Man o' War all-time greats with an "almost unbelievably brilliant performance" before a crowd of 25,000. At odds of 1-20, he faced only one rival, the well-regarded colt Donnaconna. Man o' War led from the start and Kummer let him run freely at the top of the stretch, allowing Man o' War to draw away by 20 lengths. Although eased in the final furlong, Man o' War set a world record of 2:14, beating the previous standard set in England by over two seconds and beating Sir Barton's American record by over three seconds. This time stood as the American record until 1961
Man o' War record shared by Man o' War and Sir Barton, it still broke the track record by over six seconds. Man o' War's share of the purse made him the highest earning horse in American history. The gold trophy presented in the winner's circle, designed by Tiffany & Co, was later donated by Mrs. Riddle to Saratoga and is now used as the trophy for the Travers Stakes. There were no formal awards for American Horse of the Year at the time but Man o' War was informally acknowledged as such in a retroactive poll of turf writers. In its summary