 The race was the counterpart to the Garden State Futurity for two-year-old male horses.In the early 1970s, growing competition from Keystone Racetrack in nearby Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania caused a sharp decline in revenues at Garden State Park which resulted in cancellation of the 1973 fall racing season.A fire destroyed the racetrack on April 14, 1977 and the Gardenia Stakes was shifted to the Meadowlands Racetrack at East Rutherford, New Jersey.