The Mineshaft Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race for four-year-olds and up run at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana early in the year. A Grade III stakes race, it's set at a distance of 1 and one-sixteenth mile on the dirt, and offers a purse of $125,000.It's named for the fine competitor Mineshaft, now a promising stallion standing at Lane's End Farm.This race was originally called The Whirlaway Handicap to honor the great Whirlaway.