Saturday, April 20, 2013

Man o' War: Stuyvesant Handicap, Dwyer Stakes, Miller Stakes, and Travers Stakes

By late June, Man o' War, also known as Big Red, was making a name for himself as an unbeatable. racehorse. Hardly anybody was daring enough to race him, and many scratched their horses from a race they knew he would be in. Man o' War had became something of an invincible legend.

Man o' War winning the Stuyvesant. (see here for original)
 Next up his list of races was the Stuyvesant Handicap. Only one horse raced against him---Yellowhand. Even though Man o' War was carrying 135 pounds, 32 pounds more than his opponent, he easily beat Yellowhand, winning by 8 lengths. He truly was invincible.

 Then he moved on to the Dwyer Stakes, a 1 1/8 mile track at Aqueduct. Once again, only one horse opposed: John P Grier. For the better part of a mile, the two horses battled neck and neck for first place, Man o' War finally pulling ahead to win by 1 1/2 lengths. Not only had he won, he had also broken another world record with a quick time of 1:49 1/5.

 After that came the Miller Stakes and the Travers Stakes at Saratoga. Man o' War won both quite easily, and in the Travers Upset came second and John P Grier, who an uncommonly bad race,  finished third. Also he equaled the Travers' track record of 2:04 4/5.

 Man o' War had only four races remaining: the Lawrence Realization, the Jockey Club Stakes, the Potomac Handicap, and the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup. Little did fans know that one of the greatest races in history was about to take place, and that Big Red would be part of it.
 

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