In 1934, War Admiral, one of Man o' War's greatest sons, was born out of Brushup on Faraway Farms. He was a full hand smaller than his sire, standing only 15.3 hands high. Even so, he was ready to defeat any horse that stood in his path to victory.
He was raced by Samuel Riddle, just like his father before him, and was trained by George Conway.
War Admiral also seemed to share the same fiery temper as his sire. He was high strung, and a pain to exercise. "He would jump three times every time you took him out," explains Tom Harbut, son of Will Harbut, Man o' War's groom. He also despised the starting gate. Despite that, War Admiral's season as two-year-old was very promising.
He won his first race hands down, and the next one after that before moving up to the stakes races. Next, even though he failed to beat divisional leader Pompoon in the National Stallion Stakes, he placed third, proving that he could hold his own against the best.
After that, a new jockey came to be War Admiral's regular rider: Charley Kurtsinger. War Admiral held the lead well into the backstretch in the Great American Stakes at Aqueduct, but once more failed to go all the way, this time coming second to the chestnut gelding Fairy Hill. Just after that, he had to have an eleven week layoff due to cough.
In his first race after is layoff, he lead wire to wire in the Eastern Shore Stakes, winning by five lengths. Then he finished the season with second place in the Richard Johnson Stakes. By the time the season of 1937 came, his racing would be even more promising than before.
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