🗓️ A Day Like Today in Horse Racing History October 24, 1959 — The Birth of the Man o’ War Handicap By WinningStride | Every Stride Tells a Story On this day in 1959, the gates opened at Aqueduct Racetrack for the first-ever Man o’ War Handicap — a race created to honor one of the sport’s greatest legends, Man o’ War. The excitement was electric. With 23 entrants, the field was so large that officials split it into two divisions, a rare move that underlined how much anticipation surrounded this