Why is he considerd the greatest race horse that ever lived?

[Man O' War Lover]

Most people who don't know much about horse racing ask why is he so great he did not earn much and he did not win the Triple Crown? First the purse for races back then where much smaller a $100,000 purse was like a $1,000,000 purse race back then! Second just beacuse the horse did not win the Triple Crown does not mean he or she was not a amazing race horse. This is somthing I wrote why Man o' War is called ranked #1 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century

A good race horse can carrie 120 pound's but Man o' Way carried 130 as a baby or as a two-year-old in his first 6 races; few horses ever carried that much (at any age) as he did at that age. As a three-year-old he carried 138 pound's! conceding as much as 32 pound's to the other horse or in other word's he carried 32 pound's more than the other's in most of his races!

Let's start at the begening shall we?
Man o' War was foaled on Nursery Stud Farm, Lexington, Kentucky March 29, 1917 he lived tell November 1, 1947!
By the prominent sire Fair Play, his dam Mahubah was by the U.K. Triple Crown Champion, Rock Sand. Man o' War was owned and bred by August Belmont, Jr. (1851–1924). Belmont Jr. joined the United States Army at age 65 to serve in France during World War I. While he was overseas, his wife named a new foal "Man o' War" in honor of her husband. However, the Belmonts decided to liquidate their racing stable.

At the Saratoga yearling sale in 1918, Man o' War was sold to Samuel D. Riddle[/color] who brought him to his Glen Riddle Farm near Berlin, Maryland. The underbidder at the auction was believed to be Robert L Gerry, Sr. Mr. Riddle would walk away with the greatest race horse that ever lived for $5,000!

Trained by Louis Feustel and ridden by Johnny Loftus, Man o' War made an impressive racing debut at Belmont Park on June 6, 1919, winning by 6 lengths. 3 weeks later he won the Keene Memorial Stakes.

In the early 1900s, there were no starting gates. Horses circled around and then lined up behind a piece of webbing known as the barrier and were sent away when it was raised. In Man o' War's only loss, the Sanford Memorial Stakes, he still was circling with his back to the starting line when the barrier was raised (though some accounts give other reasons). After Man o' War turned around, he already was far behind the starters. Johnny Loftus, the jockey, put Man o' War in bad positions, getting boxed in by other horses. Despite this, he came close to winning, losing by only a half-length as Man o' War charged across the finish line, going much faster than any other horse on the track, and ultimately finishing second. The winner was Upset, whose name is sometimes erroneously thought to have popularized a new phrase in sports ("upset" meaning an upstart beating the favorite) Man o' War finished his two-year-old campaign with 9 wins from 10 starts.

As a three-year old In 1920, Johnny Loftus was denied a renewal of his jockey's license by the racing commission and was replaced as Man o' War's rider by Clarence Kummer. Loftus retired and became a trainer.

At three, Man o' War was 16 hands and 2 inches high and weighed about 1,150 pounds with a 72-inch girth. That May, Man o' War was not entered in the Kentucky Derby because his owner did not like racing in Kentucky and believed it was too early in the year for a young horse to go a mile and a quarter. The previous year, Sir Barton had won the first-ever U.S. Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, though it was not called that at the time.


He easily won the 1⅛-mile Preakness Stakes, Man o' War set a new Pimlico track record of 1:38-3/5 for a mile then was eased up for the final eighth of a mile to finish in a time of 1:51-3/5. The horse was afterword's sent to Belmont, New York for the Belmont Stakes. Man o' War won the then-1⅜-mile race by 20 lengths, setting another American record with a time of 2:14.20, beating Sir Barton's record set the previous year by over 3 seconds. That year he also won the Dwyer Stakes, the Travers Stakes, the Stuyvesant Handicap, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. As the racing season came to a end, no one wanted to race against the seemingly invincible Man o' War, who had easily won every race he entered. In the Lawrence Realization Stakes, no other horse was willing to go up against him until a racehorse named Hoodwink was good-heartedly entered by Mrs. Riddle's niece. Man o' War won by more than 100 lengths while setting a new world record of 2:40-4/5 for a mile and five-eighths, besting the previous record by 6 seconds, a track record that still stands!

The final rac of Man o' War's career came in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup, a race that for the first time was filmed in its entirety. For this 1¼-mile match race, Man o' War was running up against the great Sir Barton but easily drew away in the first furlong, showing a decided superiority to the first Triple Crown winner, and was slowed to win by seven lengths. Over his two-year career, Man o' War won 20 of 21 races, setting three world records, two American records and three track records! (P. S he set more record's than Secretariat did and won more races!)

(*The Kenilworth Park Gold Cup was in actuality a "match race" between Sir Barton and Man o' War. Another champion horse, Exterminator, was invited to compete in the race, since Canada did not allow match races. Due to the owners of the three not coming to a compromise on the conditions of the race, Exterminator was scratched, and in fact raced that same day on a different track.)

Honours
U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (1957)(The greatest honor any horse can ever have)
#1 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century
Life-size statue at Kentucky Horse Park(a statue stand's at a race track it is his statue)
Man o' War Stakes at Belmont Park(a race named after him)
Man o' War Boulevard in Lexington, Kentucky(a street was named after him)
Man o' War Road in Riddlewood, Pennsylvania (a road was named after him)

Stud record

Following his undefeated season of 11 straight wins, Man o' War traveled to Lexington, Kentucky, to stand at stud at Elizabeth Daingerfield's Haylands and later moved to Riddle's Faraway Farm. Man o' War was an impressive sire that produced more than 64 stakes winners and various champions. Though many believe that Riddle did not breed the stallion to enough good mares after the first five seasons, he still sired many great horses. Man o' War sired American Flag and Crusader who won successive Belmont Stakes in 1925 and 1926. Although there were no official champions in America at the time, both colts were generally considered the best three-year-old colts of their year, and Crusader was also largely accepted as the best racehorse of 1926. Among Man o' War's other famous offspring were 1929 Kentucky derby winner, Clyde Van Dusen, Battleship, who won the 1938 English Grand National steeplechase, and War Admiral, the 1937 Triple Crown winner and the second official Horse of the Year. Another of his offspring, Hard Tack, sired Seabiscuit, who was Horse of the Year in 1938. Man o' War's most successful sons at stud were War Admiral and War Relic, and War Relic's branch of the male line survives today. Tiznow, Honour and Glory, and Bertrando are also all sire-line descendants of Man o' War. According to Kent Hollingsworth, 37 per cent of stakes winners in 1966 were descendants of Man o' War. Despite not covering more than 25 mares in a season Man o' War sired 379 named foals during 22 seasons at stud. His daughters kept Man o' War listed in the 10 leading broodmare sires list for 22 years.

Man o' War died in 1 November 1947 at age 30 of an apparent heart attack only a very short time after his longtime groom, Will Harbut, died. He was originally interred at Faraway Farm, but, in the early 1970s, his remains were moved to a new burial site at the Kentucky Horse Park, where his grave is marked with a statue by American sculptor, Herbert Haseltine.

That is why he is the greatest that ever lived-