Man O' WarMan O' War and His Four Full Siblings
"He was the mostest hoss that ever was." (Will Harbut) I am a big fan of Man O' War. Originally this article appeared on my previous website: Sport Horse America (now off the air). He was born in 1917, but he is legendary. He could do it all, he had stamina, he had soundness, he had courage, he had speed, he was versatile, and he could pass it all on. At one time in the late 1930's he had 4 sons who were champions in four different sports. There was the triple crown winner: War Admiral; he had a Grand National winner: Battleship; he had the winner of the Maryland Hunt Cup:Blockade; and he had Holystone, a consistent winner in the hunter/jumper ring. Now, that is pre-potency and versatility combined! In my opinion, there has never been another sire so good. His daughters are still gold mines in any pedigree, and they passed on his mighty heart. And his sons, such as War Relic, War Admiral and American Flag are still strong positive presences in our Sport Horses. Man O'War bloodlines in our sport horse pedigrees are genetic gold. Man O' War had four full siblings. Let us look at those siblings for a graphic illustration of why a good mating should be repeated if you are able. Because of the way genes seperate and combine, even full siblings will not be exactly the same. The more homozygous the genetic package is, the more consistent the outcome and we will discuss this on another page. Let Man O' War's full siblings tell the story of genetic fickleness to you. Masda, a full sister to Man O' War born in 1915, was a very good horse. She was a stakes winner herself and an excellent broodmare. She produced 3 stakes winners, and the triple crown winner: Assault, directly descends from her. Also there are some noteable champions in her other descendents: Solfed, an Irish champion, and Prove Out, a Jockey Club Gold winner in the USA, who actually outran Secretariat once. Masda was very fast. Her trainer, Sam Hildreth said "Several times when I held a stop-watch on Masda she had run so fast that I thought there must be some mistake and I had to ask others to verify what my watch told me. But they caught her in the same time."(Bowen). So, in Masda you have a worthy sister to Man O' War. Mirabelle, this is Man O' War's other full sister. She was unraced and proved to be a moderate producer of winners, such as the French champ: In Fijar, and the American winner: Delaware Township. But neither her racing ability nor that of her progeny had anything to compare with her great brother. Playfellow. A full brother to Man O' War, but he was only a moderate race horse. He won a few races and he made no impact as a sire. I don't remember ever seeing him in a pedigree. My Play. This full brother to Man O' War was a very good race horse. He won the Jockey Club Gold and was a successful sire, and an even better broodmare sire. Unfortunately he only lived to age 11. But he is still seen in good pedigrees. So, all in all, only half of Man O' War's full siblings even approached his glory. They were all fairly good horses, but only 50% were well above average, and of course, there was only one Man O' War. Two out of the five matings were excellent results, two were okay results, but only one was the superstar. Good mating choices should be repeated for the best outcome. Man O' War, and his full siblings, his sons and daughters, and other relatives, we should consider targets when trying to concentrate superior relatives in the background our sport horse pedigrees. They are a enduring source of stamina, soundness and sport talent. Read more about the genetic greatness of Man O'War and his close relatives on the
Fair Play page.
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