365 Days in Horse Country – Man O’ War
Probably the
most famous racehorse of all time, the legend of Man O’ War, nicknamed Big Red,
still lives on today, almost 100 years after his birth. The chestnut coaly,
foaled in 1917 to a mare named Mahubah out of stallion named Fair Play, won
twenty out of twenty-one races by the time he was three years old. He went on to sire sixty-four stake winners
and 200 champions. He also set three
records during his racing career.
Surprisingly, Man O’ War did not win the Triple Crown. In fact, he didn’t even race in the Kentucky Derby. In the early 1900s, the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont were not considered the pinnacle of horse racing, and Man O’ War’s owner, Samuel D. Riddle, felt it was too early in the horse’s third year to go the mile and a quarter distance.
Consequently, Man O’ War was never even entered in the Kentucky Derby. He did win the Preakness and Belmont on year.
The 16.2 hand colt got better the more he raced, and won the Lawrence Realization Stakes by more than 100 lengths. After winning a matched raced in Canada, Man O’ War was retired to stud in Kentucky, at Fairway Farms. He lived the remainder of his life there until he died of a heart attack at the age of thirty. He was buried on the farm after a funeral attended by more than 2,000 people, but his body has since been moved to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. Above Man O’ War’s grave stands a bronze statue of the famous stallion.
Michael