Man o' War
Man o' War, (March 29, 1917 Nursery Stud farm, Lexington, Kentucky - November 1, 1947, Faraway Farm) is considered by some to be the greatest Thoroughbred racehorse of all time.[1] During his career just after World War I, he won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 in purses.[2]
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 recognized through the naming of the Belmont Stakes. However, 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 "Man o' War" in honor of her husband.[3] However, the Belmonts decided to liquidate their racing stable. At Saratoga yearling sale in 1918, Man o' War was sold to Samuel D. Riddle for $5,000 who brought him to his Glen Riddle Farm near Berlin, Maryland.
Racing Career
As a 2-year old
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 six lengths. Three weeks later he won the Keene Memorial Stakes.
In the early 1900s, there were no starting gates. Jockeys circled around but then gathered their horses in a line behind a flimsy piece of webbing, known as the barrier and were sent away when it was raised.[4] In Man o' War's only loss, the Sanford Memorial Stakes, he still was circling with his back to the starting line when the barrier was raised (though other accounts give other reasons, such as it was rigged.[5]) After the jockey got Man o' War turned around, he already was far behind the pack. In frustration, Johnny Loftus, the jockey, made three major errors while in the race. Three times he put Man O' War in bad positions, getting boxed in by other horses in the race. Despite this, he still came close to winning, losing by only a half-length, as Man O' War charged across the finish line, going much faster than any other horse on the field, and ultimately finishing second. The horse that won was Upset, whose name is sometimes thought to have popularized a new phrase in sports ("upset" meaning an upstart beating the favorite). Man o' War finished his 2-year-old campaign winning 9 of 10 races.
As a 3-year old
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. Loftus would retire and become a trainer.
At 3, he was a strapping 16.2 hands (about 5-foot-6) and weighed about 1,125 pounds with a 72-inch girth. That May, 3-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, though it was not yet called that at the time.[6] It would gain that prestige and importance 10 years later 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 3 full seconds. That year he also won the Dwyer Stakes, the Travers Stakes, the Stuyvesant Handicap, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. As the racing season wound down, no one wanted to race his horse against the seemingly invincible Man o' War, who had easily won every race he entered. At the Lawrence Realization Stakes, no other horse was willing to go up against him until finally a good racehorse named Hoodwink was good-heartedly entered by Mrs. Riddle's niece, Sarah Jeffords. Man o' War won by an astonishing margin in excess of 100 lengths (some say more) while setting a new world record of 2:40 4/5 for a mile and five-eighths, besting the previous record by a full 6 seconds. His record still officially stands at the track.
The final start of Man o' War's illustrious career came in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup, a 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 easily drew away in the first furlong, showing a decided superiority to the first Triple Crown winner, and was slowed to win by 7 lengths. Following his undefeated season of 11 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 three world records, two American records and three track records.
(*The Kenilworth Park Gold Cup was in actuality a "match race" between Sir Barton and Man o' War. Another champion horse, Exterminator, was invited to compete in the race, since Canada did not allow match races. Due to the owners of the three not coming to a comprimise on the conditions of the race, Exterminator was scratched, and in fact raced that same day on a different track.)
A Sire of Champions
As a sire, Man o' War was impressive as well; he produced more than 64 stakes winners and 200 various champions. Though many complain Mr. Riddle did not breed him to good enough mares after the first five seasons, he still sired many greats. He sired American Flag and Crusader who won back-to-back runnings of the Belmont Stakes in 1925 and 1926. Both colts earned U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt honors plus Crusader was also voted U.S. Horse of the Year. Among Man o' War's other famous offspring were Battleship, who won the 1938 English Grand National steeplechase, and War Admiral, the 1937 Triple Crown winner. Another of his offspring, Hard Tack, sired Seabiscuit. His son War Relic was his most successful sire. Tiznow, Honour and Glory, and Bertrando are all sire-line descendants of Man o' War. Many great horses, if you look long into their pedigrees, have some type of relation to Man O' War.
Man o' War died in 1947 at the ripe age of 30 of an apparent heart attack only a very short time after his longtime groom, Will Harbut died. 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. He has been the subject of three notable biographies: the first, Man o' War by Page Cooper and Roger Treat, was first published in 1950, and is a classic of its kind; Walter Farley, author of The Black Stallion series, also wrote a slightly fictional biography of Man o' War; in 2006, Dorothy Ours wrote a new, extensively sourced biography entitled Man o' War: A Legend Like Lightning.
Man o' War was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957. Soon after, the Man O' War Handicap Race was made in his honor. In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Man o' War was ranked No. 2.
| Sire Fair Play ch. 1905 |
Hastings br. 1893 |
Spendthrift | Australian |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aerolite | |||
| Cinderella | Tomahawk | ||
| Manna | |||
| Fairy Gold ch. 1896 |
Bend Or | Doncaster | |
| Rouge Rose | |||
| Dame Masham | Galliard | ||
| Pauline | |||
| Dam Mahubah b. 1910 |
Rock Sand br. 1900 |
Sainfoin | Springfield |
| Sanda | |||
| Roquebrune | St.Simon | ||
| St. Marguerite | |||
| Merry Token b. 1891 |
Merry Hampton | Hampton | |
| Doll Tearsheet | |||
| Mizpah | Macgregor | ||
| Underhand Mare (FNo.4-c) |
Through his sire, Man o' War is a descendant of the first English Triple Crown champion, West Australian, and King Tom. His line traces to the Godolphin Arabian.
Notes
References
- Man o' War's pedigree and racing stats
- Hewitt, A. S., & Hewitt, A. S. (1982), The Great Breeders and Their Methods, Thoroughbred Publishers, Lexington, KY
- Cooper, Page and Roger L. Treat (1950; reprinted 2004), Man o' War, Westholme Publishing, Yardley ISBN 1-59416-005-8
- Ours, Dorothy (2006), Man o' War: A Legend Like Lightning, St. Martin's Press, New York ISBN 0-312-34099-0
- Bowen, Edward L. (2000), Man o' War: Thoroughbred Legends, Eclipse Press ISBN 978-1581500400
- http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016132.html
External links
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- 1947 racehorse deaths
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