The Dixie is Pimlico's oldest stakes race and the nation's eighth oldest, first run in 1870 as the Dinner Party Stakes. It was won that year by Preakness, for whom the present 3-year-old classic was named three years later.

     Champions of many eras are among its winners. Whirlaway, the 1941 Triple Crown winner, returned to Pimlico the following year to win the Dixie. Assault, another Triple Crown winner, won it as a 4-year-old in 1947. Calumet Farm dominated the Dixie in the '40's. In addition to Whirlaway, Armed (1946) and Fervent (1948) carried Calumet's Devil Red and Blue to victory in that decade.

      Until 1955, the Dixie was run on dirt. It was then switched to the turf, at a mile-and-a-half and was included in the champaigns of champions turf horses, St. Vincent (1955) and Fort Marcy (1970).

     In 1991, the race was shortened to a mile-and-an-eighth, when it became part of the Early Times Triple Turf Series, which continued through 1997. During that time the Dixie hosted some of the most talented fields in American turf racing and its winners included two-time Breeders' Cup Mile winner Lure (1993), and Eclipse Award turf champions Sky Classic (1992) and Paradise Creek (1994).

     In 2004 local star Mr O'Brien established a new track record for the nine furlong distance as he bounded under the wire in 1:46:34 upsetting the field at odds of 11-1.