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 Stakes it was also held in 1961, as well as from 1963 to 1967, and again in 1987. Run as the Man o' War Handicap in 1959 and 1961, it is named for Man o' War, selected as No. 1 in the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century. The race was won in 1973 by Secretariat. In 2008 the Man o' War was moved from Belmont's fall schedule into its summer schedule, replacing the Bowling Green Handicap in an attempt to more fairly represent turf competition. The Man o' War Stakes has been raced