Within every horse’s racing journey, a pivotal instant emerges—a choice, an injury, or an external influence—that alters the course of their career. For Sir Barton, this was a cough contracted from a fellow stablemate. Gallant Fox’s occurred when Earl Sande consented to ride the Belair colt for every race of his 1930 Triple Crown campaign. The defining moment for the third Triple Crown champion, Omaha, arrived when a physical setback forced an early end to his three-year-old season, thereby paving the way for his attempt at the Ascot Gold Cup the following year.
Just two years after Omaha achieved his third triumph, War Admiral inscribed his name onto the select roster of equines who claimed victory in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. For this direct descendant of Man o’ War, the crucial event unfolded not during his competitive days on the track, but in his formative years, when his owner, Samuel Riddle, almost allowed this future victor to escape his grasp.
Grand Ambitions
The narrative of Man o’ War is widely known among generations of racing aficionados. A century later, this progeny of Fair Play and Mahubah continues to stand prominently above nearly every horse that has succeeded him. Owner Samuel Riddle took immense pride in his magnificent horse and exercised discretion regarding the mares Man o’ War covered, restricting external owners’ access to the stallion and subsequently enhancing his personal collection of breeding mares with acquisitions from Europe, including a mare named Annette K.
Annette K. joined Riddle’s assembly of broodmares at Faraway Farm, where Man o’ War served as a stud, following her brief and unsuccessful period in competitive racing. Having participated in only one race, Annette K. was retired and subsequently sent to the stallion Sweep, the winner of the 1910 Belmont Stakes. From that pairing came the filly Brushup in 1929, notable not for her achievements on the racetrack, but for her role in reproduction.
Deeply ingrained in the centuries-old customs of equestrianism is the unit of measurement recognized as the “hand.” Standardized to four inches in 1541, horses are typically measured in hands; consequently, Man o’ War, for instance, was recorded at 16 hands, 2 inches. Given that horses are measured from the ground to their withers—the area where their shoulders meet their necks—16 hands, 2 inches indicated that Man o’ War stood 5 feet, 6 inches tall. Brushup was smaller, measuring 14 hands, 3 ¼ inches, or just over 4 feet, 11 inches. However, Annette K. had previously produced the multiple stakes winner War Glory when bred with Man o’ War, prompting Riddle to decide to mate her daughter Brushup with his legendary stallion in 1933.
Their offspring would achieve historical racing fame as his sire’s most accomplished, yet he very nearly did not compete under the Riddle stable’s black and gold colors.
Diminutive Stature
When Brushup foaled her colt by Man o’ War on May 2, 1934, the richly hued brown colt resembled his dam more than his celebrated sire, exhibiting a small and almost undersized physique that was contrary to what Samuel Riddle sought in Man o’ War’s progeny. Both American Flag and Crusader bore a closer resemblance to their sire and performed accordingly, with Belmont and Withers Stakes victories on their records.
Brushup’s newly born colt failed to instill similar confidence in his breeder and proprietor, who intended to offer the foal as a gift to Walter Jeffords, his nephew by marriage. The Riddles and the Jeffords families co-owned Faraway Farm and had frequently competed against each other on the racecourse. It was the Jeffords’s horse, Golden Broom, that had once outpaced Man o’ War during morning training sessions, and the Jeffords had also furnished Hoodwink for the 1920 Lawrence Realization to prevent the race from being a walkover. These familial ties prompted Riddle to extend the offer of Brushup’s foal to Jeffords.
However, Walter Jeffords preferred not to complicate familial relations by accepting the colt. Should Brushup’s offspring achieve success under his racing silks rather than his uncle’s, it might generate familial discord. No, it was better to decline the arrangement. Indeed, the colt bore less resemblance to his sire, eventually growing to 15.2 hands at three years old, and more to his dam, the petite mare who had made only three starts at age two, achieving just two placings within the top three. Even if the colt’s dimensions did not initially inspire Riddle’s assurance, his eventual performance on the track ultimately did.
Riddle bestowed the name War Admiral upon the colt, upholding a naming convention that echoed his sire’s heritage. At two years old, the colt secured victories in three of his six starts, breaking his maiden in his inaugural race and concluding the season with three additional top-three finishes, trailing horses such as Pompoon, who had won the Futurity and other juvenile stakes. Nevertheless, at age three, War Admiral proved invincible, even surpassing his sire’s record for 1½ miles during his Belmont Stakes triumph, notwithstanding a stumble at the outset that caused a laceration on his right front hoof.
Across a competitive span of four racing seasons, Brushup’s colt emerged victorious in 21 out of 26 races, repeatedly demonstrating that despite War Admiral’s modest build, he was unmistakably a true son of Man o’ War, deserving of donning the Riddle black and gold colors—and claiming a championship.
The Potent Atom
The film “Seabiscuit” from 2003 depicts War Admiral as an equine matching the scale of his achievements, serving as the physical representation of Goliath against Seabiscuit’s portrayal of David. In actuality, the two horses, both carrying the lineage of the legendary Big Red, were fundamentally similar in stature, with Seabiscuit being only half an inch taller than the Triple Crown champion.
Standing at 15 hands, 2 inches, War Admiral may not have possessed the powerful physique presented in his film adaptation, but he unquestionably demonstrated the endurance, swiftness, and resolve required to claim the Triple Crown and secure a place in the Hall of Fame alongside his legendary father, all owing to that pivotal moment when an individual prioritized familial accord over acquiring a prospective champion.
