And I'm not talking about Seabiscut.....
Of course, I will admit, he's the reason I decided to write this little rant. Undoubtably, Seabiscut was a great race horse, there is no denying that fact. His movie will be availble on DVD in the next couple of days, and I still find myself ponding why they made a movie of "this" horse in particular? Certainly he was small, unrefined, and uncharacteristic of your typical race horse...The odds were stacked against him....but I don't see how that is so different from the greatest race horse in American history....EVER...
I'm talking about Man O War.
Born March 29th, 1917 to dam Mahubah and sire Fair Play, the young Man O War was tall, thin and gaingly upon birth, hardly befitting of a "classy" thoroughbred race horse. Of course, it was his looks that got him sold at the Saratoga auction as a yearling for 5,000 dollars. That was a lot of money back then, but compared to several other horses who would be peers to Man O War on the track (and utterly defeated, I might add), the price that was paid for him was peanuts. It was never expected that he become the legend he is today, amongst horse racing lovers everywhere.
In his lifetime, Man O War ran 21 races.
He lost one.
And that was a fluke.
Back in the days before electric starts and gates, the field would ride together as a team facing away from the starting line. Someone would give a signal and all the horses would turn at once to start down the track. On this particular race, the flag fell before Man O War had the chance to right himself...or even turn the right direction. The field left him behind in the dust.
Only for a little while though.
He managed to catch the pack and over took them one by one, carrying an excess of fifteen or more pound handicap than any other horse on the field. He caught the leader, a horse by the name of Upset, but missed the win by a furloung and a half. He met Upset six more times in his racing career, and beat him every single time.
He set three world records, 2 American records, and 3 track records by more than a several seconds. By the time he was three years of age, other owners refused to race against him, and those who did, were only doing so to place second money. The Kentucky Derby that year had a field of 17 without Man O War racing...However, the Belmont, a leg of the legendary "Triple Crown", had a field of two. Man O War and another horse by the name of Donnacona. Man O War took the win by 20 lengths.
During the Lawrence Realization in Belmont, Man O War cruised by his only opponant, Hoodwink to win by 100 lengths and set an American record.
His career ended swiftly...
No one would put their horses or thier money against Man O War. His odds were 1-100, meaning you'd have to bet 100 bucks to make 101 bucks. His owner, Mr. Riddle decided to retire him at the age of four, where his remained on the farm until he died at the age of 30.
Between then, he sired some amazing horses. War Admiral, Seabiscut's nemisis and Triple Crown winner. Battleship, who won the Grand National Steeplechase at Aintree England. American Flag, War Relic, Mars, etc., were all incredible horses.
So I wonder...why did his grandson, Seabiscut get the movie? Yes, that amazing horse that has his own Hollywood movie is a grandson to the great Man O War. What makes his story so much different than the legendary king of horse racing? I suppose, watching a movie about a horse that literally leaps past his challengers wouldn't be that interesting. Seabiscut had War Admiral to contend with.
Man O War had no true challengers. At any rate, I wish there was some tribute to this astounding animal. He definitly diserves recognition for his feats.
Man O War will always be the yard stick that horse racers measure themselves by. I suppose that, in it self, is a great honor.
Posted by Zoso at May 16, 2004 12:28 AM