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Color: br
Height: 15.2
(USA)
Breeder: Samuel D. Riddle
Owner: Glen Riddle Farms
26-21-3-1, $273,240.
4th Triple Crown Winner, 1937. Horse of the Year, 1937. Champion 3-year-old colt, 1937. Hall Of Fame inductee, Won: Eastern Shore H, Kentucky Derby, Preakness S., Belmont S., Washington H., Chesapeake S., Pimlico Special, Wilson S., Queens County H., Saratoga Cup, Widener H., Whitney H., Jockey Club Gold Cup. Lost to Seabiscuit in a match race at Pimlico.
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The tiny brown War Admiral looked nothing like his famous father, but in racing performance he was closer to Man o' War than any of Big Red's other sons. While most often remembered for losing his famous match race with Seabiscuit in 1938, War Admiral actually had a much better race record than Seabiscuit, his feats including a sweep of the 1937 American Triple Crown. At stud, War Admiral became a leading sire and broodmare sire and remains a major influence on Thoroughbred pedigrees.
Race record
26 starts, 21 wins, 3 seconds 1 third, US$273,240
1936:
Won Eastern Shore Handicap (USA, 6FD, Havre de Grace)
2nd Richard Johnson Stakes (USA, 6FD, Laurel)
2nd Great American Stakes (USA, 6FD, Aqueduct)
3rd National Stallion Stakes (USA, 5FD, Belmont)
1937:
Won Kentucky Derby (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
Won Preakness Stakes (USA, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
Won Belmont Stakes (USA, 12FD, Belmont; equaled American record 2:28-3/5)
Won Washington Handicap (USA, 10FD, Laurel)
Won Chesapeake Stakes (USA, 8.5FD, Havre de Grace)
Won Pimlico Special (USA, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
1938:
Won Widener Handicap (USA, 10FD, Hialeah)
Won Rhode Island Handicap (USA, 9.5FD, Narragansett Park)
Won Saratoga Handicap (USA, 10FD, Saratoga)
Won Jockey Club Gold Cup (USA, 16FD, Belmont)
Won Queens County Handicap (USA, 8FD, Aqueduct)
Won Saratoga Cup (USA, 14FD, Saratoga)
Won Whitney Stakes (USA, 10FD, Saratoga)
Won Wilson Stakes (USA, 8FD, Saratoga)
2nd Pimlico Special (USA, 9.5FD, Pimlico; match race with Seabiscuit)
Honors
National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1958)
Saratoga Hoofprints Walk of Fame (inducted as part of the inaugural class in 2013)
American Horse of the Year (1937)
American champion 3-year-old male (1937)
Assessments
War Admiral was ranked #13 among the top 100 American racehorses of the 20th century by an expert panel assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005).
Rated at 121 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1936, 7 pounds below champion Pompoon and seventh overall.
Rated second to Seabiscuit among American older males of 1938 by The Blood-Horse.
As an individual
War Admiral stood 15.2 hands, giving him the nickname, “The Mighty Atom.” He was considered to have excellent conformation other than the slightly upright shoulders which had also marked his dam, Brushup, but more closely resembled his neat, compact maternal grandsire Sweep than he did his famous sire. Highly strung, he was a bad actor at the start of his races and severely injured his right forefoot during his antics at the start of the 1937 Belmont Stakes, winning nonetheless in time that broke his sire's 17-year-old track record.
As a stallion
According to Jockey Club records, War Admiral sired 251 winners (67.3%) and 40 stakes winners (10.7%) from 373 named foals. He is a Classic chef-de-race in the Roman-Miller dosage system. He had his greatest influence on modern bloodlines through his daughters sired on daughters of the great foundation mare La Troienne.
Sire rankings
Per The Blood-Horse:
Led the American general sire list in 1945; 6th in 1948 and 1953; 9th in 1951; 10th in 1952.
Led the American broodmare sire list in 1962 and 1964.
Led the American juvenile sire list in 1948.
Per Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, Churchill, Reichard, and Rogers);
Led the American general sire list in 1945; 6th in 1948 and 1953; 9th in 1951; 10th in 1952.
Led the American broodmare sire list in 1962 and 1964; 2nd in 1965 and 1966; 3rd in 1961 and 1963; 4th in 1959; 5th in 1967; 6th in 1960 and 1969; 7th in 1968; 8th in 1958 and 1970.
Notable progeny
Bee Mac (USA), Blue Peter (USA), Busanda (USA), Busher (USA), Iron Maiden (USA), Mr. Busher (USA), Searching (USA), Striking (USA)
Notable progeny of daughters
Admiring (USA), Affectionately (USA), Better Self (USA), Buckpasser (USA), Bupers (USA), Courtly Dee (USA), Crafty Admiral (USA), Francis S. (USA), Glamour (USA), Gun Bow (USA), Hoist the Flag (USA), Iron Liege (USA), Iron Reward (USA), Key Bridge (USA), Never Say Die (USA), Priceless Gem (USA), Rose Jet (USA), Royal Orbit (USA), So Chic (USA), Yorky (USA)
Connections
War Admiral was bred and owned by Samuel D. Riddle. He was trained by George Conway, who had been the stable foreman during Louis Feustel's tenure as trainer of Man o' War. War Admiral stood at Faraway Farm until 1958, when the executors of Riddle's estate (Riddle had died in 1951) sold the remaining portion of the farm. War Admiral was then moved to Preston Madden's Hamburg Place, where he died in 1959.
Pedigree notes
War Admiral is outcrossed through five generations. His dam Brushup is a half sister to 1933 Dwyer Stakes winner War Glory (by Man o' War) and to Marching Along (by Man o' War), dam of the stakes-winning steeplechaser Pebalong (by Big Pebble). Brushup is out of Annette K. (by Harry of Hereford), whose half sister Seaplane (by Man o' War) is the dam of stakes winner Aquaplane (by High Time) and the third dam of the high-class racer and sire Eight Thirty.
Books and media
War Admiral, by Edward Bowen, is the 17th book in the Thoroughbred Legends series and was released in 2002 by Eclipse Press.
War Admiral's rivalry with Seabiscuit was featured as the fourth chapter of Horse Racing's Greatest Rivalries (2008, Eclipse Press), a compilation produced by the staff of The Blood-Horse.
“War Admiral” is the fourth chapter in Marvin Drager's The Most Glorious Crown (2005, Triumph Books).
War Admiral is the fourth of the 13 American Triple Crown winners featured in Edward Bowen's The Lucky 13: The Winners of America's Triple Crown of Horse Racing (2019, Lyon Press).
War Admiral is profiled in Chapter 46 of Abram Hewitt's Sire Lines (1977, The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association; updated and reprinted by Eclipse Press in 2006).
War Admiral is profiled in Chapter 6 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Fun facts
War Admiral's match race with Seabiscuit was ranked #2 in Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments, a review of racing in the 20th century compiled by The Blood-Horse and released in 2006.
War Admiral's remains are buried at the Kentucky Horse Park at the foot of the statue of his sire, Man o' War.
In the 2003 movie Seabiscuit, War Admiral was supposedly 18 hands tall—a liberty taken to fit the Hollywood convention of the hero being smaller than his chief antagonist. War Admiral was actually about the same size as Seabiscuit.
War Admiral inherited his small size from his dam Brushup, who stood less than 15 hands. Brushup, in turn, was produced by Annette K., a mare that stood a shade under 15.1 hands.
Sam Riddle was so unimpressed by War Admiral as a foal that he tried to sell the undersized colt to his nephew by marriage, Walter Jeffords. Although Jeffords liked the colt, he refused, fearing a family quarrel if War Admiral turned out well.
Noting that War Admiral had run well below the form he showed elsewhere while winning the 1937 Preakness Stakes and Pimlico Special at Pimlico, as well as being beaten by Seabiscuit there, bloodstock expert Abram Hewitt opined that War Admiral's form at Pimlico was at least 10 pounds below the form he showed anywhere else.
War Admiral was the first winner of the American Triple Crown to lead the American general sire list.
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KENTUCKY DERBY
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1937 War Admiral Charley Kurtsinger George Conway Glen Riddle Farm 1+1⁄4 Fast 2:03.2
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Preakness Stakes
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1937 War Admiral Charley Kurtsinger George Conway Glen Riddle Farm 1+3⁄16 1:58.40 $75,000
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Belmont Stakes
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1937 War Admiral Charley Kurtsinger George Conway Glen Riddle Farm Fast 2:28.60
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