In the 1980s when this event became a fillies and mares race it started to attract high calibre performers that would confirm the status of the event. Starting in 1984 with the winner Princess Rooney who later that year would win the Breeders' Cup Distaff and be crowned US Champion Older Dirt Female Horse. The 1990 winner, the Argentine bred mare Bayakoa would rectify her unplaced finish from 1989 and would also win the Breeders' Cup Distaff for the second time and retain her position as US Champion Older Dirt Female Horse. Allen E. Paulson's two-time winner of the event, Azeri would become US Horse of the Year in 2002. Zenyatta proved her dominance in this event winning it three times and with that she continued on winning the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic and in 2010 becoming US Horse of the Year.
