The Years at Stud

The Years at Stud. . Man o' War's last public appearance in racing colors was on January 28, 1921. At that time, he was cantered past his fans at the Kentucky Association track in Lexington, Kentucky. His next home was the Hinata Stock Farm near Lexington where he began life as a stud in the care of Miss Elizabeth Daingerfield., Man o' War was almost as successful as a sire as he was on the race track. Not all great race horses have been able to “throw” their talents to their descendants, but he did so in spectacular fashion. Of his 379 named foals, 291 went on to race and 64 of these were stakes winners, an incredibly high 17 per cent. Of his first 90 foals, 26 were stakes winners, an even more incredible 29 per cent, considering that the average for the breed is about three per cent., Yet this record was compiled against odds. He was never bred to more than 25 mares in a season so his total crop of 379 named foals in 22 seasons at stud was less than a horse of his quality produces today. And these mares have been described as mostly “nondescript” and “singularly undistinguished”., Man o' War became America's leading site in 1926 when his racing progeny earned a then-record $408,137. The best horse Man o' War sired was champion War Admiral, winner of the Triple Crown in 1937, and in turn, America's leading sire in 1945. Other champions sired by Man o' War included American Flag, Crusader, Bateau, Scapa Flow, Edith Cavell, Maid at Arms, and Florence Nightingale., Man o' War's chestnut son, Battleship, was a stakes winner on the flat, and when trained over jumps, won the Grand National Steeplechase at Belmont Park; two years later, Battleship became the first American-owned and American-bred winner of the historic Aintree Grand National in England. Man o' War also sired Blockade, three-time winner of the Maryland Hunt Cup, and Holystpne, a champion show jumper., A champion racehorse and sire of champions, Man o' War was described by Joe Palmer, “As near to a living flame as horses ever get, and horses get closer to this than anything else. It was not merely that he smashed his opposition, sometimes by a hundred lengths, or that he set world records, or he cared not a tinker's curse for weight, or distance, or track, or horses …, … “All horses, and particularly all stallions, like to run, exultant in their strength and power. Most of them run within themselves, as children run at play. But Man o' War, loose in his paddock at Faraway, dug in as if the prince of all the fallen angels were at his throat-latch, and great chunks of sod sailed up behind the lash of his power. Watching, you felt that there had never been, nor could ever be again, a horse like this.” sowi