The Affirmed Stakes is the second leg of the Florida Stallion Stakes series. Inaugurated in 1982, the race was named after the Florida-bred Triple Crown winner Affirmed, who was well known for his rivalry with the west coast-bred Alydar. The race was originally run at 6 furlongs but it was quickly increased to 7 furlongs in order to create a gradually increasing set of lengths throughout the series to allow the young horses to step up to each new length as they moved through their training.