Prior to that, all the classics were handicaps. Nor were there 1,600m races at the Jalan Ampang racecourse. The races at the tight city track were over 1,200m, 1,800m, 1,900m and 2,000m.

In the late seventies, the SLTC bought two parcels of land adjacent to the track and was able to lay a chute to accommodate 1,600m races.

To commemorate the introduction of 1,600m races, the SLTC inaugurated the Piala Emas with prizemoney of RM100,000. It was won by PAITITI GOLD, who scored again in 1982.

Drama unfold in 1983 when ANDERMATT (Gerry Donnelly) got up in the last stride to beat CHUMMY'S SPECIAL (Brian York) by a short head. The racing stewards immediately charged York for dropping his hands prior to the post, allowing ANDERMATT to get up and win.

York was suspended for 26 race days. His appeal to the Malayan Racing Association was not only dismissed, he was given an additional month’s "sentence".

RYUJIN was only three years old when he captured the Piala Emas in 1990 and completed a double the following year - the only horse to win the race two years in succession.

The Piala Emas was run in Ipoh in 1993 pending the completion of the Sungei Besi racecourse. KING'S SEAL triumphed with the late S Y Leong astride.

The race was not run in 1999 when a virus outbreak curtailed racing, initially banning the movement of horses between racing centres.

In 2003, the Piala Emas Sultan Selangor was the second leg of the Selangor Turf Club triple crown series with increased prizemoney of RM750,000.

In 2004, the race became the final leg of the triple crown series and prizemoney was increased to RM1.5 million. However, this was cut back to RM1 million in 2006.

In 2008, the race was opened to Singapore horses for the first time was was won by the Steven Burridge-trained TRIGGER EXPRESS.

In 2009, the Piala Emas Sultan Selangor was run at set weights for the first time.

Burridge recorded his second success in the series when RISKY BUSINESS triumphed in 2011.