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99 Years ~*~ Man o' War 3/29/1917 Retired TBs -Past and Present
From: Derby132
3/29/16
A Poem in His Memory
The following poem is by Joseph Alvie Estes, well- known editor of The Blood Horse, was first published in that magazine October 23, 1937. It is entitled, "Big Red."
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.
http://www.oocities.org/firey_fantasy/racehorses/man-o-war.html
From: MaryLOhio
3/29/16
Shame they don't breed for that confirmation today. He was a powerhouse and the ideal confirmation of a true TB, not like these thin spindle legs running these days.
From: Derby132
3/29/16
His build, his stride - just spectacular. The perfect fiery strong willed and strong limbed Thoroughbred born to run.
From: Derby132
3/30/16
New article...and first photo one I had never seen before.
“As near to a living flame as horses get, and horses get closer to this than anything else. It was not merely that he smashed his opposition, sometimes by a hundred lengths, or that he set world records or that he cared not a Tinker’s Curse for weight, or track, or horses.
Man o’ War, loose in his paddock at Faraway, dug in as if the prince of all the fallen angels was at his throatlatch, and great chunks of sod sailed up behind the haunches of power. Watching, you felt that there had never been, nor could ever be again, a horse like this.”
From: gerchgo
3/30/16
He was a magnificant horse wasn't he? Totally proportioned in his body, all heart in his races, just stunning!
From: gerchgo
3/29/19
Photos of Man O War on his Birthday- Happy Birthday Champ!
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/slideshows/21006/man-o-war-a-photographic-tribute
Happy Birthday Cindy!!!:)