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99 Years ~*~ Man o' War 3/29/1917 Retired TBs -Past and Present

Started 3/29/16 by Derby132; 3878 views.

Msg 15 of 25 to Derby132Derby132

In reply toRe: msg 13

From: Flurry84

3/30/19

Happy Birthday too, Cindy. I will have to go back and read the comments; so glad you mentioned them. What a powerful poem to Man o' War.

Msg 16 of 25 to Flurry84Flurry84

In reply toRe: msg 15

From: Derby132

3/30/19

Thank you. I am tickled to share a birthday with Man o' War. Here is the poem about Man o' War that I love most, it is posted near his grave at the KHP.

BIG RED by Joseph Estes

The days are long at Belmont.

Speed they never learn.

And it's many a day since Man o' War

Has looped the upper turn.

The guineas stopped their rubbing,

The rider dropped his tack

When the word went round that Man o' War

Was coming on the track.

The crowd was hoarse with cheering

At ancient Pimlico

The day he won the Preakness-

But that was long ago.

The dust is deep at Windsor,

The good old days are gone.

And many a horse is forgotten,

But they still remember one.

For he was a fiery phantom

To that multitudinous throng-

Would you wait for another one like him?

Be patient: years are long.

For here was a horse among horses,

Cast in a Titan's mold,

And the slant October sunlight

Gilded the living gold.

He was marked with the god's own giving

And winged in every part;

The look of eagles was in his eye

And Hastings' wrath in his heart.

Young Equipoise had power

To rouse the crowded stand,

And there was magic in the name

Of Greentree's Twenty Grand.

And Sarazen has sprinted,

And Gallant Fox has stayed,

And Discovery has glittered

In the wake of Cavalcade.

We watch the heroes parading,

We wait, and our eyes are dim,

But we never discover another

Like him.

A foal is born at midnight

And in the frosty morn

The horseman eyes him fondly

And a secret hope is born.

But breathe it not, nor whisper,

For fear of a neighbor's scorn:

He's a chestnut colt, and he's got a star-

He may be another Man o' War.

Nay, say it aloud--be shameless.

Dream and hope and yearn,

For there's never a man among you

But waits for his return.