The Cowdin Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually from 1923 through 2005 at Aqueduct Racetrack and at Belmont Park which at one time was a Grade 1 event.
The Junior Champion Stakes at Gravesend ended with the 1908 running when the racetrack was forced to close after the administration of Republican Governor Charles Evans Hughes signed into law the Hart–Agnew bill which effectively banned all racetrack wagering in New York State.
The new Junior Champion Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack was renamed the Cowdin Stakes in 1941 to honor John Cheever Cowdin, former president of the racetrack.
[3] At its peak, the Cowdin Stakes was one of the important East Coast races for two-year-olds,[4] a number of which would earn American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt honors.
[5] Other winners who would become Hall of Fame members were Twenty Grand (1930), Hill Prince (1949), Dr. Fager (1966), Foolish Pleasure (1974), Easy Goer (1988).