Observing Man o’ War centennial at Kentucky Derby 143
May 2, 2017
It’s a curious fact of American
racing history that its greatest Thoroughbred legend, Man o’ War, didn’t
contest the nation’s most celebrated race, the Kentucky Derby (G1).
But in 2017, as we celebrate the centennial of Man o’ War’s birth, the blood of
“Big Red” pulses through the veins, however distantly, of every single horse in
Derby
All but one descend from Man o’ War
through the circuitous routes of the pedigree, via his daughters, his sons’
daughters, or even grandsons’ daughters, nestled deep inside the family tree.
In this way such key influences as Raise a Native (sire of Mr. Prospector),
Storm Cat, Danzig , Buckpasser, and Seattle
Slew (who boasts several crosses of Man o’ War between his sire and dam)
receive their portion.
Man o’ War’s male line still exists,
although relying on a single chain that has yet to have a link weak enough to
break. It appears to be forged solidly at present, its strength reinforced by a
Hall of Famer still standing stud today – Tiznow, the sire of Irap, who would
put an unexpected garland on the Man o’ War centenary if he can win the Derby
Born on March 29, 1917, at Nursery
Stud near Lexington , Kentucky ,
August Belmont II’s chestnut son of Fair Play and Mahubah arrived just before
the United States
As historian Kent Hollingsworth
described it in The
Kentucky Thoroughbred, the colt “was recognized as something apart from the start, for he had
uncommonly long legs, a fiery red coat, and a presumption the world was his.”
The war altered forever the history
of the globe, and the foal’s trajectory as well. In 1918, owing in part to
his wartime responsibilities, Belmont Saratoga
His trainer, Louis Feustel, later
commented that he didn’t fill the eye at that tender stage. Hollingsworth
records Feustel’s honest assessment for posterity:
“Very tall and gangling, he was thin
and so on the leg as to give the same ungainly impression one gets in seeing a
week-old foal.”
Man o’ War later developed into the
compelling presence that elicited marvels from observers.
In his magisterial Sire Lines, Abram S. Hewitt recalled seeing
the mighty champion in the Belmont
Park
“a magnificent, copper-colored
chestnut colt, with ears pricked. He radiated majesty, energy, and power – a
veritable Alexander – awaiting the moment for new worlds to conquer. It was 55
years ago, and we never saw such a sight again.”
And that was Man o’ War as a
two-year-old, not even at peak maturity! The handy winner of nine of 10 starts
in his 1919 juvenile campaign, while carrying 130 pounds on several occasions,
he suffered his lone career defeat in the Sanford Memorial S. at Saratoga
Man o’ War, who went off as the
heavy odds-on favorite in each of his 21 career races, would have been the
bettors’ overwhelming choice for the 1920 Kentucky Derby. But Riddle was never
interested in shipping his prized colt out “west,” as the Eastern establishment
viewed Kentucky
“How Man o’ War would have laughed
had he known of his owner’s solicitude for him,” Hewitt commented.
In his absence at Churchill Downs,
Paul Jones, whom Man o’ War had drubbed at two, scored a front-running 16-1
upset in the May 8 Kentucky Derby. Old foe Upset, part of the entry favored at
8-5, was beaten a head after a prolonged duel.
