Man O' War (horse)
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Man O' War, born March 29, 1917 at Nursery Stud farm in Lexington, Kentucky, United States - died November 1, 1947 at Faraway Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, is considered to be one of the greatest thoroughbred racehorses of all time.
From the prominent sire Fair Play, out of the mare, Mahubah, Man O' War was owned and bred by August Belmont, Jr. (1851-1924), whose father's accomplishments were recognised through the naming of the Belmont Stakes. However, August Belmont, Jr. joined the United States Army at age 65 to serve in France during World War I. While overseas, his wife named the new foal "My Man O' War" in honor of her husband. However, the Belmonts made the decision to liquidate their racing stable and at the Saratoga yearling sale in 1918, Man O' War was sold to Samuel D. Riddle for $5000 who brought him to his Glen Riddle Farm near Berlin, Maryland
Trained by Louis Feustel and ridden by jockey Johnny Loftus, Man O' War made an impressive racing debut at Belmont Park on June 6, 1919, winning by 6 lengths. A few days later he won the Keene Memorial Stakes. In those early days of racing there were no starting gates. Jockeys circled around as they still do today, but then gathered their horses in a line and were sent away by the signal of the starter's flag. In Man O' War's only loss, he was still circling with his back to the starting line when the flag was dropped. After the jockey got Man O' War turned around, he was already far behind the pack but despite this, he still came close to winning, losing by a half-length as he charged across the finish line in second place. The horse who won that race was Upset, whose name popularized a new phrase in sports ("upset" meaning an upstart beating the favorite). Man O' War finished his two-year-old campaign winning nine out of ten races.
In 1920, Johnny Loftus was denied a renewal of his jockey's license by the racing commission and was replaced as Man O' War's rider by Clarence Kummer. That May, three-year-old Man O' War was not entered in the Kentucky Derby because his owner did not like racing in Kentucky and believed it was too early in the year for a young horse to go a mile and a quarter. The previous year, Sir Barton had won the first-ever U.S. Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing but at the time it did not have the prestige and importance that only came ten years later in 1930 when Gallant Fox accomplished the feat under a great deal of media attention.
After handily winning the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland, the horse was sent to Elmont, New York for the Belmont Stakes. Man O' War won the then 1 3/8th miles race by 20 lengths, setting another American record with a time of 2:14.20, beating Sir Barton's mark set in the previous year by over three full seconds. As the racing season wound down, no one wanted to race their horse against the invincible Man O 'War who had easily won every race he entered. At the "Lawrence Realization" race, no other horse was willing to go up against him until finally a horse named Hoodwink was entered. Man O' War won by an astonishing margin in excess of one hundred lengths while setting a new world record of 2:40 4/5 for a mile and five-eighths.
The final start of Man O' War's illustrious career came in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup, a horse race that for the first time was filmed in its entirety. For this 1¼ mile match race, Man O' War was up against the great Sir Barton but he easily drew away in the final quarter mile to defeat the Triple Crown champion by seven lengths. Following his undefeated season of eleven straight wins, the superstar horse was shipped to Faraway Farm in Lexington, Kentucky to stand at stud. Over his two year career, Man O' War won 20 of 21 races, setting 3 world records, 2 American records, and 3 track records.
As a sire, Man O' War was impressive as well, producing more than 64 stakes winners and 200 various champions. Two of the more famous of his offspring were Battleship, who won the 1938 English Grand National steeplechase, and War Admiral, who was the 1938 Triple Crown winner. Another of his offspring, Hard Tack, sired Seabiscuit.
Man O' War died in 1947 at the age of 30. He was originally interred at Faraway Farm but in the early 1970s his remains were moved to a new burial site at the Kentucky Horse Park where his grave is marked with a statue by American sculptor, Herbert Haseltine.
Man O' War was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957. In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the Top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Man O' War was ranked #1.