Narragansett Special
| Discontinued horse race | |
| Location |
Narragansett Park Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1934 - Winner: Time Supply |
| Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1 3⁄16 miles (9.5 furlongs) |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Track | left-handed |
| Qualification | Three-years-old & up |
| Weight | Handicap |
| Purse | $25,000 |
The Narragansett Special was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Narragansett Park in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. At the time of its inaugural running in 1934, the Narragansett Special offered a purse of $25,000 added money making it the biggest race run at the track. Only Suffolk Downs' Massachusetts Handicap had a bigger purse in New England. Both rich contests drew the best talent that the nation had to offer.
Open to horses age three and older, the race was run over a distance of 1 3⁄16 miles (9.5 furlongs). The Special started at the top of the Narragansett stretch with a run of 3/16ths to the wire and then one full lap around the one mile dirt oval.
Across its history, the "Special" was run in late summer and fall, over fast and sloppy tracks, and even in the snow one year (Wise Margin – 1955).
Time Supply, under jockey Tommy Luther, won the very first Special. A. A. Baroni's Top Row and Rosemont, for William duPont, won the next two editions.
An instant success, the race continued to attract the top horses from across the United States. 1937 had Mrs. Ella K. Bryson's gelding Calumet Dick, with Hilton Dabson riding, captured the event. A former Calumet Farm runner that loved the mud, Calumet Dick upset Wheatley Stable's Snark and national superstar Seabiscuit. The 'Biscuit was made the betting favorite by his fans, but proved his dislike for "off" going and saw a seven race winning streak snapped when he finished third on the sloppy track under high-weight of 132 lbs.
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