Champion Race Horse. He was the 4th horse to win horseracing’s Triple Crown, performing the feat inb 1937. Ridden by jockey Charles Kurtsinger, War Admiral led from the starting gate at the Kentucky Derby that year and won by one and a half lengths. He had a close call at the Preakness Stakes a week later prevailing merely by his head, and then stumbled leaving the gate at The Belmont Stakes, reaching the winner's circle in a trail of blood. He had kicked himself in the race and torn off a piece of the hoof wall on the right foreleg. Despite the injury, he won the race by 3 lengths and equaled the track record. He was given a four-month hiatus and the leg healed well enough to win three more races to close out the year with eight consecutive victories. He was the only horse to ever accomplish this feat earning him the Horse of the Year award. In 1938 at the Pimlico Stakes, in a two-horse match with his opponent Seabiscuit ridden by George Woolf, he was defeated by three lengths. He ran only once in 1939 and was retired. He became a very successful stud horse and was named America's leading sire in 1945 producing many foals who became stakes winners. He passed away at age twenty-four in his stall and was buried beside his sire, Man o' War.
Champion Race Horse. He was the 4th horse to win horseracing’s Triple Crown, performing the feat inb 1937. Ridden by jockey Charles Kurtsinger, War Admiral led from the starting gate at the Kentucky Derby that year and won by one and a half lengths. He had a close call at the Preakness Stakes a week later prevailing merely by his head, and then stumbled leaving the gate at The Belmont Stakes, reaching the winner's circle in a trail of blood. He had kicked himself in the race and torn off a piece of the hoof wall on the right foreleg. Despite the injury, he won the race by 3 lengths and equaled the track record. He was given a four-month hiatus and the leg healed well enough to win three more races to close out the year with eight consecutive victories. He was the only horse to ever accomplish this feat earning him the Horse of the Year award. In 1938 at the Pimlico Stakes, in a two-horse match with his opponent Seabiscuit ridden by George Woolf, he was defeated by three lengths. He ran only once in 1939 and was retired. He became a very successful stud horse and was named America's leading sire in 1945 producing many foals who became stakes winners. He passed away at age twenty-four in his stall and was buried beside his sire, Man o' War.
Bio by: Donald Greyfield
Family Members
Advertisement
See more War Admiral memorials in:
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
