Man o' War - 1920 Kenilworth Park Gold Cup Handicap (and more)

[eckythimble]

Great historical video and very impressive physical specimen of a horse.  The way he seems able to pull up a bit quicker than Secretariat (who 'unintentionally' broke world records running an extra 1/8 mile past the post on at least two occassions) would suggest to me that he didn't have quite the top end speed of Sec. But quite possibly still the second fastest horse of all time and obviously psychologically intimidating for the competition, a true Alpha male.

[ZenyattaLuvr]

for the first entire taped race, this is prettey awsome. i cant believe MOW wasnt put in the Kentucky Derbey! he soo could have won the triple crown

[BackstretchUnderdog]

I wish he could've showed his stuff against Exterminator. What a race that would've been!

[HarbingerOfBattle]

They tried to get Exterminator to participate this race but the 3 owners could not come to a compromise on the conditions of the race and so Exterminator was scratched, but raced that same day on a different track. If anyone out there knows what race that was and where PLEASE respond.

[Rimfaxe96]

Has anyone noticed that Man O' War didn´t had to use his full speed?

What an amazing horse! Wish I could see him running again... *_*

[rscarbro100]

@Rimfaxe96 No, he didn't have to use his full speed against Sir Barton. The great trainer Hollie Hudges said Sir Barton was already washed-up with those sore hoofs and all. Yet I believe MOW would have won but it would have been a lot closer. Kenilworth Park was a very hard surface track.

[LeeAnne151]

They showed the films of Man O'War and other horse races at the theater, before and in between the movies. Man O'War and later Seabiscuit were both national heroes and their races were on the radio too.

[H0rseL0ver15]

Man O' War will forever be the greatest of champions and kings for this sport. i don't care what anyone says. there may be a horse that amounts to Secretariat, War Admiral, Seabiscuit, Curlin, etc. but there was and is only ONE Man O' War.

[JackKangaroo1]

The most historic image here is seeing Jack Dempsey standing beside Man O' War, two huge superstars of the period. Nice to know they actually met each other.

[campcoskuro]

wow. sometimes it's hard to believe he's a horse and not a cannon.lol

[JustStoppedBy1]

WOW! thanks for the video.

It is my understanding that Man-O-War lost [only] one race to Upset due to Man-O-War starting the race 3-4 lengths behind and, supposedly, extra wieght was added to slow him (Man-O-War) down.

Man-O-War had beaten Upset in six pervious races.

Didn't Man-O-War race Upset one more time, after the lost race, and beat him in that race too?

[monkstermanjah]

@JustStoppedBy1

I heard they dropped the line when MOW had his rear to it! I bet that "starter" got sacked!!

[pinacoladamary]

I'm reading the book about triple crown racing and in the capter of sir barton it says, that man o wars stirrup ripped during the race and his jockey had to give him his head and so he ran of like a wild animal. all4pharlap, I agree with you thats what i found out too. lots of great horses are also related with st. simon.

[kae587]

i wish someone would make a movie about man o war. theres on about seabiscuit, so why not man o war...

[SugarTomAppleRoger]

kae. I don't know why either. I had never heard of Seabiscuit before the movie. I had sure heard of Man O' War. What a magnificent animal!

[dhom100]

@kae587 I'm sure there will be a movie about a horse a lot of people consider "a freak of nature" because he was build to race, big and strong, very intimidating to other horses. his grandson seabiscuit was small by comparison but possibly just as fearless.

[JurseyGirl100]

i know one is being filmed about Secretariat. i forgot when it comes out but it looks good :)

[ajremington]

No doubt Man o War was great but keep in mind Sir Barton had bad feet and his trainer knew in advance he wouldn't like the track.

[CraftyTequila]

Won by many lenghths, under a strong hold...something ,magic happened in the backstretch, like Secretariart at Belmont 1973. All looked normal, then explosive speed. The Man .

[clevii]

I have always loved MOW. I was born much too late to see him in person but made a trip to his grave to pay my respects to this magnificent horse . I so much appreciate you making this footage available .

[all4pharlap]

If a horse has man o war in its bloodline(the closer the better its always a good one

[eagley100]

my horse Royal Bow is his great x5 grandaughter

[greatbigbubby]

@eagley100 my red and white paint filly is too. they named her Shezalongtallsally, but apha is pro-slaughter so i won't register my girl. i named her HeavenlyHolly because she is. i think she's got alot of Big Red's fire and spirit.

[ojososo]

this clip belongs in an art gallery.

[harukunye]

00:37

[cmf4321]

Absolutely a handsome horse!! What incredible physical power and size! Horses today can't even compare. They look fragile compared to him. Great footage:-)

[horseyaddicted]

Ha I love how people just run onto the track!

[Kizmani]

I noticed that, too! That was hilarious. :)

[JTH7654]

Part 4 of 4 - The film - there was no sound - includes MOW's race against Sir Barton -- but does not add anything more than what is already shown on YouTube. However, it does include original film footage of MOW running in the 1920 Belmont Stakes and especially a head-on rail shot of his stretch run where he can be seen defeating Donnacona by some 20 lengths while loping along down the stretch in a common canter. (finis)

[theOlLineRebel]

YES! This is 1 of the RARE clips we never get to see - except I saw them once on 1 of the ESPN shows years ago. I don't think stinkin' ESPN ever made a "MOW" show even though he was huge and was 80th or so on their 100 list, but they had NON-Sir Barton racing clips on I think "Secretariat" show, and maybe some other racing show. These things need to be shown more! And they were BEAUTIFUL - as if just filmed yesterday!

[JTH7654]

Part 3 of 4 - The original film was 32mm -- a composite film made from 9 different cameras set in place around the track. The film was spliced together and shown by Movietone News in community movie theaters around the US. In 1984, I acquired a 16mm conversation copy from Movietone when they were on 7th Avenue in Manhattan.

[JTH7654]

Part 2 of 3 - during the mid-1970's, I read an article in a 1927 racing manual that I pulled from a shelf at the main building of the NY Public Library in Manhattan. I recall the writer's name was W.O. McGeehan. He stated that the chart of the race contained a typographical error -- the chart said MOW won by 7 lengths instead of correctly saying "seven-teen" lengths. Certainly the film of the race visually suggests MOW's winning margin over Sir Barton was greater than 7 lengths.

[theOlLineRebel]

This is strange. It has ALWAYS been propagated as 7 lengths (except perhaps in this film clip). And viewing from slight angles is always deceptive unless you're a race-caller.

[theOlLineRebel]

Totally disagree. The film shows what cannot possibly be more than 10 lengths. I've not yet heard of such a thing. Perhaps should ask the author Dorothy Ours, who is on our racing forum, who wrote the latest MOW book and does alot of detailed research.

[JTH7654]

Part 1 of 3 - The commentator is Frank Wright - died in 1987- a NY trainer who co-hosted a weekly Saturday TV program called "Racing from Acqueduct" on NY's TV channel 9. The show was co-sponsored by the NYRA and the NYC Off-track Betting Corp. Wright committed several gaffes -- no doubt he was the victim of a teleprompter's cue-card. He should have said Sir Barton was the previous year's winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Triple Crown.

[Venya9]

Thank you, great footage of Big Red! He sure was one handsome horse.

[Squaringcircles]

Also - this film is sped up by about a factor of two.

[theOlLineRebel]

Why is this film so dark? Any way to lighten it up? I can hardly see anything of it compared to the other MOW films.

[cf1970]

That's the way this film was originally. I didn't want to compromise the quality by lightening it either. I don't have the money right now for a high-powered video editing suite that does not degrade quality when saving a modified video file. I wish I could afford a program like Adobe's most expensive one, and someday I'm sure I will.

I'm sorry you can't see it that well, but please try to enjoy it for what it is. I find this to be a fantastic piece on Man o'War, regardless. Don't you agree?

[3DOGNIGHTFAN]

You did good! Being from Windsor We enjoyed this! It was even before our parents were born, & they're 82. Imprssive that they even had that quality of video back then!

[shahrzad1893]

he said he won by 17 leangths if im not mistaken it was only 7

[bronco3250]

I was thinking the exact same thing.

[theOlLineRebel]

Right, only 7.

Where is this piece from, anyway? Whom can we blame for being wrong? ;-D

[shahrzad1893]

lets blame the old guy in the brown suit with the bad comb over lol idk were its from i wanna know so i can buy it ;D

[postman1968]

His commentary is actually incorrect.Sir Barton won the triple crown the previous year.Man o War did not race in the Kentucky Derby,but ended up winning the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

[bronco3250]

Thats true. Man O War's only loss came in 1919. He was supposedly by all counts had his back turned towards the rope that wasnt suppose to be lifted until they were all faced forward. Well 1919, the same year as the Blak Sox scandal, you could only imagine the shady things going on back then. Esoecially in horse racing.

[JTH7654]

Correct -- his facts were wrong -- probably another teleprompter cue-card error. MOW had already faced and defeat the 1920 Kentucky Derby winner -- Paul Jones -- a month before in the Potomac Handicap held at Havre De Grace race track in Maryland on Sept. 18, 1920- MOW spotted Paul Jones 24 pounds, who finished 18-1/2 lengths behind, in last place.

[CraftyTequila]

Dear God, where did you get this gem. I can never get enough of Big Red. Thank you

[Christy5252]

How would they have watched this in the 1920s? Was it ata movie theater or something?

[cf1970]

That a very good question. I think that in 1920 the general public likely didn't have that opportunity due to the fact that it was simply a horse race and on film, which was still relatively new at that time. Then again, it was the great Man o' War that captured the imagination of much of the country, so who knows? It may very well have been shown to a select group, at the very least.

Take care.

[LeeAnne151]

@cf1970 Newsreels like this were shown at movie theaters. Races were live on the radio. Not simply a horse race. Horse racing was the most popular sport in America at this time. Man O'War was the most popular horse of this time. 27 years later his funeral was live over the radio and listened to by millions including the President. Everyone at this time knew of Man O'War and a million people visited him in retirement.

[theOlLineRebel]

Theaters DID exist back then. It was silent, but movies did exist, believe it or not. We simply don't much care to watch anything pre-1930, the full-sound era, so they have been neglected and the impression left that studios didn't exist nor big movies made, especially before 1920. However, there is no reason this couldn't have been shown in a regular theater as news.

[cf1970]

I'm assuming you're replying to Christy5252. I'm well aware of the history of film in the silent era, hence my statement of "relatively" new. Film was still basically in it's infancy, sound and picture-wise, in relation to what it ultimately became. My point was that when I replied a month ago, I simply wasn't aware if MOW's films had been shown in a theater or not. Turns out that some MOW footage actually was featured in theaters. It'd be incredible to see that on a big screen, especially now!

[Jazzgirl8888]

This footage of MOW is priceless ! I love all of it - esp the clip where MOW and Will are running down the road :) So special !

Enjoyed it ! :)

I hope you are having a great weekend my friend :)

[shoelover25]

great footage nice to nice those kind of races. where did the race take place in Canada?

[cf1970]

The race took place in Windsor, Ontario.

[drfager01]

remarkable footage.

[horseyaddicted]

very cool thanks for this

[desolatefox]

Nice footage!

[cloudtailforever]

Wow! That's just amazing footage!!

[carlykaiser]

Jack Dempsey!! I've seen a photo of that meeting!

I am really convinced that video of MOW in the post parade is War Admiral, he seems way to dark.

Thanks so much cf1970!!!!

I gotta love the announcer though, announcers didn't exist then xD

Wait, 17? It was only 7!

[cf1970]

Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, MOW did only win by 7, his PP chart confirms it.

How did you like MOW walking and running down the road with Will Harbut? I thought it was incredible to watch him romp like that.

Take care.

[carlykaiser]

I loved that clip. I want to hear Will talk about MOW. Doubt I ever will. Everyone who saw them said there was something magic about those two.

[michaelsacramone]

great video cf1970, thank you

[JTH7654]

The post-parade is actually a camera shot of MOW being returning to the grandstand area after the race - and the infield crowd was already breaking up. It is MOW - not War Admiral. Look at the profiles of the car & their roofs in the forescreen as MOW and the lead rider walk past. They are 1920s vintage cars; not models from the late 1930s. The same cars are panned by the camera as MOW and Sir Barton race by together after the first turn.

[ManOWar1994]

omg were did u get this it is awesome!!!