The event currently carries a purse of $2,000,000, which includes $1,000,000 from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.
The event was inaugurated on 22 April 1990 as the Sam Houston Stakes on the first ever meeting at the new track, then the Duelling Grounds Racecourse.
[1] The race was in honor of Sam Houston, who took part in a duel on the site of where the racetrack is located near the border of Kentucky and Tennessee.
[6] In 2021, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association upgraded the event to a Grade II.
† In the 2003 running, Art Variety was first past the post but was disqualified for interference in the straight and placed third.