Open to fillies and mares age three and older, the Grade II event was raced on turf at a distance of a mile and an eighth (9 furlongs).
The inaugural running took place on February 8, 1941, and was won by Sweet Willow at a distance of seven furlongs.
It marked a rarity for a dead heat in that Rampart carried the highweight, in the field of ten, and Shotsilk the low weight.
[4][5] Bewitch won the 1950 Black Helen Handicap by seven lengths in a time of 1:48 flat for a mile and one-eighth that was just 2/5 of a second off the World Record.
[6] In 1968, Treacherous won the Black Helen Handicap but her win was overshadowed by jockey Ángel Cordero Jr. who set a Hialeah track record by riding six winners that day.