Okay so many of you may be big horse fans and those of you who are fans may not be fans of horse racing. Well I happened to big a big fan of horses and I love to watch horse racing. So recently I decided to do a project on two different horses. An old famous race horse Man o’ War and one of the more recent race horses Barbaro. Both are famous and have wonderful stories. I hope like this little story about Man o’ War. Hopefully I will get Barbaro’s story up here soon. Btw, the internet rules for research.

            On March 29, 1917, at Nursery Stud Farm a mare Mahubah gave birth to what would become one of the biggest racing legends in the world. He would be known for his speed and his records. This colt’s name was My Man o’ War later shortened to just Man o’ War. His owner, August Belmont Jr., was away fighting in World War I at the time so his wife named the foal in honor of her husband. Unfortunately when August Belmont got home he decided to sell off almost all of yearlings. So he took all the yearlings he decided to sell to Saratoga yearling sale. Man o’ War was sold to Samuel D. Riddle for $5,000. Samuel D. Riddle took his new yearling back to his farm, Glen Riddle Farm, near Berlin, Maryland.

            At the age of two, Man o’ War started racing. He was trained by Louis Feustel. Man o’ War made his impressive racing debut at Belmont Park on June 6, 1919, where he won by six lengths. Just three weeks after the Purse Race at Belmont Park, the colt won the Keene Memorial Stakes. After winning those two races he continued to win races such as the Youthful Stakes, the Hudson Stakes, the Tremont Stakes, and the United States Hotel Stakes.

            During his two years of racing Man o’ War lost only one race and that was Sanford Stakes in 1919. He lost because back then they didn’t have starting gates. All the horses circled behind a flimsy piece of webbing and them the webbing what lifted up and they would be off. The reason Man o’ War didn’t win the Sanford Stakes was because he was in the middle of a circle when the webbing was lifted up. Some people say that it was rigged. After turning Man o’ War back around to race, he and his jockey, Johnny Loftus, were very far behind. They ended up placing second even with getting boxed in three times. Man o’ War lost to a horse named Upset.

            Man o’ War ended his first year of racing with three more wins: the Grand Union Hotel Stakes, the Hopeful Stakes, and the Futurity Stakes. In 1920, Johnny Loftus was not permitted to renew his jockey license so Man o’ War had to get a new jockey. For his second year of racing Man o’ War won every single race he ran that consisted of the Preakness Stakes, the Withers Stakes, the Belmont Stakes, the Stuyvesant Handicap, the Dwyer Stakes, the Miller Stakes, the Travers Stakes, the Lawrence Realization Stakes, the Jockey Club Stakes, the Potomac Handicap, and the Kenilworth Gold Cup.

            The very last race that Man o’ War ran in was the Kenilworth Gold Cup in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He was there to race the famous Sir Barton. He ended up beating Sir Barton and setting a new world record. After the race, the colt was sent to Faraway Farms for retirement. At the age of 34, Man o’ War died due to what appeared to be a heart attack.

            In 1920, Man o’ War was named United States Horse of the Year. In 1926, he was named Leading Sire of North America. To this day there is a life-size statue of the brilliant chestnut colt at Kentucky Horse Park. There is now a Man o’ War stakes at Belmont Park, Man o’ War Boulevard in Lexington, Kentucky, and Man o’ War Road in Riddlewood, Pennsylvania all named after him.

Colleen