The Greatest Racehorse?: Man O’ War and the Judgment of History

An analysis of Man O’ War’s legacy within two categories: excellence (physical attributes), comparing the colt to fifteen other renowned horses; and greatness (an athlete’s long-term impact on the sport as a whole), highlighting how he revived the racing industry in the aftermath of WWI, Prohibition, and baseball’s Black Sox scandal.

Award-winning author Mark Shrager has published some 300 articles about every aspect of horse racing in magazines such as Turf & Sport Digest, American Turf Monthly, and others. His 1974 Turf & Sport Digest article, ＂1,001 Surefire Ways to Lose a Horse Race,＂ was published in the annual Best Sports Stories anthology. He is the author of The Great Sweepstakes of 1877: A True Story of Southern Grit, Gilded Age Tycoons, and a Race That Galvanized the Nation; Diane Crump: A Horse-Racing Pioneer’s Life in the Saddle, which won the 2020 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award for the best book on Thoroughbred racing; and The First Kentucky Derby: Thirteen lack Jockeys, One Shady Owner, and the Little Red Horse that Wasn’t Supposed to Win. He lives in Altadena, CA, and is a three-time Jeopardy! champion.