Man 'o War's grandpa on his sire's side is Hastings, born in 1893 near Versailles, Kentucky. His parents were Spendthrift and Cinderella. His race record was 21: 10-8-0 with a lifetime track earnings of $16,340. He was a great race horse, and ran some amazing courageous competitive races. He won the Belmont Stakes. He was purchased by August Belmont II for a record-setting $37,000. His mom, Cinderella, was ugly, mean-tempered, small and weedy. Even her heritage is dubious, as people question the likelihood of her parentage between two family lines. But his dad, Spendthrift, has a veritable royal pedigree, including the first English Triple Crown winner, West Australian. Hastings was a mean, combative, somewhat violent horse who fought his trainers, jockeys and handlers. He was notorious for biting other horses, during races. He was so naughty when he retired to the breed shed that they had to build a ramp between his stall and his turnout, so that people wouldn't have to handle him. He was routinely approached by people holding big ol' sticks!! He was even combative at the end of his life when he was paralyzed, and eventually put to sleep. But here's the thing -- he produced awesome, stakes-winning colts and fillies, including, of course, Fair Play, Man o' War's dad. Even his very first crop had smashing horses, though he was only bred to middling to fair mares. So, it's not surprising that he was the leading sire in 1902 and 1908. He produced major babies, from middling mares to great mares. He was all about baby-making!! Though, yes, he sometimes did pass on his crankiness that he earned from his mama. You can read more about him at the following links:
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