Book review: "Man O' War -- A legend like lightning" · 14.01.09

Near the end of last year I finally got around to reading Dorothy Ours’ 2006 biography of Man O’ War. Inevitably Ours’ book gets compared by readers with Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit: An American legend (2001). Combining meticulous scholarship with the compelling story of the one-time “plater” who became Horse of the Year, Hillenbrand’s book set a high standard for all subsequent racehorse biographies.

There is no questioning Ours’ scholarship, as a look at the footnotes and bibliography of her book will indicate. She also benefitted from her seven years working at the National Museum of Racing, with its wealth of both recorded history and living human memories. But Man O’ War, unlike his grandson Seabiscuit, was a winner and champion from the beginning of his career, and so his story lacks the obvious dramatic story arc that Hillenbrand had to work with.

The author solves this problem in part by ever-so-gently deflating the myth of Man O’ War as an invincible “speed miracle”. For example, it is traditionally assumed that all Big Red’s victories were easy ones — that he was rarely allowed to run as fast as he wanted to, and that he always finished with speed in reserve. But Ours’ sources prove that, for example, Man O’ War’s famous victory over John P. Grier in the 1920 Dwyer Stakes was far from easy. A contemporary account notes that “he was blowing like a blacksmith’s bellows” after the race, and Ours analyzes the two horses’ body language in a photograph of the Dwyer finish: “Red’s ears weren’t pointing forward enthusiastically. They were swiveled sideways and back, toward the rider urging him on. John P. Grier, well-beaten, held his ears in almost the same position. Both were asking, Can I stop now?“

At the same time, Ours also focusses on the one other horse who could serve as a worthy opponent for Man O’ War: Sir Barton, winner of the 1919 Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes (later collectively re-defined as the American Triple Crown). Only the year before Man O’ War’s undefeated 3-year-old season, it was the Canadian-owned Sir Barton who was being hailed as the “horse of the century”, and his career provides the book with a parallel story-line that enhances the younger horse’s already-impressive accomplishments. Their 1920 match race at Windsor’s Kenilworth Park was as widely-anticipated as the Seabiscuit – War Admiral race would be 18 years later.

Man O’ War’s human connections are also portrayed in depth with a sensitive hand. Johnny Loftus was both Man O’ War’s and Sir Barton’s regular rider in 1919, and was considered one of the best jockeys in the world. But his success didn’t save him when he was refused a license in 1920 under mysterious circumstances — widely (and probably unjustly) blamed for Big Red’s lone defeat in the Sanford Memorial Stakes, Loftus never rode in another race. Owner Sam Riddle fares better here than he did in the movie Seabiscuit — far from the bloated, trash-talking plutocrat seen on-screen, he comes across as an irascible, yet sporting, old-school gentleman. Also, Ours hints strongly that Riddle’s relationship with his patron (and Man O’ War’s breeder), Jockey Club president August Belmont II, played a significant role in his management of Man O’ War.

Man O’ War is one of a handful of horses who could legitimately be hailed as the greatest horse of the 20th Century — Secretariat, Kelso, and Citation are the others, in my opinion. Among those four horses, each accomplished things that the others did not, while falling short in other areas in which the others succeeded. Personally I give the nod to Secretariat — but as they say on teh internets, YMMV (your mileage may vary). In the past I’ve been perhaps overly-dismissive of Man O’ War’s accomplishments — read this discussion thread for the most egregious example. Dorothy Ours’ book counters those arguments, and makes a strong case for Man O’ War’s status as Horse of the Century.

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What do you think?

  1. Great minds think alike as I am reading about the debacle that was the Sanford. This was a substitute race between family members as Riddle’s niece (GOLDEN BROOM) wanted a match race after her colt had come within a length of Red in a workout. The break and trip were brutal as the rider of Upset’s middle name was strangely SANFORD!

    — Dr. Timothy Yatca,k · Jan 14, 11:05 AM · #

  2. Books like this take a MOUNTAIN of research. I was just meeting with Lou Cauz, author of The Plate- A Royal Tradition. He was merely UPDATING his original work and he had boxes of data to go through JUST for the update

    — Dr. Timothy Yatca,k · Jan 14, 11:16 AM · #

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