The event was inaugurated as the
Gallant Man Stakes in honor of the
U.S. Racing Hall of Fame horse,
Gallant Man, on 17 August 1985 as the sixth event in the under-card for
Travers Stakes Day and was won by Duluth who was ridden by
Jean Cruguet easily by lengths in a time of 1:47. In 1992 the event was renamed to the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes.
National Museum of Racing opened in Saratoga Springs in 1951. In 1955, the Museum moved to its present site on Union Avenue, across the street from Saratoga Race Course. That year, 1992, the event was upgraded to Grade II and held that class since except for 2013 when the race was moved from the turf track to the dirt track due to the state of the track and subsequently was downgraded to Grade III. The event has been run over several distances, including a mile and an eighth from 1985 to 1995, a mile and a sixteenth in 1996 and 1997 and in 1998, the distance was changed back to a mile and an eighth. Originally the event was scheduled for August 4 but due to a torrential rainstorm the race was postponed until August 11. ==Records==