04/10/2023
This is his story, i am building a conga of his!
This is an original photo of Man o‘ War taken on his birthday.
He was a son of Fair Play, the perennial challenger to the legendary Colin, out of the Rock Sand mare, Mahubah.
He was foaled at August Belmont’s Nursery Stud and was later sold at the Saratoga Sales for $5,000 to Samuel D. Riddle.
He raced only two years: 1919-1920 starting 21 times winning 20 races. His only defeat came in the 1919 Sanford Stakes at Saratoga at the hands of the aptly named Upset.
He never started in the Kentucky Derby, but easily won the Preakness and Belmont.
He set track records for one mile, 1 1/8 miles, 1 3/8 miles, 1 1/2 miles and 1 5/8 miles and was the leading money winner when he retired.
He easily carried 130 pounds or more in his two racing seasons and would have started under at least 140 had he raced as a four year old. He never met the great gelding, Exterminator, but he handily defeated the first Triple Crown winner Sir Barton, in his final race in Canada.
Those are his statistics. But what they don’t convey is the true place Man o’ War holds in American Thoroughbred Racing. Other horses have raced faster, run longer, and earned more money. But there is only one Man o’ War. He is the colossus that dwarfs all who came before him and is the yardstick by which all who came after him are measured.
Turf writer David Alexander, who saw him race, called him “a great bully of a horse who wanted not just to defeat his opponents, but to annihilate them. If he could win by one length, he wanted to win by a hundred.”
He was larger than life and with his shiny copper coat he fit the age of the Roaring Twenties where out-sized sports figures like Babe Ruth, Bobby Jones, and Gene Sarazen held sway. Man o’ War was the great shot in the arm that American racing needed after the disastrous effects of the Hart-Agnew anti-gambling bill decimated the sport.
He was a top sire. Something he accomplished all on his own as the mares he received were less than stellar. His best sons were War Admiral, Crusader, War Relic, Battleship, and American Flag. Man o’ War was the leading American Sire in 1945. And his daughters would keep his name in the top ten list of Broodmare sires for over 20 years.
When he died over 2,000 people filed by his solid oak coffin and his funeral was carried live over NBC radio. His final resting place is at the Kentucky Horse Park underneath a large bronze statue. Nearby are buried several of his sons and daughters.
His groom Will Harbut called him “the mostest hoss” when showing his famous charge to the numerous fans, reportedly well over a million visitors, who came to Faraway Farm to see him.
His owner, Samuel Riddle was once offered a million dollars for Man o’ War. In turning down the offer, he replied that anyone can have a million dollars, but only one person can own Man o’ War. Truer words were never spoken.