It has been raced for in Louisville, Kentucky, Elizabeth, New Jersey, the Sheepshead Bay Race Track, New York, Jerome Park Racetrack, New York, Morris Park Racecourse, New York, and since 1917, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Created as a challenge cup, the Woodlawn Vase was first won by Capt. Thomas G. Moore's mare, Mollie Jackson, in 1861. This excerpt appeared in the newspaper that week, "The rules under which this prize is to be contended for are such that a man who wins it on the first trial (which is to occur on Saturday, the 18th instant of the year) is to give bonds to produce the Vase for future trials; and no one is entitled to it without giving such bonds, until he has won it three successive times. The challengers for the Vase, who name their horses to the post will be listed in the paper and the result reported for perpetuity in time in our next paper." The same owner retained possession the following year through the victory of the famous mare "Idlewild." The outbreak of the Civil War prevented further competition until 1866.