Annual Champion Stakes
{{short description|Defunct American thoroughbred horse race}}
{{Infobox horseraces
| class = Discontinued stakes
| horse race = Annual Champion Stakes
| website =
| image =
| caption =
| location = Sheepshead Bay Race Track
Brooklyn, New York, USA
| inaugurated = 1900–1908
| race type = Thoroughbred – Flat racing
| distance = {{frac|2|1|4}} miles (18 furlongs)
| surface = Dirt
| track = left-handed
| qualification = Three years olds and older
| weight = 3yos: 116 lbs.; 4yos: 130 lbs; 5yos & up: 131 lbs.
| purse = $25,000
| bonuses =
}}
The Annual Champion Stakes is a discontinued Thoroughbred horse race run from 1900 through 1908 that was the richest in the United States at the time for older horses with a guarantee purse of $25,000. Run on dirt over a distance of two and one-quarter miles at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, the race was open to horses age three and older.{{cite web|url=http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/TheBardUS.html |title=The Bard (U.S.) |publisher=Thoroughbred Heritage Portraits |date=2018-11-22 |accessdate=2018-11-22}}{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1908091101/drf1908091101_1_3 |title=Condensed History Of The Annual Champion Stakes|work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date=1908-09-11 |accessdate=2018-11-24}} The race was created to try to slow a decade-long trend to shorter distance races.{{cite web |url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1920s/drf1923 |title=The Annual Champion Stakes |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date=1899-02-12 |accessdate=2018-11-22 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Hart–Agnew Law
The Annual Champion Stakes was last run on September 12, 1908 and was won by King James.
{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1908091301/drf1908091301_1_2 |title=Last Day At Sheepshead: King James Wins The Annual Champion In A Fierce Drive With Falcada |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date=1908-09-13 |accessdate=2018-11-22}} Earlier that year the Republican controlled New York Legislature under Governor Charles Evans Hughes passed the Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation on June 11, 1908 with penalties allowing for fines and up to a year in prison.{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1908011801/drf1908011801_1_7 |title=Penalties in the New York Bills |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date=1908-01-18|accessdate=2018-10-26}} The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York state, struggled to stay in business without wagering revenue.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1908/09/01/archives/keep-up-betting-ban-strict-enforcement-of-the-law-at-sheepshead-bay.html |title=Keep Up Betting Ban |work=New York Times |date=1908-09-01 |accessdate=2018-11-06}} Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which by 1909 saw many stakes races being canceled or offering a substantially reduced purse.{{cite web|url=https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1910071601/drf1910071601_1_7 |title=Striking Falling off in Value of Ten Greatest Stakes |work=Daily Racing Form|via=University of Kentucky Archives|date= 1910-07-16 |accessdate=2018-10-15}} Further restrictive legislation was passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 which deepened the financial crisis for track operators and led to a complete shutdown of racing across the state during 1911 and 1912. When a Court ruling saw racing return in 1913 it was too late for any revival of the Annual Champion Stakes as the Sheepshead Bay horse racing facility never reopened.
Records
Speed record:
- 3:53 3/5 – Igniter (1903)
Most wins:
- no horse won this race more than once
Most wins by a jockey:
- no jockey won this race more than once
Most wins by a trainer:
- 2 – Matthew M. Allen (1902, 1906)
- 2 – John E. Madden (1907, 1908)
Most wins by an owner:
- no owner won this race more than once
Winners
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%" |
| style="width:30px" | Year ! style="width:110px" | Winner ! style="width:20px" | Age ! style="width:110px" | Jockey ! style="width:120px" | Trainer ! Owner ! style="width:25px" | Dist. ! style="width:25px" | Time ! style="width:25px" | Win |
|---|
| align=center|1908
|align=center|3 |align=center|2¼ M |align=center|4:01.00 |align=center|$20,550 |
| align=center|1907
|align=center|3 |align=center|2¼ M |align=center|3:56.40 |align=center|$20,550 |
| align=center|1906
|align=center|3 |align=center|2¼ M |align=center|3:55.40 |align=center|$19,745 |
| align=center|1905
|align=center|3 |align=center|2¼ M |align=center|3:54.00 |align=center|$20,550 |
| align=center|1904
|Stalwart |align=center|3 |William Shields |align=center|2¼ M |align=center|3:54.60 |align=center|$19,650 |
| align=center|1903
|Igniter |align=center|4 |Julius Bauer |Arthur Featherstone |align=center|2¼ M |align=center|3:53.60 |align=center|$19,650 |
| align=center|1902
|Major Daingerfield |align=center|3 |McLewee & Co. |align=center|2¼ M |align=center|3:58.00 |align=center|$19,650 |
| align=center|1901
|Maid of Harlem |align=center|5 |Barry D. Woods |Osceola Stables (Thomas L. Watt) |align=center|2¼ M |align=center|3:58.40 |align=center|$19,650 |
| align=center|1900
|David Garrick |align=center|4 |Rancocas Stable (Pierre Lorillard) |align=center|2¼ M |align=center|3:56.00 |align=center|$19,650 |