The sun., 1919-10-05
IAN O. WAR Is NOT
AN EXCUSE HORSE
Like All Great Thoroughbreds
He Does Everything His
Trainer Desires.
HAS SIRE'S GOOD TRAITS
Shows Speed, Stamina, Cour-
age and Gentle DISPOSE
ton of Fair Play.
HAS sIRE's GOOD TRAITS
BY HENRY ". KING.

Although Man o. War. the great colt
which won the Juvenile championship |
and more tnan $4,000 in purses this
year for Samuel d. Riddle. is now lead
ing life OF leisure on one OF the most |
beautiful farms In America at Berlin, |
Nd, racegoers in all parts of the coun- |
try are still discussing his prowess. To
almost every one of the thousands who
saw him race he is the greatest thorough |
bred the American turf has ever seen. |
OF course there are a few who refuse to
say he Is the superior OF Hamburg, Sy- |
sonby or Collin, and there are a few
other veteran horsenen who refuse to
admit he is even as great as any OF those
immortals. But no one can be found
who viii deny that he is a truly great
horse.
John r. Madden's definition Of a great
horse Ia thoroughbred for which no ex-
crses are required. And that astute |
horseman's idea Of greatness on the turf
suits Man o. War to 1T" He needs no
excuses There were no Ifs" or lands"
echoing from his stable before or after
his races. Whether the sun was shining |
OF the rain falling in torrents made no
difference. Louis Feustel, his trainer, |
and all of the stable hands from Johnny |
LOTUS down TO Andy McDermott. his
blacksmith, knew the ability of their pet |
and on the ave Of his races declared
without qualification, He'll winr
And It mattered not to any one con- |
nected with the stable whether he was
to carry liz pounds or $50 pounds It
was always the same unqualified He'll
win l" DN-We~~I
As all lovers Of the Thoroughbred I
know, Man o. War was once beaten. |
But even after that disastrous Sanford |
Memorial at Saratoga. when Johnny |
y .Ne. ~ \. H. toAA &n.nl
post and pinned In In several pockets. |
there were no 'ifs" or "ands'' at or near |
the stable That night there was silence |
m camp. All hands from trainer Feustel |
down went to bed at shutdown. Silence |
reigned at the supper table. All were
disappointed, but they made no excuses
for big Red" as they affectionately |
called their pet
No Excuses for Defeat.
To all he had run the greatest race |
Of his career and needed no excuses. |
And even the next day all hands were |
silent about the horse. Excuses were
offered but not for "Big Red" They |
came for the Jockey. All admitted Lof-
tus had ridden a wretched race, but they |
excused 1t for various reasons. the most |
important of which was that in the
excitement OF the contest the great
jockey became OVerAnxlOuS ana uSeu |
bad judgment
And long before Man o. War won the |
undisputed championship this confidence
which enshrouded his stable from the !
time he was a yearling took a firm grip |
on the racing public, and when he en- |
tered the home stretch of his Juvenile
Journey all racegoers emphatically de- |
olared Hell winl" when they saw his
name among the entries. This confident
IN hy.Aa oN nd az t.alr
racegoers far from the scene of the race. Y
Mr.. Riddle, his proud owner was al |
ways confident he would win. After his |
great colt galloped through the mud at |
Saratoga to an easy victory In the his |
toric Hopeful Stakes he said that he had |
only one regret. That was that he
wasn't Is years old and able to ride |
him in his races like he used to ride !
against Howard Lewis when he was |
youth After expressing that regret |
Mr.. Ric1le added that he would will |
ingly turn professional to get the leg up |
on him in a stake.
Named by August Belmont.
And all the confidence his owner, !
trainer. jockey attendants and racing |
public had In him was deserved. He was |
great horse and ran like one. He |
always did what was expected Of him. |
RIOIn LIlo IlIIio nldJOE august DciAhiOhe
named him Man o. War. because of his |
great size and strength, he always did !
everything that was asked OF him and |
D. little more.
In fact, It was preventing him from |
doing too much that caused Mr.. Feustel |
most anxiety. BE careful he doesn't
get away with you" was the trainers
instruction every time he threw a rider
into the saddle. The trainer knew the
saNA Na~rr hat
While employed by Mr.. Belmont Mr.. |
Feustel broke and developed Man o.
Wars illustrious sire, Fair Play. He
studied and knew Fair Play, and In Man
o. War he saw many OF the traits Of his
sire. He knew Fair Play as a tremen-
dously fast colt and a good natured.
happy go lucky fellow in his stall. but
a colt as wild as the widest broncho
when taken to the track.
Man o. War has these traits. He is
as docile as a lamb and as playful as a
kitten while in or around his stable, but
once he reaches the track he wants to |
be off. On dozen occasions he came |
within an ace OF hurting LOTUS through !
the air. Time and again he "broke'
with such a leap that even the daredevil |
and expert Lotus became frightened
and feared the worst
One morning during the summer meet |
ing at Aqqueduct big Red" was feeling
exceptionally frisky when brought out
on the track for an exercise gallop and
Lotus had the nearest thing to a dive
from an aeroplane he had ever expert |
enced. AS the jockey logged the colt to |
the break" Man o. War reared on his
hind legs until he nearly fell backward,
then sprang forward and bounded at
least hve feet on the ground He took
two more tremendous bounds and then
settled down and sped half mile under
a hard pull in Al seconds. When the
noted Jockey returned to the stable he
was unnerved and said he didn't want
any more such experiences. He was
willing to swear that the colt bounded
as high as the eight foot fence which
surrounds the course.
Not n Mean Horse.
But a few minutes after his return TO |
the stable there was no more freshness
about the colt Man o. War isn't
mean horse In the morning he will
stand as still as pony at the webbing
and do everything he Is asked TO do. |
In his races he is a bit fractions at the
post. but that is because LOTUS taught
him to be that way. In his early races
the Jockey kept him on his toes and
lunged him through the barrier several
times while awaiting the start The colt
remembers those things and continues
70 do 1t every time he goes TO the
starter.
Mr.. Feustel does not like such tactics
and will do his hast N braalx IL.