Carry Back Stakes
The Carry Back Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race once run annually at Calder Race Course in Miami Gardens, Florida, but now run at Gulfstream Park after negotiations between the two tracks.
| Listed race | |
| Location | Gulfstream Park Hallandale, Florida, United States Moved in 2015 from Calder Race Course to Gulfstream. |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1975 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred – Flat racing |
| Website | www |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 7 furlong sprint |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Track | left-handed |
| Qualification | Three-years-old |
| Weight | Assigned |
| Purse | $150,000 (since 2012) |
Contested during the first part of July, the race is open to three-year-old horses willing to race seven furlongs on the dirt. A Listed event, it currently offers a purse of $150,000.
This race is named in honor of the Florida-bred 1961 American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse, Carry Back whose wins included the 1961 Flamingo Stakes and Florida Derby, as well as that year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Carry Back was inducted in the United States Racing Hall of Fame in 1975.
Inaugurated in 1975 as a race for two-year-old horses, in 1979 it was changed to a race for horses aged three and older. Since 1980 it has been restricted to three-year-olds and from 1981 to 1993 was run as the Carry Back Handicap. Since inception it has been contested at a variety of distances:
- 5+1⁄2 furlongs : 1975–1978
- 6 furlongs : 1980–1982, 1997 to 2013
- 6+1⁄2 furlongs : 1991
- 7 furlongs : 1979, 1992–1996, 2015 to present