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Man o' War: In Others' Words

Cook 5702 - Man o' War stripped.jpg

On the morning of March 29, 1917, a brief entry in the daybook at Nursery Stud near Lexington, Kentucky, documented the birth of a colt: “Mahubah foaled chestnut colt by Fair Play. Star, narrow stripe from right of star down center of nose. Height 42, girth 33.”1 A telegram notifying the colt’s breeder, August Belmont II, of his birth was characteristically succinct: “Mahubah foaled fine chestnut colt.”2 Nothing about the routine foaling or unassuming long-legged colt could predict the fame to which he would rise.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Man o’ War’s birth, this compilation of photographs is paired with commentary from industry players, both past and present, that has immortalized the legend that is Man o’ War.

Man o’ War: In Others’ Words is a commemoration of Man o’ War revealed through select photographs, monographs, and serials from the Keeneland Library collections. From Turf writers to racing officials and biographers, and from his owners and trainer to his riders and grooms, Man o’ War is here remembered through the work of photographers and the words of many.

1. C. W. Anderson (1943). Big Red. New York: Macmillan Company, p. 4
2. Dorothy Ours (2006). Man o’ War: A Legend Like Lightning. New York: St. Martin’s Press, p. 15

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