page_title: Man o' War
section_title: 1920: Three-year-old season
hierarchical_section_title: Man o' War / Racing career / 1920: Three-year-old season
caption_attribution_description: English: Advertisement for the American sports film The Race of the Age (1920), a documentary on the preparations for and running of the famed horse race between Sir Barton and Man O' War in 1920, on pages 20 and 21 of the November 6, 1920 Exhibitors Herald.
context_page_description: Man o' War was an American Thoroughbred who is widely considered one of the greatest racehorses of all time. Several sports publications, including The Blood-Horse, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and the Associated Press, voted Man o' War as the outstanding horse of the 20th century. During his racing career, just after World War I, Man o' War won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 in purses. He was the unofficial 1920 American horse of the year and was honored with Babe Ruth as the outstanding athlete of the year by The New York Times. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957. On March 29, 2017, the museum opened a special exhibit in his honor, "Man o' War at 100".
  In 1919, Man o' War won 9 of 10 starts including the Hopeful Stakes and Belmont Futurity, then the most important races for two-year-old horses in the United States. His only loss came at Saratoga Race Course, later nicknamed the Graveyard of Champions, where he lost by a neck to a colt fittingly named Upset.
  Man o' War was not entered in the 1920 Kentucky Derby because his owner, Samuel Riddle, did not believe in racing at the distance of 10 furlongs so early in a young horse's career.
context_section_description: In 1920, Johnny Loftus was denied a renewal of his jockey's license by The Jockey Club, a development that was rumored to be related to Man o' War's defeat in the Sanford. He was replaced as Man o' War's rider by Clarence Kummer. Over the winter, Man o' War had grown to 16.2 hands (66 inches, 168 cm) high and filled out to about 1,150 pounds (520 kg) with a 72-inch girth.
  Riddle decided early on to restrict Man o' War to races within his own age division, in large part because the most valuable races in the country were restricted to three-year-olds. He decided not to enter Man o' War in the Kentucky Derby because it was run only a few days before his preferred target, the Preakness Stakes, which was held close to the Riddle farm where Man o' War had spent the winter. Riddle also did not like racing in Kentucky and believed it was too early in the year for a young horse to go a mile and a quarter. Thus, Man o' War did not have a chance to complete what would later be known as the U.S. Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. The previous year, Sir Barton had won the three races, which gained in prestige and importance 10 years later when Gallant Fox accomplished the same feat under a great deal of media attention.
  Instead, Man o' War made his three-year-old debut on May 18 in the Preakness Stakes, then run at a distance of ​1 ¹⁄₈ miles. Despite the long layoff and never having raced beyond six furlongs, he went off as the 4-5 favorite in a field of nine horses that included his old rival Upset, who had finished second in the Derby. Man o' War broke alertly and took the lead within the first 10 yards, then established a two length lead down the backstretch while under restraint. As they rounded the final turn, Upset started to close ground so Kummer loosened his grip. Man o' War responded by again pulling away, completing the opening mile in what would have been a new Pimlico track record of 1:38​³⁄₅. Eased in the final furlong, Man o' War won by ​1 ¹⁄₂ lengths over Upset in a final time of 1:51​³⁄₅.
  The horse was then returned to his home base at Belmont Park where a crowd of 25,000 turned out to watch him in the Withers Stakes on May 29. He was sent off at "generous" odds of 1-7 against only two rivals: Wildair, winner of the Metropolitan Handicap who was at odds of 6-1, and the overmatched David Harum at 30-1. Man o' War again seized the early lead, completing the first quarter-mile in :​23 ³⁄₅ while tugging at the bit. When Wildair tried to close ground around the turn, Kummer briefly released his hold and Man o' War opened up his lead again. Eased in the final sixteenth of a mile, Man o' War still won by two lengths while setting an American race record of 1:35​⁴⁄₅ for the mile.
  Man o' War's next start was on June 12 in the Belmont Stakes, then run at a distance of ​1 ³⁄₈ miles. The race would establish Man o' War as one of the all-time greats with an "almost unbelievably brilliant performance" before a crowd of 25,000. At odds of 1-20, he faced only one rival, the well-regarded colt Donnaconna. Man o' War led from the start and Kummer let him run freely at the top of the stretch, allowing Man o' War to draw away by 20 lengths. Although eased in the final furlong, Man o' War set a world record of 2:14​¹⁄₅, beating the previous standard set in England by over two seconds and beating Sir Barton's American record by over three seconds. This time stood as the American record until 1961 when Wise Ship ran the distance in 2:14 flat on a turf course. It still stood as the American dirt record until 1991.
  Just ten days later, Man o' War returned in the Stuyvesant Handicap which he won easily against only one rival. His odds of 1 to 100 were believed to be the lowest ever offered in an American horserace.
  His next start in the Dwyer Stakes on July 10 proved far more demanding. The colt John P. Grier, who had challenged Man o' War in the Belmont Futurity at age two, had matured into the second-best three-year-old in the country. Under the conditions of the Dwyer, Man 
caption: "The Race of the Age"
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