1936: Two-year-old season As a two-year-old in 1936, War Admiral won three of six races including the
Great American Stakes and
Eastern Shore Handicap. However, the star of this crop was then considered to be Pompoon, who defeated War Admiral in the National Stallion Stakes. Neville Dunn, sports editor for the
Lexington Herald, wrote, "A little brown horse that takes after his mammy in size but runs like his daddy charged to victory in the 63rd Kentucky Derby… and he won so easily, so effortlessly, that 65,000 fans nudged one another in the ribs and said, 'I told you so! I told you that War Admiral could run like Man o' War.'" The
Preakness Stakes was held just a week later. After again acting up at the start, War Admiral went to the lead early but had trouble negotiating the turns. Pompoon saved ground along the rail and closed alongside War Admiral as they exited the last turn. The two horses dueled down the stretch with War Admiral finally prevailing by a head. On June 5, War Admiral faced six rivals in the
Belmont Stakes, going off as the 4-5 favorite. He was particularly fractious at the start, repeatedly breaking through the barrier. After delaying the start for eight minutes, he stumbled leaving the gate. He quickly recovered his stride and won the race by three lengths with "speed to spare". His time of 2:28 tied the American Record for miles, while breaking Man o' War's track record by a fifth of a second. War Admiral thus became the fourth winner of the
American Triple Crown. But the victory came at a price: War Admiral had struck the quarter of his right front fore-foot when stumbling at the gate, which left a gaping wound. During the race, his jockey did not notice that anything was amiss. But when led into the winner's circle, his connections found that his belly and legs were covered with blood. The injury was severe enough to cause War Admiral to miss the summer racing season. He returned in October to win three more races, including the
Washington Handicap and the inaugural
Pimlico Special.
1938: Four-year-old season In 1938, War Admiral won eight major races, including the
Whitney Handicap and
Jockey Club Gold Cup. He is linked forever with the year-older
Seabiscuit, who was a grandson of Man o' War and the preeminent horse based in the western U.S. Seabiscuit's owner, Charles Howard, brought his horse across country to give Seabiscuit the chance to prove himself to the eastern racing establishment. Seabiscuit and War Admiral almost faced each other several times that summer but for one reason or another, they never met. Finally, a meeting was arranged for November 1, 1938, in the
Pimlico Special in what was billed as The Match Race of the Century. Samuel Riddle asked that the race be run without a starting gate in light of War Admiral's problematic history. With War Admiral's early speed, he was widely seen to have a tactical advantage in a match race and went off as the favorite. However, Seabiscuit's trainer had secretly conditioned his horse to bolt at the sound of a starting bell, which resulted in Seabiscuit getting the all-important early lead. Seabiscuit won by four lengths and broke the track record. War Admiral raced twice more, winning the Rhode Island Handicap in 1938 and a race at Hialeah in February 1939 before an injury prompted his retirement. ==Stud career==