The Fort Lauderdale Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race open for three years old or older, over a distance of one and one-eighth miles on the turf track held annually in December at Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach, Florida.
[4] In 1956 the winner New Trend ridden by US Hall of Fame jockey Willie Shoemaker set a new track record for the 1+1⁄16 miles distance of 1:42 flat winning easily by 3+1⁄2 lengths.
[5] The following year in 1957 the event attracted the U.S. Champion Three-Year-Old Colt Needles who had won both the 1956 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes and was running his last race of his career.
[9] The 1965 renewal of the event was as the Fort Lauderdale Purse and was held on the turf track for the first time was won by the Argentine-bred Babington who equaled the world record for the distance in a stunning 1:404⁄5.
[4] The 1994 winner Paradise Creek won the event as a 3/5 odds-on favorite with a determined stretch drive winning by 1⁄2 length.
The decision to reinstate the Grade 3 rating was based on the quality of the horses who competed in the race following the surface change.
The inaugural running was held in April and for the 1947–48 season the event was scheduled in December List of American and Canadian Graded races