SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Authors Jennifer Kelly and Dorothy Ours will discuss the 100th anniversary of Man o’ War’s victory against Sir Barton in the 1920 Kenilworth Gold Cup in an online program hosted by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 9 at 11 a.m. The program will be moderated by Brien Bouyea, the Museum’s Hall of Fame and Communications Director. The event can be accessed for free at:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ymPg1E1gQ3W66AS3T0nNRg
On Oct. 12, 1920, Man o’ War defeated Sir Barton by seven lengths at Kenilworth Park in Canada to earn $75,000 (a record purse for a single race at the time) and a gold cup crafted by Tiffany and Co., valued at $5,000. It was the final race Man o’ War competed in, concluding his career with 20 wins from 21 starts and record earnings of $249,465. Man o’ War was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1957.
Sir Barton was America’s first Triple Crown winner in 1919. He raced three more times without a victory after his loss to Man o’ War and was retired with 13 wins from 31 starts and earnings of $116,857. He joined Man o’ War in the 1957 Hall of Fame class.
Kelly and Ours are experts on the careers of Sir Barton and Man o’ War, respectively. Kelly is the author of Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown, while Ours is the author of Man o’ War: A Legend Like Lightning.
Kelly fell in love with horse racing when she read Walter Farley’s Black Stallion series as a child and then watched the filly Winning Colors beat the boys in the 1988 Kentucky Derby. A lifelong reader and writer, she took her love of the written word to the classroom, teaching both first-year composition and technical writing for more than a decade. She then embarked on a multi-year journey to write Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown, the first book to chronicle the life and career of America’s first Triple Crown winner. Kelly is working on her follow-up to Sir Barton, Foxes of Belair, an exploration of the lives and careers of Gallant Fox and Omaha, America’s second and third Triple Crown winners.
Ours is a history-loving lifelong horse and racing enthusiast. She worked for several years at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and has written two books featuring Hall of Fame horses. Each has been honored as a finalist for the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award. Man o’ War: A Legend Like Lightning digs for the actual — and truly phenomenal — individual who became a myth. Battleship: A Daring Heiress, A Teenage Jockey, and America’s Horse tells a story that sounds unreal: a 15.2-hand, 11-year-old stallion and a 6-foot-1, 17-year-old boy teaming up to win the world’s top steeplechase. Ours also freelanced for Thoroughbred Times and served twice as a John H. Daniels Research Fellow at the National Sporting Library & Museum in Middleburg, Va. She’s currently working on a third book.
For more information about the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, including upcoming events, please visit www.racingmuseum.org or call (518) 584-0400.
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