Man o' War, (March 29, 1917) is considered by some to be the greatest Thoroughbred racehorse of all time. During his career just after World War I, he won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 in purses.
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. Belmont Jr. joined the United States Army at age 65 to serve in France during World War I. While he was overseas, his wife named a new foal "Man o' War" in honor of her husband. 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.
In 1920, Man o' War weighed 1,150 pounds, and his height reached 16.2 hands.
"He was hell to break, a headache to handle, and a catapult to ride."
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. 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.) 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. 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 compromise on the conditions of the race, Exterminator was scratched, and in fact raced that same day on a different track.)
