The race was named for the purple bougainvillea flower which is an integral part of the track's floral blueprint.
[3] In 1970, Secretariat's Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte aboard Vent du Nord became the only jockey to ever win the "Hialeah Turf Series", three races consisting of the Palm Beach, Bougainvillea and Hialeah Turf Cup Handicaps.
[4] In 1973 the Graded stakes race system was recorded for the first time in the United States.
This historical event was won by Gleaming, owned by the renowned Calumet Farm of Lexington, Kentucky.
[5] The final running of the Bougainville Handicap took place on March 31, 2001 and was won by Make No Mistake, owned by Walter Haefner's Moyglare Stud Farm.