It was run as the Realization Stakes until 1899, when it was renamed to honor James G. K. Lawrence, president of the Coney Island Jockey Club (which owned the racetrack).
The stakes were later run at Belmont Park on Long Island[1] as a Grade II race on the dirt.
For 70 years, the Lawrence Realization was one of the most prestigious annual events in the American horse racing calendar.
The race was contested over several distances: On September 4, 1920, Man o' War won the 1+5⁄8-mile (2.6 km) Lawrence Realization by 100 lengths over the only other runner, Hoodwink.
His time for the race was 2 min 40+4⁄5 s, which broke the world record for the distance by 1+3⁄5 seconds and was his fifth record-setting performance that year.