War Admiral: Two-Year-Old Season

 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.

Man o' War: His Retirement and Death

When his racing career was finished, Man o' War returned to Glen Riddle Farm for the winter. Then, on January 28, 1921, he was ridden under his racing silks in Lexington, Kentucky. His first stud season was at Hinata Farm. Next he moved to Faraway Farms, where he met his old stablemate, Golden Broom. He sired many 386 foals, including Seabiscuit and War Admiral.

 He was so famous that thousands of people came to see him in his retirement. In fact, he was one of the biggest tourist attractions in the U.S.

 On November 1, 1947, Man o' War died at age 30. He had been sick for months, thrashing around in his stall until he finally died. After his death, his body was embalmed, and he was lowered into a oak casket with the aid of a homemade sling.

 An estimated 2000 people came to his funeral on November 4, 1947. Sixteen pin oak trees were planted around the grave, symbolizing his sixteen years at stud, and the thirty hornbeam trees that lined the path to his grave in his paddock at Faraway Farms marked his age. Samuel Riddle was not present, but he sent yellow and white carnations to lay on the grave. The event was so big that nine eulogies were read from, and it was broadcasted on the radio so that people all over the country would hear of the death of the great horse.

  Every racetrack throughout the country held a moments silence the time of the funeral, 3 PM, to honor the mighty horse.

Man o' War's gravesite is still marked by a
statue in the Kentucky Horse Park(click here for original photo).

 A few days after the funeral, he was moved to Kentucky Horse Park, where all could see his gravesite, which was marked by a statue.

 Even today, people still honor this great horse. His statue still marks his gravesite, and there is even a race named for him.

Man o' War: Lawrence Realization, Jockey Club Stakes, Potomac Handicap, and Kenilworth Park Gold Cup

 Man o' War, the legendary racehorse that no one dared to race, was down to the last four races of his career: the Lawrence Realization, the Jockey Club Stakes, the Potomac Handicap, and the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup. After those races, he would be retired to stud in hopes that he would pass his talent to his offspring. 

 However, by the time Big Red returned to Belmont Park for the Lawrence Realization, no one wanted to race their horses against him. Only the horse named Hoodwink stood forward to accept the challenge. Hoodwink's owner openly admitted that he was running for the second place prize, as Hoodwink was clearly out of Man o' War's league. Because of this, Man o' War was being clocked throughout the race to see if he could beat the old record of 2:45 for a mile and five eighths. And beat he did.

 A new world record of 2:40 4/5 for a mile and five eighths was set by Big Red. Not only did he beat the world record, but he also took an early lead, flying down the track and winning by an incredible 100, a feat that has not been repeated since.

 The next week, he moved on to the Jockey Club Stakes, beating the American record for one and a half miles with a time of 2:28 4/5. On the other hand, his run in the Potomac Handicap brought trouble. While running, he bumped himself, bowing a tendon. Even so, he manage to defeat Wildair, Blazes, and Derby winner Paul Jones, as well as break the track record with a time of 1:44 4/5.

 Man o' War's trainer tried to keep Big Red fit enough to run one last race: the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup. Triple Crown winner Sir Barton, the only horse racing against Man o' War in the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup, had been having a fabulous handicap year even as Man o' War had been breaking records left and right. 

 Sir Barton was weighted with 126 pounds, and Man o' War 120 pounds. Right out the Gates, Man o' War took the lead and defeated Sir Barton by seven lengths and broke the track with the time of 2:03.

Man o' War winning the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup(click here for original
photo)

 After the race, people discovered that Sir Barton had been suffering from sore feet and that Man o' War's stirrup had been cut before the race, though the job had been poorly done and the stirrup held. Rumors had it that Willis Sharpe Kilmer was offended that his horse Exterminator had not been invited to the race, but no one knows what really happened. 

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.
 

Man o' War: Preakness Stakes, Withers Stakes, and Belmont Stakes

By the time the Kentucky Derby of 1920 rolled along, Man o' War was acknowledged as a fierce competitor, and everyone was afraid to race their own horses against the Big Red, as he was known. However, Big Red did not run in the Kentucky Derby. Samuel Riddle, his owner, believed that May was too early for three-year-old horses to race. Consequently, seventeen horses ran the Derby in his absence.

 The next week, only a handful of Derby entrants had the guts to run against Big Red in the Preakness at Pimlico Park in Baltimore. It would be 1 3/16 miles long, quite a distance for young horses. Nevertheless, Big Red took and early lead, fending Upset off in the homestretch and winning by 1 1/2 lengths. He ran a fast time of 1:51.3 seconds.

 Next came the Withers Stakes. Only two horses raced against Man o' War, who was only carrying 118  pounds in the mile long race. He won easily, beating the second-placer, Wildair, by two lengths, and setting a new American record of 1:35 4/5.

 Then he ran in the Belmont Stakes(1 3/8 miles), which was pretty much a match race between him and Donnacona, the only horse who accepted the challenge. Both horses carried 126 pounds. Even so, Big Red easily drew away from Donnacona, breaking Sir Barton's American record by over three seconds with a time of 2:14 1/5. This made his time a new world record! In addition, he beat Donnacona by 20 lengths!

 Undoubtedly, Man o' War was the greatest racehorse of his time. Every racing fan had no doubt that he would succeed in his next race, the Stuyvesant Handicap. They would just have to wait and see.

Man o' War: Two-year-old Season

After his win of six lengths in his first race, held at Belmont Park, Man o' War moved on to win five other stake races. They include the Keene Stakes at Belmont Park; the Youthful Stakes at Jamaica Park, the Hudson Stakes at Aqueduct Park; the Tremont Stakes at Aqueduct Park; and the US Hotel Stakes at Saratoga Racecourse(click here for race record).

 However, he did not perform too well in his next race, which was to be at Saratoga.

 Often known as "Graveyard of Champions", many great racehorses have been defeated there, including Man o' War. That race of August 13, 1919, is most remembered by his fans because it is the only race that he had lost.

  Just before the rope was raised(they didn't have starting gates back then), Man O' War backed up. Because of his slow start, he ended up losing, but only by the meager distance of half a length! I find that really incredible.

Man o' War(left) ironically lost to a horse known as Upset,
the only loss of his career. 

 Ironically, his defeater's name was Upset. Upset's victory gave the word "upset", which at the time meant "to capsize", a new, more figurative meaning: an unexpected outcome. Sports commentators began using the phrase "pulled an Upset" whenever the outcome of a sport event was unexpected.

 Despite his single loss, Man o' War remained a favorite among racing fans, and won all the other races he ran that year, giving him a victory of 9 out of 10 races.

Man o' War: His First Race

Man o' War was an incredible racehorse. Not only was he a good athlete, but he also had a fiery temper, which made him extremely difficult to break. In fact, ex-jockey Harry Vitotoe was bucked off many times before Man o' War was calm enough to ride.
"He fought like a tiger," his owner, Samuel Riddles remarks about Man o' War's breaking, "He screamed with rage, and fought us so hard that it took several days before he could be handled with safety."
Man o' War even threw his jockey, Johnny Loftus, 40 feet the first time Johnny rode him, and escaped at Saratoga Springs another time, taking 15 minutes to catch. He certainly was spirited.

 The Riddle and Jefford families had shared a training track nearby their farms in Maryland at the time. Just before Man o' War's first racing season, he and the Jefford's most promising colt raced each other on that track in preparation for the racing season, which had been done every between the each family's most promising two-year-olds. Being chunkier, Man o' War had lost. Yet he performed much better in his first official race.

 Ironically, it took place at Belmont Park, which was owned by his breeder. Man o' War had an amazing start, and won by six lengths, though Johnny Loftus had kept the rein tight.
"He made half-a-dozen high-class youngsters look like $200 horses," says a newspaper editor. His race was truly remarkable for an unseasoned horse, but many even more remarkable races lied ahead of him.

Man o' War: His Early Life

Man o' War, like Secretariat, is probably one of the greatest racehorses that ever set foot on the racetrack. Out of 21 races, he won 20, and holds three world records, two American records, and three track records. That means he holds more records than Secretariat! No wonder he is often considered the racehorse of the century. 

 On March 29, 1917, the gangly Man o' War was foaled by Muhubah. His sire was named Fair Play. Right from the day he was born, his breeder, August Belmont Jr., knew that the foal had inherited his grandsire's (named Hasting) spirit. Also included in the mix was just enough calmness from Muhubah's  sire, Rock Sand, to balance his temperament. August Belmont Jr. believed the horse was special.

Man o' War as a young foal.(click here for original site)

Yet he was forced to sell the special colt. Not long after Man o' War was born, Belmont Jr. was recruited to serve his country during World War I, and had to sell all his new foals at the Saratoga Yearling sale. He kept the brood mares to continue the breeding operation, but Man o'  War, named by his wife, had to go. Man o' War was sold to Samuel Riddle for $5000, about half of what the horses he would later beat had been sold for.

 At the time, no one expected the colt to amount to anything. But he did. And in the process he became one of the greatest racehorses the world has ever known.