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Man o’War Memorabilia

Here’s a little secret I share with all of you. Once in a blue moon, incredible stuff becomes available on eBay that somehow falls through the cracks in an inexplicable lack of bids on property that otherwise, is clearly of museum quality.

Such is the case with these two scrapbooks (seen above)which encompass the incredible racing career of the great Man o’War as compiled by his master, Samuel D. Riddle (photo upper right) – a man I feel as if I came to know while authoring a comprehensive account of his charge’s ever controversial stud career and subsequent influence on the breed.

My connection to these two historical delights documenting Red’s juvenile (1919) and three-year old (1920) seasons is actually a little bit (a lot) more complicated. Nevertheless, my ultimate goal remains getting these tomes to where they can best be studied and enjoyed by others who who share an appreciation, if not sense of awe for our equine colossus.

For now, I am incredibly grateful of the access afforded me as I continue to fine-comb all of the contents. But, of course, I don’t really own them. We are all but guardians.

The bindings on both of the albums have disintegrated but the books’ black cardboard pages have held up exceptionally well. Unfortunately, Riddle’s had a particularly annoying habit of snipping off the names and dates of the publications from many of the news clippings.

Riddle’s inclusion of a news clipping headlining the refusal of Johnny Loftus’ 1920 riding license would seem to support my writings’ contention that Man o’War’s lone defeat in the 1919 Sanford Memorial was the result of race fixing (probably orchestrated by the infamous Arnold Rothstein) and that Riddle was privately made aware of the situation.

Some of the news clippings include poetry in full verse, mostly heralding all of Red’s glories. Any telegram the Riddles received was pasted into the scrapbooks. Most of them were from friends with no ties to the racing world but nonetheless thrilled. Then there were the salutations that came from the racing elite including Man o’War’s sport-shaping breeder, August Belmont II. Riddle also includes program pages from some of Man o’War’s biggest races including the Futurity and the Preakness. I think it’s safe to say the photographs of the racehorse Man o’War at two and three included in these albums were among Riddle’s favorites.

I found none that are NOT well known and readily available commercially.

Generally speaking, the handwriting, all in cursive, for most of the congratulatory letters is very poor, if not completely illegible and yet often scribbled by a member of some of the highest socio-economic orders. The few fans’ letters Riddle selected for his albums were respectful, yet bursting with excitement.

All in all, a pretty fantastic piece of American horse racing memorabilia.