On June 11, 1908, the
Republican controlled
New York Legislature under
Governor Charles Evans Hughes passed the
Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation with penalties allowing for fines and up to a year in prison. In spite of strong opposition by prominent owners such as
August Belmont, Jr. and
Harry Payne Whitney, reform legislators were not happy when they learned that betting was still going on at racetracks between individuals and they had further restrictive legislation passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 that made it possible for racetrack owners and members of its
board of directors to be fined and imprisoned if anyone was found betting, even privately, anywhere on their premises. After a 1911 amendment to the law to limit the liability of owners and directors was defeated, every racetrack in New York State shut down. As a result, the Flying Handicap was not run in 1911 and 1912. Owners, whose horses of racing age had nowhere to go, began sending them, their trainers and their jockeys to race in England and France. Many horses ended their racing careers there and a number remained to become an important part of the European
horse breeding industry.
Thoroughbred Times reported that more than 1,500 American horses were sent overseas between 1908 and 1913 and of them at least 24 were either past, present, or future
Champions. When a February 21, 1913 ruling by the
New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division Court saw horse racing return in 1913 it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay horse racing facility and it never reopened. ==Records==