



One of the greatest race horses of all time, Man o War was at Nursery Stud, near Lexington, Kentucky. He won he won 20 of 21 races he was entered into in 1919 and 1920 and took $249,465 in prize money. He and Babe Ruth shared accolades from the New York Times for 1920 as the greatest athlete of that year. He won the Belmont and the Preakness in 1920, but was not entered into the Kentucky Derby as his owner believed the young horse to be too young for the longer distance involved in that race. Because of his spectacular success, however, in 1920 he was retired to stud as he would have had handicap weights the following year that his owner thought prohibitive. One of his colts was the famous horse War Admiral. He died in 1947 at age 30, a fairly old age for a horse.

The legendary Thoroughbred Man o War was foaled on this day, March 29, 1917.