Pierrepont Handicap

The 1880s saw intense lobbying by a moralist movement to have betting on horse racing banned in the states of New Jersey and New York. They achieved their goals in New Jersey when the 1893 election gave Republicans control of the New Jersey Legislature who then passed legislation on March 21, 1894 that banned betting on horse racing in that state.[4] The bill was signed into law by Democratic Governor George Werts, the effect of which was the complete cessation of horse racing in New Jersey that would last for more than five decades until the law was rescinded in 1946. The moralists then stepped up their activities to obtain the same ban in New York state which caused years of uncertainty. With the state's Hart–Agnew anti-wagering legislation in process, the Jamaica Race Course saw its opening day betting drop from $20,000 in 1907 to just $900 in 1908.[5] For the track's fall racing program, the Pierrepont Handicap had to be dropped from the schedule. Although the race returned in 1909, and was won by James R. Keene's future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Maskette, it would be the last time it was held until 1918. That year Roamer, another future Hall of Fame inductee, won what was the sixth running of the Pierrepont Handicap.[6]

The severe financial difficulties of the Great Depression would spell the end for the Pierrepont Handicap in 1932. The final running was won by Sonny Whitney's four-year-old horse Halcyon.[7]