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Source-checked editorial dossier

Thoroughbred racing

War Admiral

Man o' War's most accomplished racing son swept the 1937 Triple Crown, won 21 of 26 starts, and later became a leading sire.

Dossier02reviewed sources
War Admiral standing under jockey Charles Kurtsinger at Saratoga Springs in a 1938 photographic postcard.
Documentary photographWar Admiral with Charles Kurtsinger up at Saratoga Springs in July 1938.
Boston Public Library, Tichnor Brothers Collection - public domain in the United States, via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · Resized and converted to WebP; no crop
DisciplineThoroughbred racing
Evidence modelSource-linked editorial
Last reviewedJuly 25, 2026

At a glance

Identity snapshot

Verified biographical fields, separated from interpretation.

Foaled
1934, Kentucky, United States
Life
1934-1959
Sex / color
Stallion / brown
Hall of Fame
Inducted 1958

Profile

The story

War Admiral was foaled at Samuel Riddle's Faraway Farm, a son of Man o' War out of Brushup. The brown colt was physically smaller than his famous sire but exceptionally quick and competitive. Trained by George Conway and ridden principally by Charles Kurtsinger, he won three of six starts at two before transforming into an undefeated three-year-old champion.

War Admiral led throughout the Kentucky Derby, survived a close Preakness challenge, and entered the Belmont unbeaten for the year. Difficult pre-start behavior and a cut forefoot complicated the Belmont, yet he still completed the Triple Crown. He finished 1937 eight-for-eight and Horse of the Year. At four he added major races at Saratoga and Belmont. His celebrated Pimlico match with Seabiscuit ended in defeat, but it was one race within a 21-win career. One final victory came in 1939 before injury prompted retirement; he later became North America's leading sire of 1945.

Editorial analysis

Why this horse matters

War Admiral matters both as an individual champion and as evidence that Man o' War's influence could be transmitted at the highest level. His undefeated Triple Crown season joined tactical speed with resilience. He also provides a needed counterweight to narratives that reduce his career to losing against Seabiscuit. That match was historically significant, but the larger record includes championships, major victories at four, and an influential stud career. The full dossier restores proportion to his legacy.

Selected record

Career highlights

A concise chronology of documented championship and major-event performances.

  1. 1937

    Kentucky Derby

    Led throughout to open his undefeated classic campaign.

  2. 1937

    Preakness Stakes

    Held Pompoon in a close finish for the second classic.

  3. 1937

    Belmont Stakes

    Completed the Triple Crown despite an injured forefoot at the start.

  4. 1937

    Perfect championship season

    Finished eight-for-eight and was named Horse of the Year.

  5. 1938

    Older-horse campaign

    Won nine races, including the Whitney and Jockey Club Gold Cup.

  6. 1945

    Leading sire

    His offspring included Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Busher.

Live name watch

News mentioning War Admiral

Exact-name matches from this horse's discipline only. No fuzzy matches, recycled stories or unrelated fallback headlines.

No recent exact-name coverage for War Admiral appears in the monitored thoroughbred racing feeds right now.

Checked Aug 2, 2026, 10:26 PM EDT. No match means only that the current monitored feed window contains no exact reference; it is not a claim that no coverage exists elsewhere.

Open the full live news desk

Reference desk

Research record

Pedigree, people and career facts remain grouped by type for quick comparison.

Career record

Career
1936-1939
Starts
26
Record
21 wins, 3 seconds, 1 third
Earnings
$273,240 (historical nominal dollars)

Pedigree

Sire
Man o' War
Dam
Brushup
Damsire
Sweep

Connections

Breeder / owner
Samuel D. Riddle
Racing stable
Glen Riddle Farm Stable
Trainer
George Conway
Principal rider
Charles Kurtsinger

Reading the record

Research context

Technical and historical notes, presented as context rather than instruction.

  1. The Triple Crown was not yet marketed as today's singular career objective; the sweep remains factual without projecting modern framing backward.

  2. Brown is the Museum description; some modern references use dark bay or brown.

  3. Samuel D. Riddle names the individual owner while Glen Riddle Farm Stable is the racing-stable designation.

Provenance

Detailed source trail

Open the institutional record behind the dossier and see exactly what each source supports.

  1. National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

    War Admiral (KY) (opens in a new tab)

    Identity, color, pedigree, connections, career totals, Triple Crown, retirement, stud career, and death year.

    Accessed July 25, 2026

Continue researching

Build a reading path from the record

Every connection below is generated from fields already present in the source-linked archive. It is a research lead, not a claim that two horses had equivalent careers.

Follow the recorded lineage

These links come from an explicitly named sire, dam, damsire, or a parent shared by both source records.

  • Man o' War standing in profile in a field while a handler holds his lead.

    Racing

    Man o' War

    Winner of 20 of 21 starts, Man o' War defined American racing at the opening of the 1920s and became a foundational sire.

    Recorded sire of War Admiral
    Man o' War
    Shared discipline
    Racing
    Shared recorded place
    Kentucky
    Foaled within twenty-five years
    1917
    Continue to profile
  • Rights-reviewed lead image associated with Sweep on the linked English Wikipedia article

    Racing

    Sweep

    horse

    Recorded damsire of War Admiral
    Sweep
    Shared discipline
    Racing
    Shared recorded sex category
    Stallion / brown
    Continue to profile

Trace shared connections

These records repeat the same named owner, breeder, trainer, rider, event, or honor in the supplied data.

  • American Pharoah and jockey Victor Espinoza racing past the Belmont Park crowd to win the 2015 Belmont Stakes.

    Racing

    American Pharoah

    The 2015 Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup Classic winner ended a 37-year drought and completed a uniquely comprehensive modern campaign.

    Shared event
    Kentucky Derby
    Shared event
    Preakness Stakes
    Shared event
    Belmont Stakes
    Shared discipline
    Racing
    Continue to profile
  • Justify galloping during a morning workout before the 2018 Preakness Stakes.

    Racing

    Justify

    Justify compressed an undefeated Triple Crown campaign into six starts and 111 days, an exceptional case of accelerated development.

    Shared event
    Kentucky Derby
    Shared event
    Preakness Stakes
    Shared event
    Belmont Stakes
    Shared discipline
    Racing
    Continue to profile
  • Secretariat wearing Meadow Stable's checkered blinkers with jockey Ron Turcotte after the 1973 Preakness Stakes.

    Racing

    Secretariat

    The 1973 Triple Crown winner paired record-setting classic performances with an enduring influence on American racing and breeding.

    Shared event
    Kentucky Derby
    Shared event
    Preakness Stakes
    Shared event
    Belmont Stakes
    Shared discipline
    Racing
    Continue to profile

Compare documented peers

These horses share multiple recorded identity fields, such as discipline, breed, country, sex, or foaling period.

  • Seabiscuit and his jockey racing along the rail toward victory in the 1940 Santa Anita Handicap.

    Racing

    Seabiscuit

    A hard-campaigning champion whose rise under trainer Tom Smith and owner Charles Howard became a defining American racing story.

    Foaled within five years
    1933
    Shared discipline
    Racing
    Shared recorded place
    Kentucky
    Shared recorded sex category
    Stallion / brown
    Continue to profile
  • Rights-reviewed source image associated with Nearco on Wikimedia Commons

    Racing

    Nearco

    Italian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

    Foaled within five years
    1935
    Shared discipline
    Racing
    Shared recorded sex category
    Stallion / brown
    Continue to profile
  • Rights-reviewed source image associated with St Lite on Wikimedia Commons

    Racing

    St Lite

    Japanese-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

    Foaled within five years
    1938
    Shared discipline
    Racing
    Shared recorded sex category
    Stallion / brown
    Continue to profile

  • Racing

    Furioso

    thoroughbred stallion b. 1939

    Foaled within five years
    1939
    Shared discipline
    Racing
    Shared recorded sex category
    Stallion / brown
    Continue to profile

Stay within the discipline

These source-linked records share the same discipline classification; open each profile to establish any closer comparison.

Field notebook

Questions the available evidence can support

  1. Pedigree ledger

    List each sire, dam, and damsire recorded for War Admiral; open the linked source before carrying a relationship into another generation.

    Based on: Recorded pedigree fields

  2. Era comparison

    Start with War Admiral's recorded foaling year (1934). Date every comparison and keep later commentary separate from contemporaneous results.

    Based on: Recorded foaling year

  3. Connection map

    Trace the recorded breeder, owner, trainer, rider entries one source at a time. Preserve the role and date attached to each source rather than assuming a permanent relationship.

    Based on: Named connections, events, or honors

  4. Identity language

    Copy breed, studbook, sex, and place terms exactly as the source presents them; note conflicts instead of silently standardizing them.

    Based on: Recorded identity fields

  5. Source check

    Open the 2 linked sources, record the publisher and retrieval or revision date, and mark which displayed fields each source actually supports.

    Based on: Linked source trail

From profile to reading room

Continue from War Admiral's record

4 original briefs · 30 reading minutes · 19 direct references. These are research-method companions, not additional claims about the horse.

01Bloodstock research

Profile-linked brief

Stud fee is a price tag, not a breeding verdict

The advertised fee opens a stallion dossier. Book size, opportunity, mare quality, crop age, contract terms, and the goals for the mating determine what the price can and cannot mean.

Why read this next: The editorial index explicitly connects this brief to War Admiral. Use its bloodstock research framework and 4 direct references as a method companion; the link does not add a new fact to the horse profile.

8 min read4 sources
Read the original brief
02Aftercare and welfare

Discipline research

A finish line is not an exit plan

Retirement can mean rehabilitation, retraining, adoption, sanctuary, or another carefully matched role. Good research follows the horse beyond the final chart.

Why read this next: This aftercare and welfare brief shares the profile's Thoroughbred racing classification. Its 5 direct references help test context and source boundaries; the brief is not evidence about this individual horse.

7 min read5 sources
Read the original brief
03Kentucky Derby research

Discipline research

The Derby leaderboard is an entry queue, not a power ranking

Points answer whether a horse can get into the gate. The performances beneath those points help answer what kind of contender may arrive there.

Why read this next: This kentucky derby research brief shares the profile's Thoroughbred racing classification. Its 5 direct references help test context and source boundaries; the brief is not evidence about this individual horse.

7 min read5 sources
Read the original brief
04Race-record literacy

Discipline research

The number never ran the race

A speed figure makes performances comparable; it does not make their circumstances identical. Read the class, surface, pace, trip, and chart before deciding what the number means.

Why read this next: This race-record literacy brief shares the profile's Thoroughbred racing classification. Its 5 direct references help test context and source boundaries; the brief is not evidence about this individual horse.

8 min read5 sources
Read the original brief

Data boundary

Unknown is not a blank to fill

This dossier publishes reviewed fields and source-backed editorial analysis only. A field that is not shown remains not established in this source-checked dossier. EquinAtlas does not infer missing results, ownership, health, availability, or commercial terms.