1979 Bowl Game was able complete the treble in capturing the Man o' War Stakes, Turf Classic and Washington D.C. International. Such a feat earned Bowl Game U.S. Champion Turf Horse honors for 1979. With the introduction of the Breeders' Cup in 1984 with the Breeders' Cup Turf the Man o' War Stakes become a major preparatory event in the early fall. Irish bred Theatrical won the event in October 1987 at Aqueduct after also winning the Turf Classic which was scheduled earlier in September and then went on to also win the Breeders' Cup Turf at Hollywood Park. Theatrical was crowned U.S. Champion Turf Horse for 1987. Other fine horses to have completed the Man o' War-Turf Classic double include 1988 winner Sunshine Forever, 1989 winner Yankee Affair and 1991 winner Solar Splendor who set a new stakes record of 2:12:01 as a 24-1 longshot on the inner turf track. Solar Splendor would repeat winning the event the following year on the main turf track this time setting a new course record of 2:12.45. In 1999 Val's Prince also completed the NYRA Turf double but failed to spark in the Breeders' Cup Turf finishing eleventh. The 2005 winner Better Talk Now won the event setting a new stakes record in 2:11.65. Better Talk Now had won the Breeders' Cup Turf in 2004 at Lone Star Park. In 2008 the Man o' War was moved from Belmont's fall schedule into its summer schedule, replacing the Bowling Green Handicap in an attempt to more fairly represent turf competition. Also that year the conditions of the event were changed from Weight for Age to stakes with allowances. In 2014 the event was scheduled in May and the conditions of the event were changed so that three-year-olds would not be allowed to enter. In 2017 the event was won by the five-year-old Irish bred mare Zhukova who started as the 9/10 odds-on favorite and set a new stakes winning margin by 6 lengths over Taghleeb in a small field of five starters in a time of 2:25.31 on a yielding track in rainy weather. Zhukova was the fifth mare to have had won the event after Dotted Line (1959), Typecast (1973), Dahlia (1974) and Waya (1978). In 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, NYRA did not schedule the event in their updated and shortened spring-summer meeting. Records Time record: