LEGEND OF THE TRAVERS
One hundred years later, Man o’ War’s epic Travers victory remains the stuff of legend
Aug. 21, 1920 — Man o’ War won the historic Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. It was his fifth and final victory at the Spa and one of the many remarkable performances that led to his immortal status. His time of 2:01 stood as the Travers standard for 42 years.
Arguably the greatest racehorse in American history, Man o’ War was a cultural icon of the Roaring Twenties. Freakishly fast with freight train power, the mighty chestnut son of Fair Play was a recordbreaking machine with swagger on par with the likes of fellow sporting luminaries of the era Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey.
When he was retired at the conclusion of his 3-yearold campaign in 1920, Man o’ War had won 20 of 21 starts and earned a record $249,465. He set records at distances ranging from a mile to 1 miles and carried as much as 138 pounds to victory.
Bred by August Belmont II, Man o’ War was foaled in 1917 at Nursery Stud near Lexington, Ky. Because of his involvement in World War I as a Major in the Quartermaster Corps in Spain, Belmont decided to sell his entire yearling crop. Avid sportsman Samuel Riddle, a Pennsylvania textile manufacturer, purchased Man o’ War for $5,000 on the advice of trainer Louis Feustel at the Saratoga sale of 1918.
As a 2-year-old, Man o’ War began his career with five consecutive wins before arriving at Saratoga in the summer of 1919. He made it six in a row with an easy victory in the United States Hotel Stakes before suffering the lone defeat of his career in the Sanford Memorial Stakes on Aug. 13. Man o’ War was left at the post in the Sanford some reports said he was facing sideways or backwards and fell well behind the field. He rallied furiously but finished second, less than a length behind the winner, Harry Payne Whitney’s Upset. The loss, however, did little to tarnish Man o’ War’s reputation.
“Given an equal chance, Man o’ War would undoubtedly have won the race,” The Saratogian commented.
The Sanford proved to be a fluke. Man o’ War raced against Upset six other times and won each meet
ing. Following the Sanford loss, Man o’ War earned victories in the Grand Union Hotel Stakes and Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga before closing out his juvenile campaign with an easy score in the Futurity at Belmont.
The following spring, Riddle decided to pass on the Kentucky Derby in favor of having Man o’ War make his 3-year-old debut in the Preakness, which he won easily, as he did in the subsequent Withers, Belmont (a 20-length victory), Stuyvesant, and Dwyer.
Man o’ War returned to Saratoga in August 1920 and romped in the Miller Stakes on Aug. 7. Two weeks later, he delivered an historic performance in the Travers. Whitney provided the only competition in the Midsummer Derby with his entry of Upset and John P. Grier. The latter gave Man o’ War his toughest challenge of the year less than six weeks earlier in the Dwyer.
The New York Times described the 1920 Travers as “a turf spectacle, made more so by the immense throng which turned out for this test, which had promised to be the classic of the year. The race was witnessed by the largest crowd ever gathered within the spacious grounds of the Saratoga Association. Not only were the stands packed as usual, but the crowd stretched for a quarter of a mile along the rail in a dense mass of humanity extending from the rail back to the stands. The crowd was so large that before the running of the Travers Stakes an announcement was made that the infield would be thrown open to the public so that all present might have a chance to see the race.
“As a result, 5,000 persons crossed the track and saw the race from the infield, stretching along the rail almost to the head of the stretch. No race in many years has awakened such interest as did this one today because it brought Man o’ War once more into competition with John P. Grier.”
The race was a Man o’ War masterpiece. James Rowe, Sr., trainer of the Whitney horses, thought his best chance of upsetting the Travers was with Upset. His plan was for John P. Grier to run as fast as he could for as long as he could in an attempt to wear Man o’ War down for a stretch-running Upset. Man o’ War, however, easily took the early lead and neither of the Whitney runners could match strides.
“Man o’ War spoiled all the well-laid plans in the first furlong and after that the Whitney pair were struggling to see which could be second,” reported the Times.
The outcome was never in doubt. At the far turn, Man o’ War put John P. Grier away and was geared down in the stretch by jockey Andy Schuttinger as he galloped to victory. Upset passed his stablemate for second, but at the wire he was three lengths behind Man o’ War, who covered the distance in 2:01 . The time set a new stakes record (which stood for 42 years) and equaled the track standard for 1¼ miles set by 1919 Triple Crown winner Sir Barton earlier in the meeting.
“Running as though he resented the mere intimation that a champion of his caliber could have a rival, Man o’ War this afternoon disposed of any notion that there is a 3-year-old in the country which can even keep pace with him, much less defeat him,” the Times commented. “Of this there is not the slightest doubt after the super horse scored another easy victory in the Travers Stakes. For the second time Man o’ War met his so-called rival, H. P. Whitney’s John P. Grier, and this time he gave the colt a beating which quite removed him as a contender. Man o’ War beat him at every step of the journey, and finally raced him so completely into submission that Upset, stablemate of John P. Grier and the only other starter, came up to take second as he ploughed through the cloud of dust some three lengths back of Man o’ War.”
Following the Travers, Man o’ War won the Lawrence Realization (by an estimated 100 lengths), Jockey Club Stakes (by 15 lengths), and Potomac Handicap (by 1½ lengths under 138 pounds). In the Lawrence Realization, he set a world record for 1 miles of 2:40 . The mark stood as the track standard at Belmont Park for almost a century, finally being surpassed in 2018.