1. Affectionately called "Big Red," Man O' War was probably the most well known Thoroughbreds of this century.
2. Secretariat was often compared to Man O' War.
3. Mrs. Belmont named the colt "Man O' War" when he was born in 1917 while her husband Major August Belmont was away in Paris during the war.
4. Samuel Riddle bought his first racing stock for $5,000, which included Man O' War and 10 other yearlinhgs, originally planning to train Man O' War for show jumping if he did not pan out as a runner.
5. Racing only for two years, Man O' War constantly broke track and world records.
6. Out of 21 starts, Man O' Wat lose only one race to a horse named Upset when an inexperienced starter started the race leaving Man O' War at the post. Man O' War was turned sideways, finally starting 10 lengths behind, made up the distance easily, but was boxed in on the homestretch.
7. Breaking either track or world records in eight of his eleven races, Man O' War was dubbed the "Super Horse."
8. Racing out ahead easily with no encouragement from his jockey, Man O' War won a number of prestigous races, including the Belmont Futurity, Preakness and Jockey Club Gold Cup.
9. Only once in all his races, Man O' War was encouraged to extend himself -- in a match race with John P. Grier, on the top horses of the day -- breaking all the track records of his time.
10. Records made by Man O' War stood for 53 years unbroken until Secretariat came into racing.

In the next newsletter, we'll talk more about Man O' War and another famous race horse.

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