Man O’ War and The Kentucky Horse Park

By Susan Acree

As I think about all the things I want to make sure my friends see when we are at the Kentucky Horse Park, the Man O’ War Memorial is at the top of the list.

There is a ring of plants and flowerbeds around his bronze statue. As you walk around, there are several tablets that tell the story of Man O’ War. They tell about his undefeated record, but the most memorable one for me, is the story of his one loss. He got boxed in by another horse and jockey, which by the account I read, was absolutely on purpose. But, the thing I remember wasn’t that he lost, but the jockey that beat him regretted his part in it. He knew he had helped ruin the record of the obvious King of the Sport.

As devastating as I know it must have been for Man O’ War’s team at the time, I hope they were able to realize that that one unfortunate race did not sully his accomplishments in the history books.

This is an amazing rare footage of the great Man O’ War, so beautiful!

Next time I’ll share some other highlights of my first visit to the Kentucky Horse Park.

Until then,

Naturally,

Susan