40. Man o' War Horseshoe
- Rainey Knudson
- Feb 25
- 2 min read
From the start, the horse was different. He was a tall and gangly colt, headstrong and difficult. His grandsire was the ill-tempered champion Hastings, who was known to violently bite and ram other horses during races.
At the Saratoga Springs yearling sale in 1918, Man o’ War was recovering from distemper, underweight and anxious. Despite his promising build, potential buyers were put off by the thin, rough-coated colt who had nervously pawed a deep trench beneath his stall door. Sam Riddle, pushed by his wife Elizabeth, purchased him for $5,000, far less than the $14,000 top colt in the sale.
Fortunately for Man o’ War, his trainer Lou Feustel had handled Hastings and knew the fierce, sensitive bloodline. Man o’ War fought the bridle, fought the saddle. It was not clear that he would even accept a rider. Feustel gently persevered.
By the end of his short racing career, there was nobody left to race, nothing left to prove. He won 20 of 21 races, yet never ran freely an entire race, always held under wraps. He shattered world records, carrying heavier weights than rivals and winning the Belmont by 20 lengths.
Recent biographies of Seabiscuit and Secretariat have overshadowed him, but measured by racing dominance, no horse has surpassed Man o’ War. He doesn’t have a heartwarming underdog story because he was never an underdog. Newspapers covered his workouts like prizefights; tens of thousands of spectators turned out when he raced. Whenever he ran, the day bent around him.
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This post is part of The American 250, a series featuring 250 objects made by Americans, located in America, in honor of the country's 250th anniversary. 250 words on 250 works, from January 1 to December 31, 2026.
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