War Admiral
War Admiral (1934–1959) was an American thoroughbred racehorse, the offspring of Man o' War and Brushup. He inherited his father's fiery temperament and talent, but did not resemble him physically. He was smaller than Man o' War at 15.3 hands, compared to the 16.2-hand (167.6-cm) height of his sire (16 hands for an average racehorse), with a dark brown coat inherited from his dam. The movie Seabiscuit inaccurately portrayed him at 18 hands. Seabiscuit was actually not that small a horse at 15.2 hands, almost equal to War Admiral's height.
War Admiral was born at Faraway Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, and was owned by Samuel D. Riddle. After 1936, his regular jockey until retirement was Charles Kurtsinger. War Admiral won 21 of his 26 starts, including the Pimlico Special and the U.S. Triple Crown in 1937, earning him recognition as Horse of the Year.
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[edit] Racing career
War Admiral raced in the eastern United States, and in 1938 won eight major races, including the Whitney Handicap and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. He is linked forever to the year-older Seabiscuit, who was a famous Grandson of the Man o' War stallion, Son ofHard Tack and was the preeminent horse based in the western U.S. War Admiral and Seabiscuit competed only once on November 1, 1938, in the Pimlico Special match race. Seabiscuit won the race by four lengths and broke the track record.
[edit] Stud career
In 1939, War Admiral retired with earnings totaling $273,240. He was the leading American sire in 1945 and the leading juvenile sire in 1948. Before his death in 1959, War Admiral sired 40 stakes winners.[1] Major winners sired by War Admiral include Blue Peter, Searching, Busanda, Mr. Busher, Navy Page, Cold Command, and Admiral Vee.[2] War Admiral also sired the champion filly and Horse of the Year Busher (ranked #40 in Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century).
[edit] Honors and awards
War Admiral was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, War Admiral was ranked #13, with Seabiscuit as #25.
Owner Sam Riddle commissioned equine artist Martin Stainforth to paint War Admiral's portrait.
[edit] Pedigree
| Sire Man o' War |
Fair Play ch. 1905 |
Hastings br. 1893 |
Spendthrift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cinderella | |||
| Fairy Gold ch. 1896 |
Bend Or | ||
| Dame Masham | |||
| Mahubah b. 1910 |
Rock Sand br. 1900 |
Sainfoin | |
| Roquebrune | |||
| Merry Token b. 1891 |
Merry Hampton | ||
| Mizpah | |||
| Dam Brushup 1929 |
Sweep 1907 |
Ben Brush | Bramble |
| Roseville | |||
| Pink Domino | Domino | ||
| Belle Rose | |||
| Annette 1921 |
Harry of Hereford | John O'Gaunt | |
| Canterbury Pilgrim | |||
| Bathing Girl | Spearmint | ||
| Summer Girl |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- War Admiral's pedigree and partial racing stats
- War Admiral's Kentucky Derby
- The War Admiral-Seabiscuit match at about.com
- War Admiral overview at Thoroughbred Times
- War Admiral biography
- War Admiral at the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
- Article about the Seabiscuit-War Admiral match race
- Bowen, Edward L. War Admiral: Thoroughbred Legends (2002) Eclipse Press ISBN 978-1581500783
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- 1934 racehorse births
- 1959 racehorse deaths
- Thoroughbred racehorses
- Racehorses trained in the United States
- American racehorses
- Racehorses bred in Kentucky
- Kentucky Derby winners
- Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing winners
- American Thoroughbred Horse of the Year
- United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees
- Belmont Stakes winners
- Preakness Stakes winners
- Eclipse Award winners
- United States Champion Thoroughbred Sires