The race is named in honor of famed composer Stephen Foster, who wrote numerous melodies including "My Old Kentucky Home" which is the song that is annually played as the Kentucky Derby field parades on the track.

[4] Currently offering a purse of $1,000,000, the race draws some of the top older horses from various parts of the United States.

[1] The 2006 edition of the Stephen Foster Handicap produced its biggest upset ever when jockey Calvin Borel aboard 91-1 longshot Seek Gold defeated the favored 2003 winner, Perfect Drift.

Black Tie Affair (1991), Awesome Again (1998) and Blame (2010) won both races at Churchill Downs.

[1] The race moved for one year in 2023 to Ellis Park on the Indiana-Kentucky border as a result of numerous spring meeting fatalities.