Z – #1(Tie) – Man o’ War – horseracing20thcentury99.com

Top Ten Horses Overall Twentieth Century

#1 (Tie)

Man o' War

(1919 - 1920)

Man o’ War, with Andy Schuttinger up, returning to the front of the grandstand following his victory in the 1920 Travers Stakes at historic Saratoga Race Course.

Photo: Cook Collection - Keeneland Library

PEDIGREE

Ch H (USA) 1917

OWNER

Samuel Riddle

TRAINER

Louis Feustel

BREEDER

August Belmont II

Some Facts

Man o’ War was bred by August Belmont II and was sold at the 1918 Saratoga Yearling Sale for $5,000 to Samuel D. Riddle. The average sale cost that year was $1,038, and though Man o’ War’s price was five times higher, the son of Fair Play was not the highest-priced yearling sold. That honor went to a French-bred colt named Golden Broom, who was purchased by Mr. Riddle’s niece, Sarah H. Jeffords, for $15,000.
Man o’ War was originally named My Man o’ War by Mrs. Belmont in honor of her husband, who was in Europe aiding in the war effort. Mr. Riddle eventually shortened the colt’s name to Man o’ War.
When he was a two-year-old Big Red was often mean and extremely difficult to handle, his violent behavior no doubt inherited from his great-grandfather Hastings, one of the meanest thoroughbreds on record. Trainer Jim Feustel, who once worked for Mr. Belmont, was patient and brought him along slowly. Eventually, the robust colt became more manageable and even friendly and bonded with his groom, Will Harbut, who stayed with him throughout his career on the race track and at stud.
Man o’ War made 21 career starts and was an odds-on favorite in all of them. His highest odds was when he was bet down to ninety cents to the dollar in the United States Hotel Stakes. In an era when betting was done with bookmakers, his lowest odds was one cent to the dollar, which happened three times. His average odds in 21 career starts was .32 cents to the dollar.
He was versatile and won races at 11 different distances: 5F, 5.5F, 6F, 8F, 8.5F, 9F, 9.5F, 10F, 11F, 12F, 13F. He established seven track records and tied one, among them four American records and three world records.
A big horse who stood 16.2 ½ hands, Man o’ War weighed between 1,125 and 1,150 pounds and had a 72-inch girth. He was a “big” eater and consumed 12 quarts of oats daily, approximately three times what the average racehorse would consume. He differed from most racehorses, which wore aluminum shoes, as he wore heavier steel shoes. Despite this, his stride was measured at 28 feet, one of the longest thoroughbred strides on record, and just under three feet longer than Secretariat’s stride length.
Man o’ War was also one of the sport’s premiere weight carriers. He carried 130 pounds five times as a two-year-old and, at three, carried 131 pounds in the Miller Stakes, 135 in the Stuyvesant Handicap, and a career-high 139 pounds in the Potomac Handicap. He was also an extremely ambitious competitor and was never headed at any call during his three-year-old season.
So feared was Man o’ War, rival trainers constantly entered horses in races hoping that he would be scratched, and when he wasn’t, they would scratch. This led to his facing a single opponent six times and two opponents four times.
Man o’ War did not start in the 1920 Kentucky Derby, held on May 8th, because Mr. Riddle thought ten furlongs was too far for a three-year-old at such an early time in the season. Ironically, just ten days after the Derby, Man o’ War was an easy winner of the mile and three-sixteenth Preakness Stakes and would eventually win the mile and three-eighths Belmont Stakes on June 12^th.
His final career race was the ten-furlong Ken Park Gold Cup in Windsor, Canada, when he defeated the 1919 Horse of the Year and America’s first Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton, by seven lengths. Ironically, my top two picks for the best overall horse in the twentieth century ran their final career races in Canada as Secretariat won the Canadian International Championship at Woodbine in 1973.
Riddle decided to retire Man o’ War after the Ken Park Gold Cup because most races for older horses were handicaps, and he believed that he would be required to carry at least 140 pounds and possibly as much as 150 pounds. He retired as America’s leading money-winning thoroughbred, which placed him fourth in the world. He was a healthy horse, undoubtedly capable of competing as a four-year-old. In fact, there was talk of sending him to Europe to compete in the Ascot Gold Cup in 1921, and Matt Winn of Churchill Downs telegraphed an offer for him to challenge Exterminator in a match race. Mr. Riddle turned down both requests as well as a proposal to sell him for a million dollars.
Man o’ War was the leading American sire in 1926 and the runner-up in 1928, 1929, and 1937. He sired 381 foals, with 291 of them runners. Sixty-two of his foals were stakes winners (foals 16% and runners 21%). He never led the Broodmare Sire’s list, though he was the runner-up ten times.
His most outstanding progeny was the 1938 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral. He also sired 1929 Kentucky Derby winner Clyde Van Dusen, top sire War Relic, 1926 Horse of the Year Crusader, and the excellent steeplechaser Battleship, which won the 1938 British Grand National. War Admiral, Crusader, and Battleship were all inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
Man o’ War died in 1947 at age 30. During his two years on the track, Big Red’s legendary feats awed a nation. For decades after he left the track, he would continue to inspire his legions of admirers and possibly the greatest fan base in the sport’s history. During his retirement years, more than 1.5 million visitors were welcomed by Faraway Farm so they could spend some time with their hero. Everyone, even those who had never attended the races, knew about and admired Big Red. So remarkable was the great horse’s influence that in the four days before his burial, his embalmed body lay in state in an open casket so that 2,500 of his adoring fans could get one last glimpse of their hero.
Thirty is considered a long life for a thoroughbred, and though most knew that Man o’ War was getting on in years, many of his fans were shocked when his death was announced. Man o’ War was one of those exceptional racehorses that would seemingly be around forever. When he died, it felt like the nation went into mourning. His passing was reported in every newspaper and announced on every newscast. In a final tribute, two thousand people attended his funeral, their parked automobiles lining both sides of Huffman Hill Pike for nearly a mile. And for those who couldn’t attend, a thirty-minute ceremony that included nine eulogies was broadcast live by radio.
Man o’ War captured three of “Horse Racing’s Top 100 Moments of the Twentieth Century,” which was published by BloodHorse and released in 2006. They are: #18 “Samuel D. Riddle Purchases Man o’ War”; #29 “Man o’ War’s Upset” when he was defeated by Harry Payne Whitney’s two-year-old colt Upset in the 1919 Sanford Memorial Stakes at Saratoga; and #80 “The Broadcast of Man O’ War’s Funeral” which was in 1947.