The race obtained Graded stakes race status in 1973 and was a Grade III race through 1975, a Grade II from 1976 through 2006 and elevated in 2007 to Grade I status with a current purse of $600,000
Inaugurated in 1952 as a seven furlong race, from 1956 through 1980 it was run at seven furlongs, 184 feet. In 1981 it was changed to its present distances of 1+1⁄16 miles.
The Alcibiades Stakes was raced on dirt until 2006 when Keeneland Race Course installed the synthetic Polytrack surface. In 2014, the Polytrack was replaced by a new dirt surface.[1]
Records
Time record: (at present distance of 1+1⁄16 miles)