The event is named in memory of Ferdinand Dufaure, a former committee member of the Société des Steeple-Chases de France, who died in 1947. It was first run in 1951, and its distance was initially set at 4,500 metres. This was cut to 3,800 metres in 1953. The race was added to Auteuil's summer program in 1961, when another event, the Prix Maurice Gillois, was moved to the autumn. The length of the Prix Ferdinand Dufaure was frequently modified in the late 1960s and early 1970s, before a more settled period over 4,400 metres began in 1973. The present distance, 4,100 metres, was introduced in 1986.
