The Mostest Hoss

Man o' War, a golden-red Thoroughbred with a white star on his forehead, was bred and foaled in Kentucky and became the dominant figure in American Thoroughbred racing. Described as the “complete horse,” he won 20 of 21 races, all but one of them stakes, broke seven track records, established five American time records, and earned $249,465, a record sum in 1920. At stud, he sired 64 stakes winners and nine champions, and his daughters kept his name among the ten leading broodmare sires for 22 years. Born March 29, 1917, at August Belmont II's Nursery Stud near Lexington, Kentucky, he died November 1, 1947, at age 30 at Sam Riddle's nearby Faraway Farm. His greatness was presented as the result of a carefully planned pairing by August Belmont II: his sire Fair Play, a three-time leading sire, was a son of Hastings and grandson of Spendthrift, while his dam Mahubah was a daughter of Rock Sand, winner of the English Triple Crown. Named in 1917 at the wish of Mrs. Belmont for something “full of power,” he was sold as a yearling at Saratoga in 1918 for $5,000 to Louis Feustel, trainer for Sam Riddle's Glen Riddle Farm. Riddle was unsure of the colt's promise, but within a year Man o' War proved himself a racehorse for all time, remembered for breaking fast, going quickly to the front, setting the pace to the finish, and winning as an odds-on favorite on both fast and off tracks.

Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky · United States