Man O' War was a chestnut colt out of Mahubah and sired by Fair Play. He was very tall at birth. He was was owned by August Belmont Jr. (whom the Belmont Stakes racetrack was named after) before he was sold as a yearling to Samuel Riddle for $5,000.
The big colt was trained by Louis Feustel and ridden by Johnny Loftus. On June 6, 1919, Man O' War raced for the first time--winning by six lengths.
In those days, there was no such thing as a starting gate. Instead, horses were lined up in front of a rope, and when it was quickly lowered, they took off. One day, in the Sanford Memorial Stakes, which Man O' War was entered in, the big colt was having a fit. He rushed forward from the starting line, and his jockey had to bring him around. The assistant starter was holding him with his hind facing the track, intending to keep him there until the last minute, but when the race started, the big colt was facing backwards. He whirled around, behind the field. He managed to get up to second place, losing against a horse named Upset. This was considered one of the greatest losses in history, and was the only time the colt ever won anything but first.
Man O' War's jockey was out of racing in 1920, because of license reasons, so Clarence Kummer was up in his place. The colt was not raced in the Kentucky Derby because his owner, Samuel Riddle, did not like the western races, although he changed his mind about War Admiral, Man O' War's colt. The big horse was raced in the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, however, in which he won. (The Preakness Stakes is located in Maryland, and the Belmont Stakes in New York). The colt ran in 20 races, winning 19, and placing (second place) 1. Then, the horse was invited to a match race against the recent and first Triple Crown winner--Sir Barton. The horses would race in Ontario, Canada, because Sir Barton was a canadian horse.
The day of the match race arrived. The horses left the line, and the horses stayed pretty close to each other until the last quarter mile, when Man O' War pulled away from Sir Barton and won easily by seven lengths.
Man O' War was retired after that, and stood at stud at Faraway Farm. More than one million people visited him. He sired champions, such as the 1937 Triple Crown winner War Admiral, American Flag, who won the Belmont and Crusader, who also won the Belmont, and he was the grandsire of a great horse: Seabiscuit. He sired Hard Tack, who sired Seabiscuit. Any horse descended from Man O' War normally turns out to be great.
Man O' War died of a heart attack November 1, 1947. He started in 21 races and won twenty, set some track and world records, and in the Blood Horse Magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. racehorses, he was first. Man O' War was definitely the greatest Thoroughbred that ever lived.
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