Open to horses age three and older, it was contested on dirt over a distance of a mile and a quarter (ten furlongs).

A premier event, in the late 19th and early part of the 20th century the Brighton Handicap, along with the Suburban Handicap at Sheepshead Bay Race Track and the Metropolitan Handicap at Morris Park Racecourse, were the big three events of the Northeastern United States racing season.

In a review of Peter Pan's win in the 1907 race in front of 40,000 fans, the New York Morning Telegraph was quoted as saying the horse "accomplished a task that completely overshadowed any previous 3-year-old performance in turf history."

[2] Following passage of the Hart–Agnew anti-betting law by the Legislature of New York, Brighton Beach Race Course closed is doors permanently by the end of 1908.

However, to survive, racetrack operators saw no choice but to drastically reduce the purse money being paid out which by 1910 saw an Empire City Race Track edition of the Brighton Handicap offer a purse which was one-quarter of what it had been.