MAN O' WAR

byname Big Red (foaled 1917), probably the most famous American racehorse (Thoroughbred), overwhelmingly voted, in an Associated Press poll taken in 1950, the greatest horse of the first half of the 20th century. In a brief career of only two seasons (191920), he won 20 of 21 races, finishing second to a horse named Upset on Aug. 13, 1919, at Saratoga, N.Y. He established five track records for speed over various distances and raced at odds as short as 1100. In 1920 he won the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, two of the U.S. Triple Crown races. (He did not run in the Kentucky Derby, the other Triple Crown event.) Bred by August Belmont but owned by Samuel D. Riddle from 1918, the chestnut colt was retired to stud late in 1920. He sired 64 stakes horses, including War Admiral, winner of the 1937 Triple Crown, and brood mares.