| As with the baseball stars of that era - Ty Cobb, | | | | reputation as a temperamental, occasionally |
| Babe Ruth - the names of the greatest horses of | | | | cranky horse, best understood by jockey Earl |
| the Roaring Decade are with us still, decades after | | | | Sande. After his third-year-season loss to Sir |
| most of those who witnessed their glory are | | | | Barton at the Maryland Handicap race, these two |
| dead. Who hasn't heard of Man O'War? In an | | | | horses contracted a rivalry, which added |
| iconic decade, great race horses became icons, | | | | sweetness to Mad Hatter's Pimlico victory over |
| and icons they remain. | | | | Sir Barton. But it was as a mature racing |
| Exterminator | | | | Thoroughbred that Mad Hatter really shone, |
| 1922's Horse of the Year was originally intended | | | | winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup and continuing |
| as a mere workout partner for rival Sun Briar. | | | | to win stakes races throughout the early |
| Willis Sharpe Kilmer, who bought Exterminator | | | | twenties. |
| prior to his three-year season, thought that he'd | | | | Mad Play, the younger of the two brothers |
| been taken for a ride when his trainer Henry | | | | (foaled in 1921), also benefited from the expert |
| McDaniel paid far more than authorized for the | | | | riding of the great Earl Sande. His three-year |
| chestnut-colored gelding. But there was a problem: | | | | season saw impressive third places in the |
| Exterminator kept matching Sun Briar, a champion | | | | Preakness Stakes, but at Belmont (the final Triple |
| juvenile horse, speed for speed in workouts. | | | | Crown event) he earned lasting fame, beating his |
| The horse also seemed to have an instinctive | | | | closest rival by one and a half lengths. |
| understanding of race strategy - speeding up | | | | Both horses were found, after retirement, to be |
| when necessary, holding back when McDaniel told | | | | sterile, thus ending the possibility of a Mad |
| him to. So when Sun Briar developed ringbone, | | | | dynasty. |
| McDaniel encouraged Kilmer to enter his | | | | Man O'War |
| understudy in the upcoming Kentucky Derby. At | | | | Was Man O'War (1917-1947), as many have |
| first Kilmer rejected the plan, until the President of | | | | argued, the greatest Thoroughbred racehorse of |
| Churchill Downs, who had seen Exterminator's | | | | all time? It depends on the criteria you use. |
| workouts, intervened. | | | | Consistency? (Man O'War won 9 of 10 races in his |
| Suddenly the inexperienced, underraced | | | | two-year season. His sole loss came at the |
| Exterminator found himself facing a particularly | | | | Sanford Memorial Stakes, where his jockey failed |
| muddy Derby morning. But his furious final kick | | | | to get him turned around at the start in this race |
| brought him from the back of the pack, where | | | | from the era before starting gates, and in which |
| he'd waited comfortably through the race, biding | | | | he was boxed in at least three times, and still |
| his time, to the font, where he won by a length. | | | | took second. |
| He continued to mature, racing up to the unusual | | | | The following year he won every race in which he |
| age of nine and beating horses who had, in prior | | | | ran, yielding a 20-1 record.) Blazing speed? (He set |
| years, outraced him. In all, he took 33 stakes wins | | | | several world and American records.) Competitive |
| - a record not beaten by any North American | | | | will? (See that 20-1 record again.) Overall effect |
| Thoroughbred. | | | | on the sport? (Man O'War sired 64 stakes |
| Mad Hatter & Mad Play | | | | winners, despite complaints from horse buffs that |
| Though they tend to be overshadowed by | | | | he was matched with inferior mares. He was also |
| more-famous half-brother Man O'War, these | | | | Seabiscuit's grandfather.) |
| brother Thoroughbreds - both sired by Man | | | | No matter how one judges, it's difficult to argue |
| O'War's father Fair Play on mare Mad Cap - took | | | | too much with Blood Horse magazine's declaration, |
| top honors in important races during the early | | | | in their list of the top 100 US Thoroughbred |
| 1920s. | | | | champions of the 20th century, that Man O'War |
| During his two-year season, elder brother Mad | | | | belonged in the top spot on that list. |
| Hatter took the Bellerose Stakes, while acquiring a | | | | |