with a current (2016) purse of $250,000. The American Graded Stakes Committee downgraded it to a Grade III race in 2010.^[1]

The race was named in honor of the filly Comely, who, in a remarkable performance as a two-year-old, defeated older male horses in winning the first running of the Fall Highweight Handicap in 1914, then named the Autumn Highweight. Comely was owned by James Butler Sr., who owned Empire City Race Track in Yonkers, N.Y., from 1907 until his death in 1934.

Inaugurated in 1945 at the Empire City at Jamaica Racetrack meeting, it was raced there through 1953 and again in 1959. It was hosted by Belmont Park in 1976, 1981, 1984, and again in 1985. There was no Comely run from 1954 to 1958.

Since inception, the Comely has been contested at a  1 ¹⁄₁₆ miles for three-year-old fillies from 1945 through 1953 and again in 1993. In 1959, the race was restricted to two-year-olds and run as a five furlong sprint. From 1960 through 1990, it was run at seven furlongs.

In 2013 it was run at 1 1/8th mile.

The Comely was run in two divisions in 1953, 1963, and 1970.

Records

Speed record:

• 1-mile - 1:33.50 - Bella Bellucci (2002)
• 7-furlongs - 1:21.20 - Ruffian (1975)

Most wins by a jockey:

• 4 - Braulio Baeza (1962, 1963, 1967, 1970)
• 4 - Jorge Chavez (1995, 1996, 1998, 2004)

Most wins by an owner:

• 2 - Alfred G. Vanderbilt II (1951, 1953)
• 2 - Wheatley Stable (1960, 1970)
• 2 - William Haggin Perry (1963, 1964)
• 2 - George D. Widener, Jr. (1965, 1969)
• 2 - Diana M. Firestone (1980, 1981)
• 2 - Joseph Allen (1982, 1989)
• 2 - Bohemia Stable (1994, 1997)

Winners of the Comely Stakes since 1969

Earlier winners

See also

• Road to the Kentucky Oaks

References