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War Admiral
War Admiral: Thoroughbred Legends by Edward L. Bowen
Sire:	Man O' War
Grandsire:	Fair Play
Dam:	Brushup
Damsire:	Sweep
Sex:	Stallion
Foaled:	1934
Country:	USA
Colour:	Brown
Breeder:	Samuel D. Riddle
Owner:	Glen Riddle Farm
Trainer:	George Conway
Record:	26: 21-3-1
Earnings:	$273,240
Major Racing Wins & Honours & Awards
Major Racing Wins
Great American Stakes (1936) Kentucky Derby (1937) Preakness Stakes (1937) Belmont Stakes (1937) Washington Park Handicap (1937) Pimlico Special (1937) Saratoga Cup (1938) Whitney Handicap (1938) Wilson Stakes (1938) Stars and Stripes Handicap (1938) Jockey Club Gold Cup (1938)
Racing Awards
4th U.S. Triple Crown Champion (1937) U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1937) United States Horse of the Year (1937) Leading sire in North America (1945) Leading broodmare sire in North America (1962, 1964)
Honours
United States Racing Hall of Fame (1958) #13 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century
Infobox last updated on: February 4, 2007.

War Admiral (1934-1959), was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, the offspring of the great thoroughbred Man O' War and the mare Brushup. He did not resemble his famous father physically, being much smaller, but did inherit his fiery temperament and talent.

War Admiral was born at Faraway Farm in Lexington, Kentucky and was owned by Samuel D. Riddle. After 1936, his regular jockey until retirement was Charles Kurtsinger. Racing out of his Glen Riddle Farm in Berlin, Maryland, War Admiral won 21 of his 26 starts, including the Pimlico Special and the coveted U.S. Triple Crown in 1937, earning him the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year.

War Admiral raced in the Eastern United States and in 1938 won eight major races including the Whitney Handicap, the Jockey Club Gold Cup and beat Seabiscuit in the Stars and Stripes Handicap at Arlington Park. War Admiral would be linked forever to Seabiscuit, who was a son of War Admiral's half brother Hard Tack and the pre-eminent horse based primarily in the Western U.S. Their famous match race in the 1938 Pimlico Special, which War Admiral lost to Seabiscuit by four lengths, is considered by some to be the best in Thoroughbred horse racing in American history.

War Admiral retired with a career earnings total of $273,240. He was the leading American sire in 1945 and the leading juvenile sire in 1948. Before his death in 1959, War Admiral had sired 40 stakes winners. [1] Major War Admiral sires include Blue Peter, Searching, Busanda, Mr. Busher, Navy Page, Cold Command, and Admiral Vee. [2]

He also sired the filly Busher (ranked #40 in Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century.

War Admiral was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, War Admiral was ranked #13.

Owner Sam Riddle commissioned equine artist Martin Stainforth to paint War Admiral's portrait.

Pedigree of War Admiral

Sire Man O' War (horse)	Fair Play ch. 1905	Hastings br. 1893	Spendthrift
			Cinderella
		Fairy Gold ch. 1896	Bend Or
			Dame Masham
	Mahubah b. 1910	Rock Sand br. 1900	Sainfoin
			Roquebrune
		Merry Token b. 1891	Merry Hampton
			Mizpah
Dam Brushup 1929	Sweep 1907	Ben Brush	Bramble
			Roseville
		Pink Domino	Domino
			Belle Rose
	Annette 1921	Harry of Hereford	John O'Gaunt
			Canterbury Pilgrim
		Bathing Girl	Spearmint
			Summer Girl

• Hillenbrand, Laura. Seabiscuit: An American Legend, (2001), Random House ISBN 978-0375502910

• War Admiral's pedigree and partial racing stats
• War Admiral's Kentucky Derby
• The War Admiral-Seabiscuit match at about.com
• War Admiral overview at Thoroughbred Times
• War Admiral biography
• War Admiral at the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
• Bowen, Edward L. War Admiral: Thoroughbred Legends (2002) Eclipse Press ISBN 978-1581500783