The Century Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

 held annually from 1901 through 1909 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track

Sheepshead Bay Race Track

Sheepshead Bay Race Track was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility built on the site of the Coney Island Jockey Club at Sheepshead Bay, New York...

 in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. A Weight for Age

Weight for Age

Weight for Age is a term in Thoroughbred horse racing which is one of the conditions for a race. It means that a horse will carry a set weight in accordance with the Weight for Age Scale. This weight varies depending on the horse’s age, its sex, the race distance and the month of the year...

 race open to horses age three and older, it was contested on dirt over a distance of a mile and a half (12 furlongs).

Run as the Century Stakes until 1908, the race was last run in September of 1909 after the Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 controlled New York Legislature

New York Legislature

The New York State Legislature is the term often used to refer to the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York. The New York Constitution does not designate an official term for the two houses together...

 under Governor

Governor of New York

The Governor of the State of New York is the chief executive of the State of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military and naval forces. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her...

 Charles Evans Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...

 passed the Hart-Agnew anti-betting legislation on June 11, 1908. The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in businesss without betting. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B07E2D71631E233A25752C0A96F9C946997D6CF However, further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which resulted in the deepening of the financial crisis for track operators and led to a complete shut down of racing across the state during 1911 and 1912. When a Court ruling saw racing return in 1913 it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay facility and it never reopened.

Records

Speed record:

• 2:30.60 - Ballot
  Ballot (horse)
  Ballot was an American two-time Champion Thoroughbred racehorse and damsire of the very important sire, Bull Lea.Bred and raced by James R...
  
   (1908) (new track record)

Most wins:

• 2 - Ballot
  Ballot (horse)
  Ballot was an American two-time Champion Thoroughbred racehorse and damsire of the very important sire, Bull Lea.Bred and raced by James R...
  
   (1907, 1908)

Most wins by a jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

:

• 2 - Dave Nicol (1905, 1907)

Most wins by a trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

:

• 3 - James G. Rowe, Sr. (1905, 1907, 1908)

Most wins by an owner:

• 3 - James R. Keene
  James R. Keene
  James Robert Keene was a Wall Street stock broker and a major thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder.-Biography:He was born in London, England in 1838. He was fourteen years of age when his family emigrated to the United States in 1852...
  
   (1905, 1907, 1908)

Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
1909	Moquette	4	Eddie Dugan Eddie Dugan Eddie Dugan was a jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing who won three American Classic Races and two Canadian Classic Races. In addition, Dugan raced and won in Russia....	Sam Hildreth Sam Hildreth Samuel Clay Hildreth was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer and owner.Born in Independence, Missouri, Sam Hildreth began his training career in 1887, competing at racetracks in the Midwestern United States with such horses as the good racemare Hurley Burley, the dam of...	Sam Hildreth Sam Hildreth Samuel Clay Hildreth was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer and owner.Born in Independence, Missouri, Sam Hildreth began his training career in 1887, competing at racetracks in the Midwestern United States with such horses as the good racemare Hurley Burley, the dam of...	2:34.40
1908	Ballot Ballot (horse) Ballot was an American two-time Champion Thoroughbred racehorse and damsire of the very important sire, Bull Lea.Bred and raced by James R...	4	Joe Notter Joe Notter Joseph A. Notter was an American Hall of Fame jockey and winner of two of the American Classic Races.A native of Brooklyn, New York, Joe Notter rode prominently in the first decades of the 20th century...	James G. Rowe, Sr.	James R. Keene James R. Keene James Robert Keene was a Wall Street stock broker and a major thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder.-Biography:He was born in London, England in 1838. He was fourteen years of age when his family emigrated to the United States in 1852...	2:30.60
1907	Ballot Ballot (horse) Ballot was an American two-time Champion Thoroughbred racehorse and damsire of the very important sire, Bull Lea.Bred and raced by James R...	3	Dave Nicol	James G. Rowe, Sr.	James R. Keene James R. Keene James Robert Keene was a Wall Street stock broker and a major thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder.-Biography:He was born in London, England in 1838. He was fourteen years of age when his family emigrated to the United States in 1852...	2:33.60
1906	Bedouin	4	Gene Hildebrand	John Huggins	E. W. Jewett	2:33.60
1905	Sysonby Sysonby Sysonby was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He won every start easily, except one, at distances from one mile to two and a quarter miles...	3	Dave Nicol	James G. Rowe, Sr.	James R. Keene James R. Keene James Robert Keene was a Wall Street stock broker and a major thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder.-Biography:He was born in London, England in 1838. He was fourteen years of age when his family emigrated to the United States in 1852...	2:33.00
1904	Stalwart	3	Arthur Redfern Arthur E. Redfern Arthur Redfern was an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who in 1903 was the highest paid rider in the United States.-Riding Career:...	William Shields	Edward R. Thomas	2:31.20
1903	Waterboy	4	Frank O'Neill	A. Jack Joyner A. Jack Joyner Andrew Jackson "Jack" Joyner was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer and owner.Known as "Jack" and reported as "A.J." and "A. Jack," Joyner was born in Enfield, North Carolina, the son of Dr. and Mrs. Henry Joyner...	James B. A. Haggin	2:31.60
1902	Blues	3	Jack Martin	Thomas Welsh	Frank Farrell	2:33.20
1901	Watercolor	3	Henry Spencer	Charles S. Littlefield, Sr.	James B. A. Haggin	2:32.00