Run as a handicap prior to 1928, the race is named in honor of the Coaching Club of New York.
One of the requirements for membership in this club was the ability to handle a coach and four horses with a single group of reins.
August Belmont Jr. set the original conditions in order to emulate The Oaks in England.
From 1963 to 1967 the Coaching Club American Oaks was run at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Racing Hall of Fame inductee Mom's Command won the 1985 Oaks under jockey Abigail Fuller, daughter of the horse's owner, Peter Fuller.